**READ ME** - the sticky icky wax sticky thread (wax removal)

Ok I started growing my hair from scratch about 14 months ago and dreaded then about 9 months ago. I have ridiculously straight hair so it has taken quite a bit of messing with. I started with backcombing and I used a felting needle for some of the smaller dreads and the tips. They are pretty much locked in now. i used wax at first for about the first 3 months but i DID follow the instructions and very lightly wax the outside. I have more recently (last 6 months or so) start washing my hair with dreadhead shampoo about once a week and just not touching the rest of the time. I have a lot of loose hair which i imagine i just hair getting clean and unsticking from the wax. Now I feel very little wax in a few but it took a lot of cleaning. One thing that I have found is no matter how much palm rolling or twisting I do NOTHING holds a candle to just rubbing my head for about 5 minutes with a wool cap and pulling the roots apart. I also may be imagining things but I think my hair is growing a little faster with this kind of stimulation. Anyway, I tried this cleaning tonight and I read all 30 pages of this thread but i wasn't really clear on rinsing. The accelerator you buy says to spray on and leave which i have never done...I don't know why. Should I rinse all of this stuff out with clean water or the mixture itself? Also how do these products help if you rinse them right out? (not skeptical that they work just wondering how) I'll try to put some pics on my profile.

 

Hi inventingdreams. Welcome to the forums....

It sounds like you're on the right track if you're getting the wax out... Keep it up make sure it's all out.

As far as the dreadhead shampoo goes. It's fine to use albeit extremely overpriced. There are some people that would avoid it as it has SLS in it and also as it comes from a company that promotes generally screwing dreadlocks/hair if you're in it for the long run.

The locking accelerator is again fine to use but not necessary, it's an overpriced version of sea salt mixed with warm water. Once you've emptied it just buy some sea salt (make sure it's sea salt mind) and mix with warm water in the spray bottle you now have. Oh yeah if you live near the ocean and can go swimming and let them dry in the sun then do that, there's nothing better in my opinion for dreads. Maybe I just miss the sea too much

As far as either spraying and leaving it on there vs rinsing it straight out goes. As long as you don't go overboard with useage you're fine to spray it on there and leave it for a few days before washing it out. If you overdoo it you could end up drying your hair out too much. As far as the benefits go, again there are differences in opinion here. I believe it does help in that it makes the hair more course which encourages the hair to knot so can aid the locking process. Your hair is blond so it's probably quite soft, I'm guessing here, I have blond hair and my hair was ridiculously soft before I dreaded my hair. Over the years the texture's changed and it's kind of scratchy now, it's weird but I like it, I guess I could use aloe to soften it, but I just can't be bothered. Sorry getting off the point......

Sorry nearly forgot about the rinsing it straight out bit. Yes you can do that as well, if you want. I never have so I can't really comment on the differences between the two. I sometimes put some in when I wash my hair with baking soda + tee tree oil and I can notice the difference from when I leave it out, not much though.

As far as the deep cleanse goes if you use that to clean your dreads fine. I always soak my hair first then rinse my dreads, then chuck the bucket over my head again and rinse once more. If you still have wax in your hair then I wouldn't advise chucking it over your head if it looks like there is wax in there.

I wouldn't play or twist with them too much, you'll just end up weakening the hair too much which could end up in breakage. And I certainly wouldn't bother with felting.

Lastly (I know I've said it hundreds of times) whilst these things help, time is your biggest helper. Make sure the wax is out, keep them clean and wearing a wool hat can help. Other than that just get on with your life and whatever you're doing, don't let them overtake your life! You're dreads are pretty short, once they get longer they'll get much better. Take a picture in a year's time and compare the difference, then you'll see what I mean about the time thing. Wow I'm done... Enjoy

 

Ahh forgot about the palmrolling IMO, fuck that, I think it's a waste of time. I've never really worked out what it's good for other than making all your dreads go round which will quite often in time happen on its own anyway. Also if all your dreads are perfectly round with no bumps or kinks or anything I personally think that looks pretty boring. Some of mine did go round but still have loads of bumps in them, others aren't round whatsoever, kind of flat. I like the differences, I think it adds character to them.

 

I just tried this method now and at first, didnt think it was working very well, it wasnt foaming, and smelt and felt like dr bronners.
Although when I was rinsing out my eyes were like sticking shut just like they did when i waxxed my dreads at the start, so my guess is that its getting the wax out .
They feel really clean and sexy now xD so this method is defo worth a try, THANKS!

Ben

 

i started my dreads about a month ago and didnt know how bad wax was. it was only used wax at the end of making them jsut to hold down fly aways and i touched it up ounce since then with a tinny bit because i had to go to soemthing more formal and didnt want me head to look like i put my finger in a socket lol. should i quickly rush out to get the wax out or shoudl i let it grow out a little to i can boil it easyer? my hair is about 18 inches long and i ahve 2 dreads in teh back that are about 3 months old with almost no wax in them and tehy are doing amazing what is my best course of action here with my current situation? i also have fairly thin hair and i tryed natural neglect only washing and twisting for 8 months and got absolutly no where waht so ever then i had a friend back comb the back 2 but then wasnt able to finish them for 3 months. they were also lose because the person who did them the second time and hte rest of my hair did them to fast and my gf has had to redo them all basicly by tightening them to gt them to start to lock up and get tight so im not sure where i should go from here and advice? also i know its probably bad but iv yet to wash it for fear they will come out.

 

wash them
washing helps
get the wax ouyt asap
u can try the wax removal with very hot water but not hot enougfh to scold
dont rebackcomvb
your only undoing any progress and doing more dammage
dont worry bout flat dreads theres nothing wriong with flaty dreads
if u insist on round palm rioll when wet..but not too much palm rolling excessively can cause breakage

get the wax out and leaveem alone
how long was your hair when u tried natural? i bet it ewas just too short and thats whjy you got no progress

backcombing too shoret hair aint gonna do much good either.
it can get it started but you still gotta wash it keep it clean and let it grow and dread

once youir wax feree just stop thinking about youir hair awhile
__________________

 

I used the mix with a little bit of ACV in it as well. My dreadies are only like a month old, and anyone who saw the thread knows I was a guilty of falling into waxing.

I am a bit anal retentive, so I have kept my dreads pretty clean with residue free shampoo. I was using this stuff from DreadHeadHQ. I wont use it again. It didnt do nearly as much to clean as this mix did. The first rinse was basically brownish.

I think it may have taken some of the color out of my dreads in the back. I had bleached them and then dyed it fire-engine red. Red simply does not stay that long. I used a permanent dye for dark colored hair and used a 40 developer even tho a 10 was recommended (I didnt want it rusty or copper---i wanted red, and that is what I got). More red came out with this wash than any prior wash. So if you are trying to retain dyed color, you may not want to do this too often.

That being said, I have cleaner dreadies now than I ever have. And i feel confident that a few cycles will eliminate my wax problem (at least I hope since I scorched my damn scalp, lol).

Thanks for the recipie.

 

I'll type this big so ya all pay attention

be extremely careful when removing wax
the temperatures needed to remove wax are hot enough to do serious injury to you

if you were injured removing wax..by all means sue them..theyre products are not only dangerouse to drewad health but removing the wax can cause severe burns if not done with extreme caution

 

Luckily I am not hurt, lol. I was careful. No liability to anyone but me on this one. Boiling water and wake and bake equals injury.

Just an update, now that the dreadies are dry they have never felt or looked better. Can't say enough about the mix.

Thanks to everyone for getting me wax-free and on the right path.

 

Ey! I have a question... I've made a load of this deep cleanse stuff cus it said a BIG bowl of water... Now i have over 2lts left over! Will this keep for a few months? Or shall I just chuck the rest on my dreads now?

 

how I usually do it is I take a cup and just keep pouring it over my head over the sink until it was gone and then let it sit with my hair wrapped in a towel for about 30 minutes or so then shower and rinse, so yeah I would go ahead and use it all.

 

i would use it i mix up like a gallon pitcher and dump it all over my hseead at once..im too lazy to leave it on 1/2 hour though..usualy rince it in 10 min or less
but as for saving it
baking soda and water when mixed cause a chemical reaction that cause it to bubble and its that reaction that i believe does the cleanning..i could be wrong though..but to me it makes sence that its usefullness has a limmited lifespan
thats why i try to mix it and dump it onwithin a minute or 2

do u remember those silly lil submarine toys they used to put in cereal boxes that u pack with baking soda and submerge and the baking sioda mixing with the water creates bubbles that make it go up and down? i think its actualy the gasses in those bubbles that eat away at dirt and dead skin
and once that reactions all used yup i dont think it will be as effective

im no chemist though and i know that dry baking soda has oder absorbing properties so perhaps it does retain some usefullness in a solution fotr awhile

 

xD alright, Cus I used half a tub of baking soda, I dont really want to waste it might try and get my flat mates to try it, non dreadies xD

 

SE, I've missed you!
As far as the reaction is concerned, the bubbles help, but I think a lot of it is baking soda being a mild base which can help change the pH of the water. Solubility of a lot of things can be improved simply by changing the pH so I think that is a big part of it too.

 

hey guys....getting ready to do the deep clense...make sure I got out all that nassy wax. Got a question about teatree oil...(am I really the only one who thinks this smells like ass?????).....
and just how much? I have read in a few places that teatree oil will leave residue and cause your dreads to loosen????????? Sorry mine are fairly new (almost 6 months) and quite fragile it seems since I quit using wax. I have been jonsing for that crap.....crazy!!!!!!! So I am all freaking out thinking everything I do will cause them to fall out.

 

only use a few drops of tea tree oil. i use 2-3 when i put it in my soap concoction but you may use a bit more if you're doing the deep clean i guess. you shouldnt be using enough to be able to loosen the locks, the amount is just very small.

 

I love this recipe
Used it yesterday.

Half a tub o bicarobonate of soda.
Orange Oil,
Peppermint Oil,
Tea Tree Oil,
A Lemon (squeezed straight in)
and a Splodge of ACV

Super cleanage!!

 

how big are these tubs you guys rtalk about?
1/2 a tubs too much
1/3 to 3/4 cup is plenty for a gallonm or so
\
callie4strings
it sounds like your drewads are pretty caked with wax and glued together
they'll never truly dreasd till the wax is gone
they will need to loosen so they can move which will make em lock

i use 10-20 drops of teatree or more for this mix

 

A tub is... Just smaller than a mug...
By a cup how much is a cup.. In the uk cups are for tea... everything else is in a mug.. Infact... we all drink tea in mugs

 

mabster dear, a cup is a measurement.

but also a tea-drinking receptical. did i spell that right?


and SE, the tubs i use come in 200g quants, cause its intended for home baking =]