Naturally Knotted

A blog about natural dreading methods

[naturallyknotted]

All this winter weather has been making my hair so dry! I’ve been using a pea size dollop of pure Aloe Vera gel every other morning to help with the frizzys.

Anyone have any other suggestions for helping with dry dreads?

[naturallyknotted]

Brief Update

You might have noticed a bit more activity around here as of late -- I’ve also given the main page a bit of a face list. I’ve been going through some adjustments in my personal life and had to focus on that for a while but things have smoothed out a bit now.

I’m now working as a Medical Case Manager with people with HIV/AIDS and loving my new line of work. In addition I’m expecting my first child in early April! With all these changes I don’t have time to write more instructive posts; however I am still available to answer any questions you may have about natural dreading.

The ask box is open for questions, and the submit is open for you all to share your natural dreading timelines. Can’t wait to see what you send my way!

Peace,

Admin Rain

[naturallyknotted]

Hi! So I have dreads that are a few months old, and my roots are starting to get long. So I have a lot of space between my scalp and and the actual dread. Do you have any tips for root maintenance or tightening?

Hey there! This is a great question and I’m glad you asked because I’m sure that you are not the only one with this going on.

It’s weird how dreads work, they mature from the tips of the hair up towards the roots. Long roots are annoying and may be strange to look at, but they should knot up within the next six to eight months.

By the one year mark you should have un-dreaded roots around an inch or two long. Your hair won’t ever naturally knot up all the way to your scalp but the new growth will dread up as it grows. In the mean time, if you want to cover up the long roots try a headband, bandana, or pulling your hair back when you want your hair to look more tidy. Take a picture now and again in three months, I’m sure you will see the difference.

Thanks again for the great question!

[naturallyknotted]

Found you on Google and you seem to know your stuff. I'm about 2 weeks into going the narural route, stopped combing, wash with bs and acv rinse, and generally don't touch it except to move it out of my face. My question is when at this stage and its still knotting up should I wash like normal or use a no touch/soak method of washing? Also when I wear a hat/tam (needed for work) should I sort of flip all my hair under the hat or let it hang out under the hat? Thanks, peace and love

Oh wow, that’s wonderful!

With natural method it isn’t so much touching that is an issue, but rather detangling knots that are forming. I think scrubbing at your scalp before you rinse out the baking soda step of your regimen would feel nice, help keep your scalp healthy, and wouldn’t harm your progress at all – in fact it may even help with knotting up.

Regarding your hat/tam needs. Either option is fine. Having your hair up inside a hat for a day will provide friction to help with forming knots, and having it loose will help knot up at the roots. If the hat is on the snug side you can make a loose bun and slip the hat on back to front, just make sure the bun isn’t too tight or identical every time and you’ll be fine.

I’m glad you found us here, Come back any time with more questions, I’d love an update about how your journey is going!

Rain

[naturallyknotted]

Hi! I've been interested in neglecting for a while now, but there's one thing I'm not sure about. When showering- should I be using a shower cap? I know that shampooing should be a "once a week" kinda thing, but is it ok to let my hair get wet without shampooing? Thanks

Great question!

Baby dreads love water, gets them all tangled up in knots – especially if you massage your scalp under the water.

The main concern people have about getting dreads wet is that they hold a lot of water and washing them daily without a chance to dry out you might develop mold – not cool. Baby dreads, especially baby neglect dreads should dry out pretty quickly, but if you find your hair isn’t really getting dry between soakings then you might want to think about putting your hair up and away most of the time and just letting it soak every other day. I have full confidence you’ll figure out the best pattern for your own hair.

Bonus tip: give your babies a spray down with some salt water fifteen to twenty minutes before you get them wet to help them knot up.

All the best!-Rain

[naturallyknotted]

Hey i want to dread my hair and Im a 15yr old girl. I don't know what method to do, I don't think I'm patient enough for the neglect method and it will look quit messy for a while. If I do TnR will it look as good? Pleaseany tips for geting started:)

Hey there!

the completely natural method isn't for everyone. I would recommend looking at the twist and rip, or TnR method and giving that a try. There are plenty of videos on youtube that you can watch to see this method in action.

I'll give you the usual tips I give most people in your position: Don't use any products like beeswax or strange sprays. Don't wash your hair more than two to three times a weeks otherwise you will risk mold growing in your hair. Do accept the fact that your hair will be pretty messy a lot of that first year. Just stay positive and you should be good to go!

[naturallyknotted]

I have 5 dreads in my hair that my friend made and they are coming along perfectly. I wanted a few natural dreads too, so I rubber banded 5 sections a few days ago. Will this work? I only want partial natural dreads

You should take the rubber bands out of your hair because that will do more harm than good.

Don't brush your hair for a few days to two weeks and then use the twist and rip method on the sections that are forming on their own. Another option would be to use the twist and rip method on the sections you have made with the rubber bands already but again, just make sure to take out the rubber bands.

[naturallyknotted]

I have a singular baby dread in my hair along my neckline. I was wondering what you would suggest with washing. My hair greases fairly quickly so I typically wash daily.

If you just have one dread at the back of your head there is no way to keep it from getting wet while you shower. Go ahead and wash like normal and when drying your hair pay really close attention to the singular dread. You can take a small hand towel or a sham-wow or something and squeeze your dread with it and that should really help with pulling out the moisture. I'm going to assume this is a pretty new dread, so don't worry too much because baby dreadlocks do try pretty quickly as compared to more mature dreads.

On a side note: I don't know you, or your hair, or much of anything really but on the greasy hair front. before dreading my hair was like that too, greasy and needed to be washed daily. Typically when we wash our hair we are also washing away the natural oils our body produces to keep our hair healthy and the body adapts to your shower schedule so if you start going a few days in between washing your hair your scalp should start to adapt.

[naturallyknotted]

Hi! I have 3 month old babies, started with freeform sections and back combed a bit and then neglect. I noticed many of my dreads in the back of my head have completely fallen out, and i have LOTS of loose hair, as i have to separate every day, creating more and more loose hair which that I'm not so worried about. .. my question is to the dreads that are completely gone. .. should I ignore it? Could I braid it? Wish I knew why they fell out. I know loose hair is normal but this is Different

Hey there!

Alright so first step: take a deep breath. You're doing great! Really you are, I love the way your started your hair it sounds like a great way to do it, and it seems like you've done your research. So go you!

Try not separating every day, try going three or four days between pulling your sections apart, maybe even a week if you're feeling up to it. Too much touching might be one of the reasons your hair is falling out of the sections.

How do you sleep? I know it seems like an odd question but when you sleep your head moves about and your hair knots up more. If you are a side sleeper the sides will knot up better and faster than the back of your head. If you think it might help try putting a wool sweater over your pillow at night and try falling asleep on your back if you can. (side note: I don't like to support the use and/or purchase of any animal products so if you want to do this either use a sweater you already have or go to a local thrift store and buy a used item)

Try ignoring the sections that have come undone for another month or so, make sure you aren't using conditioner, and try spraying your hair with a sea salt and warm water mixture (I don't like having that sit on my hair too long because I don't like the feeling so I do it a few hours before I shower which should be just fine). Let it be for a month or two and if you're still not seeing progress go ahead and try doing some light TnR work to encourage the progress. I don't think braiding would be very helpful.

Let me know if you have any other questions! (-:

[naturallyknotted]

hey there, I'm Karen and I was curious so I thought I'd ask great almighty google lol thank god I found you!!!! I have had dreads for a little over four months, I back combed them, I did a couple twist and rip but that's not for me... most of them are back combed anyway then neglected for maybe two months and they're locked but I still have all this loose hair all the way down my dreads... how do I get rid of that? I wouldn't call it frizz but also how long do I have to wait until that's gone?

My humble tumblr shows up in a google search? Woah, that's pretty sweet!

Your hair sounds just like mine at the four month mark. They were pretty well dreaded up but I had long strands of loose hair that would come out of the middle of the dread and just hang around.

Fear not, these will gradually go away on their own. As far as time frame though it will probably be another three or four months before there is a considerable difference. The long hairs eventually get eaten up by the dread they come from and you won't even remember they were ever there. I still have some loose hairs like you described and my dreads will be four in September, but I hardly notice them they are so minor.

If you want to see pictures of my hair at the same stage you described just send me another message off anon and I'm happy to share with you. I just don't want to clutter up the page with my own mug. (-:

Peace!

[naturallyknotted]

Hi, I want to start natural dreads, what's your best advice on how I should go about this?

The truly natural method would be to stop brushing your hair and allow sections to from on their own. Do do this you would need to stop brushing your hair, stop touching it and trying to untangle the knots that will form, stop using conditioner, and simply be patient. As your hair knots up more and more you can start separating the natural sections that will form in the beginning as they try and join up with other sections.

Alternatively you could allow your hair to go natural for two or three weeks and then do some light TnR method on the sections that form to help the process along.

Either way start using a residue free shampoo (I use dish soap, others like ACV or Dr. Bronners) and settle in for a messy, but enjoyable, ride!

This is all pretty general if you have more specific questions feel free to ask, or try looking into some of the online communities in my resources page. There are a lot of timelines with pictures for you to see what others have done.

[naturallyknotted]

hey there i have crochet hook locks but theyve only been crochet when i got them, can i go to freeform or do i need to maintain with a hook to keep them going?

First let me just say how great it is you've realized your mistake and want to correct it! Because that is really awesome and mature of you! =D

Just put the hook down and don't use it you'll be okay. Your dreads might get more frizzy than other people's at first and that's because of all the broken hairs inside are going to get loose and then knot back up. Overall though you should be just fine. You don't need to do anything special for crochet hook recovery, just wash once or twice a week and keep your sections separated like everyone else and you'll be great.

[naturallyknotted]

I'm looking to start dreads sometime soon, I was wondering what kind of product you recommend to wash dreads with? Or is they're some kind of natural remedy I can use?

Hey! So you don't really need any special products with dreadlocks to start them up. But when it comes to washing your dreads you wanna make sure you aren't using something that leaves a residue.

I have a tutorial here on different washing techniques. It is a few years old now and since writing that up I have discovered the wonders of dish soap. I simply mix the soap and some tea tree oil in a small travel bottle and soap up. The dish soap cleans but leaves no residue and the tea tree oil helps your scalp.

[naturallyknotted]

Tips for Drying Dreadlocks

You gotta wash your hair, yes even dreadlocks need a good scrub once or twice a week. But while plenty of people have talked about what to wash with, how frequently to soap up, and even washing techniques I don't see as much information on drying dreadlocks which is just as important as washing them.

Here are a few quick tips on drying your dreads:

1. Don't rewash if your hair is still wet

Mold forms in your dreads when moisture is suspended in them without a chance to dry out completely. Since dreads can take anywhere from four to eight hours to dry on average it isn't recommended that you wash them every day. Have a good two or three days with no moisture to be sure mold doesn't set in.

2. Don't use a blow dryer unless you no other choice

Gone are the days where you can apply liberal amounts of moisturizer or conditioner to your hair after the damaging process of blow drying and straightening and culling and whatever else we can put our hair through. All that hot hair on your dreads with no aftercare makes for unhealthy hair. Try and let your hair air dry, or lay out in the sun to dry them out, rather than blow drying your hair. It will take longer but your hair will be better off in the long run.

3. Be smart about taking a dip

Spring is here in the states and summer is well on her way, Beach season, pool season, swimming season, camp season, whatever you want to call it the time is here to take a dip. There's nothing wrong with swimming around but if you're going swimming every day try and put your hair up every other day if you can. Lay out in the sun for a nap and let your hair dry quickly that way. 

4. Don't put up your hair

While drying your hair don't put it up in a pony tail or bun this just keeps the moisture in your dreads longer which is more likely to lead to dread rot and mold.

Any other natural dread questions or topics you want discussed? 

[naturallyknotted]

Dread Wax: Myths and Facts

Myth: Dread wax speeds up the dreading process

Fact: When you put wax on your dreads it restricts the movement of your hair. Dreadlocks are formed on all people and all in all hair types when the individual hairs knot up. With less friction because of the wax the hair is not able to knot up like it should and takes longer to mature

Myth: Wax washes right out

Fact: Wax is not water soluble so it is actually quite difficult to wash out of your hair. Have you ever put that sculpting wax or gel in your hair to make it hold or spike out? Remember how hard you had to scrub and how many times you have to wash your hair just to get it out? Well dread wax is not much different from that stuff and unlike untangled hair you don't really have the ability to scrub at the hairs on the inside of your dreads.

If you can't wash the wax out it just builds up and eventually leads to dread rot. Not fun.

Myth: Using wax makes the dreading process easier

Fact: Dreads are pretty easy all on their own. They don't need products or much maintenance at all. applying wax to ever dread on your head daily or even just weekly takes up a lot of time that would be better spent on... well really anything else.

Questions about natural dreadlocks?

[naturallyknotted]

Talk more about the dangers of wax, and the importance of keeping moisture out of the locks. Dry those babes after they have been washed!

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll get to work on both of these topics right away!

Any other natural dread questions or topics you want discussed? 

[naturallyknotted]

How should I handle dread rot ? I don't want to cut them.

Try to figure out where the rot is in your dreads because I'm pretty sure you are going to have to do a bit of cutting to get it all out. Before that though go check out the resources section on my main page. There are some good tutorials out there that might help get out the rot and the communities I posted there are a great place to go for more help.