Real Dreads
Okay, you have real dreads and you wash them regularly. You use special Dreadlock shampoos for washing because usually shampoos for ‘combable’ hair contain all sorts of (chemical) additives that can cause itching if not rinsed out properly. Additionally, they also can make your hair silky soft which is something you don’t want for your dreads.
Dreadlock Shampoos only contain natural ingredients that properly care for your hair, making sure your dreads get clean and maintain their stiff structure, which helps sustain the dreading process.
These are the two important things to keep your dreads healthy and beautiful:
wash your dreads regularly and use the right shampoo.
Letting the dreads dry well is equally important. When your dreads are still young they can have a lot of air in them, they feel soft and fluffy, they are yet to become compact and sturdy. In this phase they also dry relatively quickly.
As your dreads get older, they will get more compact and firm and it will take longer for them to dry. The more compact and thick your dreads are, the longer it will take for them to dry. Obviously your dreads will dry faster in summer than when the temperatures outside are lower.
Fun fact: If you ask dreadheads what they like the least about having real dreads, 9 out of 10 times the answer is: the washing and drying of the dreads.
If this would also be your answer: keep on reading for handy tips ;)
Mold in your dreads
So why is it important to let your dreads dry well?
Dreads dry slower than loose ‘combable’ hair, simply because the hair is knotted so tightly together. The hairs inside will dry slower than the hairs on the outside of the dreads. If you don't give your dreads the chance to dry properly they can start smelling stale, or in extreme cases, mold will grow in the dreads. And that obviously is the last thing you would want.
Synthetic Dreads
It’s also important to let your Synthetic Dreadlocks dry well. The chance of growing mold in synthetic dreads is a lot smaller than with real dreads because synthetic dreads are usually less tight compared to real dreads. But synthetic dreads can also start smelling stale if they are not dried properly.
Synthetic dreads dry pretty quickly compared to real dreads, it’s mostly the braids of your own hair that stay a little damp. All in all, it can take up to a few hours before they are completely dry.
Also take into account that when you go to bed with your synthetic dreads still a bit damp and you tie them up in an updo, they might be shaped in that way when you wake up and won’t come back to how they were too easily.
Tips to let your dreads dry quicker!
We would love to give you some tips on how to prevent stale smelling or mold dreads!
- Make sure to wash your dreads early in the day, this way they are mostly dry before you go to bed. This decreases the chances (in case of real dreads) that your dreads will get flat when you lay on them at night, wet/ damp dreads are sensitive to this.
- Let your dreads hang loose after washing them, this way they dry faster than when they are tied together.
- Palmroll your dreads when they are still damp, (with real dreads) it is especially important to do this after washing. When rolling you also swing out some excess water.
- Use a microfiber towel. With its super absorbent fibers the towel cuts the drying time of your dreads in half, so this is a real must have! Wrap your towel around your dreads and leave it on for 30-60 minutes.
- If the drying doesn't go fast enough with all these tips, you could always blow dry your dreads. This can be quite the time consuming job and your arms can get tired really quickly.
- Luckily we have some super handy tool to help you: the Dollylocks Hair Dryer Bonnet ! You connect this to your blow dryer and wrap the cap around your head. Now you also have your hands free to do your make-up for example.
- Are you going to take a shower but you want to keep your dreads dry? Use our shower cap!