FAQ: General Dread Maintenance FAQs

Hmm... yeah, warm oil, like jojoba from the health food store, probably wouldn't hurt, but our amazing Knotty Boy Dreadlock Conditioning Sprays are specifically designed for these exact mature-dreadlock issues, plus are wayyy easier to use than attempting to apply hot oil to your head. (Kind of a scary thought, no?) Mature dreads are typically quite dry anyway, so I wouldn’t be overly concerned as long as you are caring for them properly. Next time you see someone with healthy-looking dreads, ask if you can feel them to compare texture, etc. to try and determine whether or not you should be concerned about their condition.

Fortunately, that IS nothing more than a rumor, if it is Knotty Boy wax you are using. The beeswax in it does make it somewhat water-repellant, which is very nice for holding new dreads together and still allowing you to (gently) wash your hair. But the heat from the water does cause some of the wax to be washed out each time, so no, there is no risk in the wax building up to the point of breakage unless you are using WAY too much and not washing your dreads. Now, this does not apply to those out there thinking its a good idea to try melting down straight beeswax and using that to start dreadlocks. First of all, it's a very bad idea as beeswax is highly flammable, sticks to EVERYTHING and is really impossible to work with, and second of all, beeswax does nothing for your dreads except coat them with a waxy, candle-y mess, and hair soaked with beeswax are not dreadlocks. Using this method would pretty much guarantee heavy, waxy build-up and would most likely lead to serious breakage — perhaps this is what the little bird was warning you against.

Dread breakage can be a problem over time with old dreads, and if they are super-fat at the ends the weight could be pulling on your hair and causing the breakage. Also lots of bleaching or coloring can cause them to break, as well.

Tying them back is a good idea because it restricts their movement. Be sure to use an elastic that doesn’t pull or cut the hair, or wrap it all up in a piece of stretchy cloth. That will stop the dreads from getting even more yanked around and breaking off even faster.

You need some healthy stuff in the roots to keep them from getting brittle. Try a good natural conditioner or warm jojoba oil at the roots once a week.

If you can get a friend to help, gather any loose hair around your thinning dreads, then using a tiny crochet hook, proceed to pull the loose hairs through the dread, making the roots stronger and more full. Try to crochet little bits of the loose hair at a time so that the hair is evenly distributed through the dread.

Okay, here's our recommendation. If you want to dye your dreadies lots, and in the future lots more, then we suggest you get some synthetic dreads in the colours you like and attached those to your dreads whenever you feel the urge for colour (check out our salon pics to see what we're talking about). Like we've said before hair color on dreads, especially bleach, is ok occasionally, but it can be extremely damaging if done too much. The hair itself can get so damaged from the repeated bleaching out the dyes and depositing colour and they just start breaking off. Not good.

So that's why we suggest faking it. You can try making your own or make a trip into our Lock Shop and Salon where we can add any color of the rainbow to your head o' dreads!

We also recommend colouring your hair at a salon as professional products are much less damaging then drugstore ones; they also end up looking much better In terms of bleaching, the best thing to do is touch up your roots on a regular basis so that you can avoid having to even touch the actual dreads with dye more than once. Try not to overlap dye jobs; it just damages your hair more and more.

If you do wind up colouring yourself, make sure you buy enough to make sure you can really saturate the dreads. Don't forget to RINSE RINSE RINSE!! Rinse it for AT LEAST 5 minutes or until your friends can’t detect that chemical smell-fest on your locks anymore.

We also would recommend anyone that's coloring or bleaching their dreads to pick up our Knotty Boy Shampoo Bar, because bleaching your scalp is a really good way to get dandruff and your gonna want to use something that helps keep your scalp healthy and itchy-free. The shampoo is great for anyone wanting to keep their scalp healthy, not just dreadheads, by the way!

Roots are always very difficult, and the last to dread, if they ever do at all. We usually tell you kids to just keep backcombing, try using the wax to keep them tighter, and then just let them do their own thing. Don't stress about the roots. There isn't a dreadhead in the history of dreadlocks that didn't have at least 1/2 to 1 inch of undreaded hair at the roots of his/her scalp. This is normal, and is just how dreads grow. They need some room to move around and get the new hair tangled and dreaded up into the main dreadlock. Most people just accept that and love them for what they are, but then there are others that like the feel of having really tight dreads, so they backcomb or "crochet" them. And that's cool, too. See "The Crochet Method" for a bad explanation for what we mean by "crocheting" your dreads.

Also Knotty Alex would like to share his method for getting those roots tight:

"For when the hair is growing and there is a bit of undreaded hair next to your scalp, a really good way to dread it up again is to hold the top knot with your index finger and thumb firmly and then rotate it against your scalp. Then stop after a few mins and move closer to the scalp, holding the new knot and repeating. It works a dream."

OK, basically, since it is pretty much impossible to backcomb them (cuz you'd have nothing to hang on to), you have to get them to dread more or less on their own. The best thing to do is to be constantly rubbing the tips between your fingers. Y'know, when watching the tube, reading, etc. Just keep rolling the tips between your fingers, back and forth, knotting them up a little more each time. Some kids have said that it helps to put a little of the wax in the palm of your hand and then take the dread tip and rub it around in the wax until it gets all frizzy and blunt. Don't be shy to use the wax, heck, that's what it's for! And again, don't stress about the loose tips either, everyone with dreads has them. And if you like, once you've had your dreads for a year or two you'll be able to snip off the undreaded part and your dread won't come unraveled.

Knotty Brianna:

"My tips were very undreaded for a long time. One day I started taking the tips, half in each hand, and gently but firmly pulled them in opposite directions, alternating different chunks of my tips. You can even hold/pull the majority of your tip down, and pull small pieces of the tip upwards at the same time, taking different pieces as you go. This seemed to really work and if you spend like 5 minutes on each dread in your spare time, you can really knot them up this way! I began doing this at about 7 months."

Also, Shrimphead had something to say about keeping those tips dreaded:

"I had dreads many, many years ago. And last week I decided I wanted them back. I got your dread wax and I love it. Thanks so much! Now to the tip,(pun intended). My wife wanted the ends to look 'finished' and not wispy. So she hauled out her felting needles and started at them. It sounds weird. But dreads are really just felted hair so she figured that she could just needle felt the ends. And voilá it worked like a charm.
So if you want good round ends try felting needles."

Thanks so much Knotty Shrimphead!!!

This tip comes from Knotty Zen:

"I ordered your kit a while back and over about 3 months I had great dreads down to the side of my neck they are tight hard and overwhelmingly nappy. But I was hoping they would be more round after 3 months. So I did a little thinking and got some assistance from Mom and went from loose, undone, coming-apart ends to rock hard, round nubs in 3 hours! What we did was, we found some thread that matched my hair color and a large needle that wouldn't get lost within the unexplored workings of my naps. Then we backcombed the hell outta my tips, and then just folded the tangled tips back and backcombed them into the lock. Then we took the thread and wove it into each lock to help keep it there (little weaves so you can't really see the thread) and it helps lock em up better. Then of course we finished up with a fine coating of Knotty Boy Dread Wax. This method really shortens the dreads up! But it rocks! I love my tips now!!!"

This one comes from Knotty Braden:

"If you have access to a yarn needle or latch-hook, they can be stuck through the middle of the fat dread-body and used to pull the skinny undreaded tip into the fuller dread shaft. This method's left a pretty resilient, blunt tip so far--if you've never seen a yarn needle or latch-hook, they're pretty readily available at craft stores and anywhere that sells much yarn-related paraphernalia (or from grandmas that knit, crochet, or lat-hook). Thought I'd pass the "tip" along...and will get back in touch if my new blunties rebel." - Thanks Braden!

The thing about the loose hairs is this: you will always have those loose hairs and they are totally normal with dreads. There are a few things that you can do to help them disappear a bit, but it is a constant battle, and really the best thing to do is to just love your dreads for what they are and not worry about them.

First of all, we now have the utterly fabulous Knotty Boy Locksteady Tropical Tightening Gel to aid you in your fight for flawless locks! A rich aloe-based formula, this stuff will tame the tresses, flirt with your nose, and help get your dreads tighter WAY faster.

If picking up this jar of joy isn’t an option for you, you can try is using a crochet hook to 'knit' those loose hairs back into the main dreads. Just stick the hook through a big dread near the loose strand, grab that loose strand with the hook and pull it through the big dread, then stick the hook through the other side of the big dread and pull the loose hair back through the other side. Pull the loose hairs back and forth, once chunk at a time, through the nearest dreads until you’ve 'crocheted' them into your other dreads. It helps to have someone help you with it. Then wax that puppy up to keep it in place for as long as possible. That will hold for a while, but they usually pull out after a few weeks from sleeping and pulling your hair back into a ponytail, and then you hafta do it over again.

If you’re ok with doing a bit of trimming with scissors, you can carefully trim loose hairs that are sprouting from the side of dreads to clean things up a bit. Some people even carefully trim loose hair that’s not dreading around their forehead, ears, and neck. If you are going to try this, just trim a little at a time so that it doesn't look chopped and with ends everywhere. The hair on your forehead that’s not dreading, trim close to the roots but not too close - you don't want spikes of hair growing back again. Just make it soft around your forehead, use the tips of the scissors and snip a little at a time in an upward motion toward the scalp. This should help. You can also try trimming away the crazy hair that makes your head look fuzzy, but again, don't chop right against the scalp or you'll get spikes of hair growing back. Just do a little at a time; you can always trim more later on.

And as time goes on, those loose hairs become not so bad, just sorta eventually dread into the others. Patience, my pretties!

Here's some more tips from Knotty kids... (please don't email us about them, we haven't tested these methods here at KBoy!)

Knotty Jason B:

“Don't worry! There IS something you can do about loose hairs. After showering (or whenever) rub yer head with the towel in a circular motion. A sweater also works VERY well. Loose hairs will either form itsy bitsy dreads or cling to the other dreads. When they form itty, bitty ones (as little as 15 or so hairs) push them through the base (untangled part near the scalp) of a neighboring dread. In about a month you will notice they have grown right in there with the big dread. Happy dreading!”

Knotty Al:

“I know a way to get rid of loose hairs. Take the loose hairs and roll them in yer fingers until you just got a big ball of hair. Make a little hole in the bottom of the nearest dread and stick the ball in the hole. Then, use some wax to kinda glue it in there. No more loose hairs!”

Knotty Spacey:

“I found a different method for getting the loose hairs back into the main dreads (something I have to do a fair bit).... get a medium size needle, and using a knife or something widen the hole a bit. Then you get all the loose hairs that are goin into a dread, and roll 'em together with some wax. Then get a bit of thread and put it around the bunch of hairs, and pull both ends of the thread thru the needle hole. This does take a bit o practice but its ok, once ya get it. Once you've got the looser hairs threaded thru the needle ya go thru the base of the dread several times, and when there's not much hair left push the needle along the inside of the dread, just make sure you don't lose the needle in there. That's about as well as i can explain it but I've had good experience with this method as I find it alot easier to do on your own than the crochet method.”

Knotty George:

“I have a way of controlling loose hair if you would like to hear it. What I have started doing is, whenever I find loose hairs I gather them all together, tie the end of that bundle of hairs in a knot maybe 2 or 3 times, then i simply put my dread through the middle of this small bundle of hair creating a new dread. Then I wax it well. It sometimes comes untied, but it keeps those the hairs down for a few days at least, if it doesn’t come untied it will dread up. It's the fastest and most effective way I have tried.Also, I tie up my tips very well by holding them and rubbing them (separately of course!) in circles on my palm and then waxing them up. It works well.”

Dread loops are just one of those weird dread-things that tend to happen... don't try to understand them, just gotta love them for what they are. And if they are really bugging you and it won't cause your dread to unravel, just try snipping it off. We've found that these loops sort of have a lifespan, as well... they're like pimples... you sorta notice it at first, then one day they're HUGE and that's all you can see. And then eventually, after about 4-6 months when they’re at their worst, they get sucked back into the dread, or just get small and hard to notice. So, again, like most things with dreadlocks, they just take time and patience!

Knotty Sam has something to say about those lumpy loops too...

"I had a huge problem with dread lumps/loops and I found an effective way of making them go down faster. Buy plastic coated wire from an arts and crafts store and coil it around the loop and leave it there for a few days.
It makes them go into the dread faster and it looks pretty cool with the colors."
Knotty Sam

Nope, not true... dreads are just like any other hairstyle, and very much like braids. You can wash braids, and you can wash dreads like normal, too.

The problem is you're wetting/washing your dreads waaay too much and they’re always staying wet inside! If you wash them every day, they are like sponges, and they never get to fully dry out before they get wet all over again, and they start to smell. To get rid of this, wash them one more time really well with the Knotty Boy Dread Shampoo Bar which is loaded with antibactiral, antifungal essential oils, then wring them out, dry them until they’re BONE dry with a hair dryer, and then wax all the fuzzies down. Then don't wash them for at least a week, just so they get a chance to air out and not be wet for a while. After that, only wash once a week and dry them really, really well after - sit in the sun if you can. Dreads only need to be washed once a week, or they do start to smell funky because they're always wet.

Another tip from one of our knotty customers:

"I was reading about mold in dreads and other funny smells. I have had my dreads for 7 years and found if that helps to use Apple cider vinager as a rinse. It kills all the bacteria inside the dread. The smell is strong but only for a day. Just be sure to rinse thoroughly. It works well."

You know what? I wouldn't worry about it! If they look and smell great, who cares what's going on deep inside your beautiful locks? Here's a hint... all dreads look freaky inside if you cut them open, even ones that haven't been made with anything at all. All dreads are is just matted hair which can look a little crazy, but I wouldn't sweat it and I sure wouldn't cut them just cuz they look a little weird inside. You don't see it, and neither does anyone else!

You will notice after your dreads have been really nice and formed for a good year or so, that some of your dreads are suddenly starting to grow together into weird branching jumbo-dreads. If they are attaching themselves to other dreads, like three growing into one big one, you can either rip or cut them apart. Other than that, just make an effort to separate them from each other every day, like comb them with your fingers, etc., esp. underneath your hair, close to your neck.

If your dreads are long enough to tie just use two dreads and tie them in the back to hold the rest outta yer face. And if they're not long enough, check out our great selection of visors, dread bands, rasta hats and tams on our Hats page. You can also put them up all cute in spiky, dready pigtails, or use a fat piece of stretchy cloth to hold 'em back. Whatever you like!

Now that we have the Knotty Boy LockSteady Tropical Tightening Gel we don't generally recommend homemade salt-based accelerator sprays because we've heard so many horror stories about dreads drying out, breaking off and scalps being burned by the salt. Our Gel is sooo good because its main ingredient is aloe vera which is both soothing and tightening, and traditionally used by Rastafarians for this exact purpose.

If you still want to make your own salt-based spray, add the juice of one lemon or a dash of RealLemon to a sprayer bottle full of warm to hot water and 2 to 3 tablespoons of sea salt, shake well, and spray a few times a week. Spray only on your dreads, not on your scalp, and be sure to be careful and adjust the solution to your needs. If you make it too strong, you'll burn your scalp and dreads off!

Please read everything we have about combating the itchies on our Dreadlock Care page, and the Knotty Boy Dreadlock Shampoo page!

That’s a toughie! The longer you’ve had the dreads, the harder it is to combine them. Firstly, wrapping them may have been too constricting for them to come together properly, but there are still a few things you can try.

If they are still loose enough that you can get your finger through them in the middle of the dread, you can make holes from the top of the dread down, and weave another dread (the one you want to combine to it) through the holes. Alternate which dread you make a hole in and which you put through the hole, and do this all the way down the dread until they are fully woven together.

If you can’t get any holes through the dreads, try finding some thin, tough thread near your hair colour. Wrap the thread around the roots of the two dreads (mostly undreaded hair) and tie it tightly. Do this about every 1 - 1.5 inches down the dreads so that they are secured in a few spots. If this technique works for your dreads, they will grow together after a couple months, and then just cut out the thread. The dreads will be growing out together from where you tied the undreaded hair at the root. If the two dreads are too well-formed to be able to dread together where they have been tied further down, you may have to be happy on just the roots growing out together and after many years you will eventually have one whole dread.

Other than that, generally if you're four months or more in, you should just let your dreads do their thing and not worry too much. They’ll work themselves out on their own. Back-combing and re-waxing on a regular basis is only necessary until the dreads are strong enough to hold together on their own and to keep the ends from unraveling too much. Honestly, don’t sweat it and have patience - they’ll end up looking great no matter what.

Here's another handy hint from Knotty Niggles:

"I have recently joined a lot of my dreads together to make them appear thicker - At 1st, I did try the elastic band option, but they kept snapping and I was forever replacing them which turned out to be a right pain! - So my advice is to use a little thing called needle and thread - Be sure to have a thick needle, and some good strong thread (I used linen thread which is usually used on canvas, and I'm told it's the strongest you can get!).
Shove a piece of thread through the needle (about 20cm long) and tie it into a loop (tie it a good few times so you get a big knot, else it will just go in the hair and straight out the other end!) Wrap your dreads around each other really tightly at the root - Thread into your hair until it stops, and then just keep threading it around/and in and out of the dread until you run out of thread. Now you can just snap any excess thread off with a pair of nifty scissors.
To keep them nice and tight, keep wrapping them tightly, and thread every couple of inches down -At 1st, I tried using just thread at the roots and the tips, but then they are loose in the middle and you can see the gaps quite clearly. So if you want nice thick round gapless dreads, the more thread the better!
And to top it off, a nice coat of that delicious smelling Knotty Boy wax - Works a treat!"

Ok, here's the scoop. The wax is good in the beginning stages of your dreadies. It's good to start out with the wax and use it for at least the first 3-5 months of your newly formed dreads. Remember, you don't need much wax, just a thumbnail or so per dread, and really work it in. Give your dread a good twist as you're applying the wax so as there are no clumps of wax hanging out in your head. When you think your dreads are ready to stand up on their own and they're starting to grow in solid, then you could consider using our gel. When that time comes, it's still good to use the wax, but not as much as you were before. It's awesome for when you get a bad case of the frizzies. It's good to use the gel after a shower or a swim when your hair's still damp. Towel dry your hair, and put some gel into the palm of your hand. Now, dread by dread palm roll that gel in. You'll notice when your hair dries completely your dreads are already much tighter. Voila!

Knotty Mike Van Doom:

“ I’ve done this a few times when I was worried about a dread being too thin.
I’ve previously joined 2 dreads into 1 dread and 3 dreads into 1 dread, they both worked perfect. My method is this: 1) Take the two you plan on joining in holy matrimony, and get a small elastic band. 2) Put the band ½ an inch to an inch above the scalp, basically where the roots have dreaded. I also once used black electrical tape and covered a 3 inch section, again above the root. (Knotty Boy disclaimer: we would never recommend this, but use your discretion, right?) If you use elastics, putting 1 or 2 more further down the dread helps keep them buddy buddy. 3) Wax and twist. I always twist in a clockwise manner, always with my right hand so it doesn’t get messed up, but any direction is fine, as long as its consistent. And twist in your off time. It takes a few months, but really no longer than it takes for any other root to become dread.”
There you have it, Thanks Knotty Mike Van Doom!

Well, the use of colour can be negatively affected by any hair care product. The gel could potentially impact on the colour due to the pH level (pH neutral). Generally, hair care products that are designed to not affect colour are Acidic, around pH of 4, which shocks the hair follicle and closes it to prevent the dye from getting washed out during shampooing or bled out during styling. We have tried to keep our products pH neutral (around 6.5 for the Gel) so they are non-irritating, as acidic products that are left on (like the Gel is) can be irritating to the scalp if you're already suffer from any irritation or dryness. Dreads seem to cause more problems with scalp irritation already due to the nature of the style, so pH neutral is definitely the way to go.

It is also possible that some of the dye in the hair can be absorbed by the beeswax in the dread wax, which you will probably have in your hair if you has newer dreads. As your dreads mature and knot and your use of new wax decreases then it is possible that the dye loss will minimize, and you will only notice the normal level of fading that is typical with any dyed hair.

Ok, here’s what we came up with- you’re probably worrying a little more than you need to. We believe most cultures have seen dreadlocks on white people, and if they haven't they would likely be cultures that just haven't seen many white people, period. I guess you'd want to consider how much attention you want to draw to yourself in general.

Depending on where you are going, you may have many more children and people wanting to touch your hair all the time - but this happens to people with locks even in N America. Just a fact of life with locks! Maybe get a good hair wrap or hat for the days when the attention becomes too much to take, would be our recommendation...

A. To this, our response was...
Wow, that really, totally sucks. I'm not sure what to say, except that it is NOT right to subject other people around you to your filthy infestation - that's not cool at all, and you would certainly not wish for someone else to do that to you. If he's been to a doctor and tried different medicated shampoos to no avail, then he'd better stop thinking of himself and start thinking about what he's doing to the people around him. I don't mean to speak harshly, but honestly he has to do the right thing in this situation, it's just common courtesy. Hope that helps, and let us know how things turn out...
A. Here are also a few tips emailed us about lice removal, use at your own risk and don't contact us about them, as they are not Knotty Boy tested!:
Knotty Aaron:
"I found out that had lice about a year ago. The denial was overwhelming! I can now say that I don’t have them any more! I hope my advice will help other dreads across da planet!

To kill da enemy, you must understand da enemy!!!
This is so true, so here are some facts to get you all started:

- Nits (eggs) will hatch within 6-7days
- Hatchlings are sexually mature and able to lay eggs within a few days! A fully mature female can lay up to 15 eggs a day! Times that by 15 and that’s what you might have in less than 2 weeks! A lot of scratchin’!
- Lice are very adaptable, and can become immune to a product/chemical after a short period of time (hard as nails, they are)!
- The chemical they release, that causes the itching is released in such a small amount, that it takes about 6 weeks for it to have an itching affect. Meaning, the itching you might be feeling now may be from bites from 6 weeks ago!
- Lice love warm spots. Behind the ears and on the crown of your head is ideal!

Keeping these facts in mind, it makes the task of getting rid of them a lot easier!
I used a product (found in the UK) called Full Marks Lice Mousse. Being a mousse I found it easier to work with, and the white color helps you make sure you have covered all the areas of you scalp. A helping hand is always appreciated.

Pay most attention to behind the ears and the crown of the head. Most products do very well killing the lice and not the nits (eggs). So the secret is repeating the process every 5-6 days. That gives them chance to hatch. I did this for about a month, washing my hair with tea tree oil between the treatments. Tea tree oil isn’t proven to kill lice, but it does help repel them, making them drop out and not lay as many eggs. You also might find that the product you’re using isn’t killing the lice after a while. Changing the product helps, as they get used to products after a while. The closer you find the eggs to the scalp, the more recently they have been laid. They are laid as close as possible to the scalp to help incubate the eggs. The unhatched eggs will be almost brown in color and transparent. White eggs are hatched and harmless. Do your best to pick the eggs out. It may only seem like a little amount of help and pointless efforts, but one less egg is one less louse, and fifteen less in a couple of weeks!

Anyway, good luck! Like I said, it worked for me and it can be done! May I be hope to you all!

Knotty Anonymous:
"After discovering I had lice, I carefully and painstakingly took out my dreads. After NiX and RiD (lice treatment stuff) wouldn't work, I took Vaseline and just caked it on my hair. I worked all my hair with thick globs of the stuff. Wrapped my oily, greasy hair with a towel and after about 48 hours (I think), I shampooed and shampooed until most of the junk was out and I had nary an itch! It works by suffocating the little buggers and nits until they die (bugs need air, too!). Now I am lice free, so it's a pretty foolproof method of lice removal. Just lots of grease! I did it *after* I took my dreads out, so I have no idea if it would work if a dreadie tried it. You have to completely saturate your hair with the Vaseline, so it might prove difficult to get in the little spongy gaps of air (where the lice might hide). But if someone with dreads had lice, and they could get the Vaseline into the dreads enough (without ruining the knots), it might work. But getting the Vaseline out might be a problem. Anyway, let it be known that it is strictly by chance that I got lice while I had dreads. Having dreads has absolutely nothing to do with getting lice (although it might be more difficult to get rid of the lice if you've got dreads). Since my dreads were loose and young, I had the good-ass fortune to get away with not cutting my hair off."
Knotty Ryan:
"I have heard of another way of possibly ridding your hair of bugs if you get them. I have no idea if it works, or its side effects, but it goes like this... Supposedly if you soak your scalp and dreads in rubbing alcohol, them put a plastic bag over your hair to trap the fumes in, it will kill all the bugs if you leave the bag on for a while. I have no idea how this might affect your dreads, or scalp, but if it is a last resort, it might be worth trying."
Knotty Adam:
"I was just reading your page on lice, and wanted you to know that there are a few solutions besides chopping off your hair. For instance, you can soak your head in tea tree oil and then put all your hair up in something airtight like a shower cap or saran wrap for a week. **A week??** The tea tree oil kills live bugs (not their eggs) so you need to keep it applied until all eggs that were in your hair have hatched and died."
Knotty Amanda:
"I've read a bit about combating lice in your dreads. Shortly after I started my dreads I went to India. The whole time I was super paranoid about getting lice. Ironically I spent six months in India with no problem but after being home for just a few months... that's right, I got lice. Everyone I talked to told me I would have to cut them off, but after the long process it took to just make my dreads look somewhat good, I wasn't going down without a fight and I am happy to say that I still have my dreads...lice free. I started out with the super strong lice treatment (nix?) that claims to kill not only lice, but also the eggs. Then I went to my local organic food store and got an organic lice treatment shampoo and conditioner that could be used daily. Yeah it cost almost $15 for the both, but it was well worth it. After a week, I retreated my hair with the super strong treatment. I used the shampoo and conditioner until it was finished, but by that time, there were no more bugs in my hair. I am happy to say that I didn't spread the bugs to anyone even though I have two roommates. Just be really careful, and as soon as you suspect that you have bugs in your head, do something. It is really easy to be in denial. It was almost a week before I really realized that yes, I had lice and something had to be done. I don't know how my roommates, especially since one of them has long hair, avoided the bugs. I think the key is to combat them on a daily basis and that can't be done with super strong drugstore lice treatment. So that is it. Hope it helps!"
You can contact her for more info at: zulululu002@yahoo.com
Knotty Naomi:
“Just a quick tip about lice which I would like to share: if you don’t like putting chemicals on your head to deal with the little buggers, I have the perfect solution: Vinegar! Not only does it kill the offending creatures but it works to dissolve the 'cement' which holds the eggs to the hairs, thus ridding you of your affliction. (A lot of chemical stuff just kills the lice but does not deal with the eggs). Plus, it’s totally au natural! I would suggest using something like cider vinegar or maybe white wine vinegar as they don’t stink quite so bad as the normal fish'n'chip type. Just pour the stuff all over your head, wrap your head in a towel or plastic bag, and sit there for about half and hour stinkin’ the place out - then rinse, and voila! The lice are dead and the eggs are dead, too - so no more lice! Yay for you!!!!”
Knotty Brooke:
“Recently I had lice/nits in my dreds. I tried everything on the market in the way of treatment and nothing worked. Finally I went down to my local health food/naturopath store and asked if they could suggest anything. They made me up a small bottle of pure alcohol, citrus, tea tree and clove and told me to apply it, wrap my head in cling wrap and leave it in for a day or two. Low and behold… it worked. Lice free, it killed the eggs too.”
(Soon to be) Knotty Danni:
“Hello Knotty Kids, I have been wanting dreads for about 6 months, but have had a pretty big lice problem every now and then because of home remedies and such, I searched the web a little and I found www.headlicecure.com a very good and effective way to get rid of the damn things XD.”
Knotty Pete:
“Hey, I just have some stuff about one way to help get lice out of a head of dreads. Here it goes:
It took me about a week to realize that those little bugs crawling around in my head were indeed lice. Before I could save up any money, I just kind of totally blotted Vaseline in between all of my dreads. Actually, because some dread wax's contain petroleum jelly, just waxxin' up the roots REALLY well would probably work too. I then bought some Nix and followed the directions on the box. Just afterwards I covered my entire scalp with shaving cream and left it there for about half an hour. Then I soaked my dreads in vinegar and rubbing alcohol and let them sit in a plastic bag for about nine hours.
After that I bought a bottle of Tea Tree Oil Shampoo and washed my hair with that every other day.
I'm sure you can see that I wasn't going to let my dread goes without a fight to the death, and I've been bug-free ever since. And I also didn't spread it to anyone else. I'd just be super glad to think that I could help some other dread-head out there.”
Knotty Toy:
“Hey...was just reading your page, playing with my dreads, the usual. Anyway-
I have another cure for bugs with the name of the stuff that didn't seem to be on there. Hope it helps.
I've been a Knotty Boy user from my first set of dreads, only I had to comb them out last year 'cos I got horrible head lice. I tried every different kind of chemical smelly stuff available and nothing worked. Rather than cutting my dreads off, I combed them out, got rid of the bugs and redid them.
So...my dreads were doing fine and then I got bugs -again- over the summer!
I found this herbal stuff called NEEM which is utterly amazing. You're supposed to put it on your head, leave it for an hour and wash it out and then do that every day for three days. I put this weird smelling stuff in my dreads, stuck a hat on and reapplied it every day for a week without washing it out and it worked!!!! My dreads were saved....
Anyway, my dreads are doing ok now and I'm happily bug-free and the prospect of bugs no longer terrifies me to the point of avoiding all small children!”
Knotty Melody:
“I've had my dreads for three years now, and my number one concern when I first started my dreads was LICE. I always feared that if I got lice, I would have to cut my precious babies off. Well, about a year and a half with my dreads had passed, and I noticed that my head was itching more than normal. It seems that the people that my brother was rooming with had a bad case of lice, and unfortunately I caught it after sleeping over at his apartment one weekend. I read so many things on the internet about getting rid of lice, and nothing worked. I wasn't going to give up that easily. I went to the store and bought some highly concentrated pet shampoo (for ticks, lice, and nits). My brother suggested that I take a large turkey injector (syringe-type thing) and fill it with the shampoo, and inject each of my dreads and let them sit for an hour or two. Oddly enough, it made sense. And it worked. I rinsed my hair clean, disinfected my pillows/sheets/clothing/hair accessories, and the lice never came back. And even better, I did not have to sacrifice my dreads.”
Knotty Yasmine:
“I love the website. I was surprised that a tried and true method for keeping lice away was not mentioned: a drop of rosemary oil, applied behind each ear, will repel lice naturally. Repeat once a week. If you have lice, rubbing about a teaspoon of oil on your hair will usually drive them away, but since this doesn't kill eggs, you need to keep up the treatment for 1-2 weeks, applying every 2-3 days. Important to note here that this method doesn’t kill the eggs but it is crucial to kill both those nasty nits and their eggs when treating your dreads for lice.”
Knotty Nat:
“This is for those with lice in their dreads!
I have 6 year old dreadlocks,and I came back from central america with a
head infested with jungle lice! I tried everything natural first...tea
tree oil, vinager, even boiling water, then all the lice shampoos on the market...nothing worked. Then, I remembered...my friends' son came home last year from Mexico with a dreaded head FULL of lice...so I called her.
Unfortunately, this is a little bit smelly and chemically, but if nothing works - bleach your hair, and then dye it. It killed everything...on both of us. He had cow lice and I had jungle lice. So last resort...you will not have to shave your dreads. dont do it. Save them!!!!!“

Knotty Vanessa:

"Here is what I did to kill the lice.

1. I reseached the lice, now I understand the way they work.

2. I got all natural tea tree oil shampoo and slept with it in my hair every

night.

3. I went to the doctor and was prescribed super strong lice shampoo, and used it

once a week, for 2 weeks.

My doctor also told me that to defently kill lice and the eggs, you can

suffocate them for 24 hours. He suggested vaseline. I thought yuck vaseline

in my hair for 24 hours, no way. So what I did was I went out and bought a

brick of henna. When I had a free weekend, I went and hid away at my parents

house and left henna in my hair for 24 hours.

4. Washed everything I own and everything in the entire apartment!

I can say that I am officially free of lice, thanks to your website."