One week down!

Hopefully your friends and family love your new locks as much as you do. (Doubters can be directed here.) If you've been keeping up with your backcombing and palm rolling, your hair should still be in nicely sectioned cylinders from the root. Don't worry about them getting fuzzy or if there's loose hair. Just keep up the routine and they'll start holding together better in no time.

Maintenance Techniques

Once you've hit the One Week milestone, it's time to dispel the #1 Most Common Dreadlock Myth by adding shampoo *gasp!* to your maintenance routine. Proven fact: washing hair and scalp is a simple and necessary step in the process of achieving sweet dreads. Washing keeps scalps buildup-free and tingly fresh, tightens up backcombing and leaves locks smelling totally delicious! Get a good, gentle scrub going at the roots with the Bar or Liquid Shampoo, but avoid soaping the full length of your dreads. Just give that scalp a careful rinse, and the sudsy water will clean them just fine with less trauma to delicate, new locks. Use a towel or blower to dry thoroughly. Once there's no trace of dread dampness, you can start up your backcombing and palm rolling. From here on out, washing about once a week is recommended.

Helpful Products for This Stage

 

 

 

Dreadlock Shampoo

Oily roots won't lock, and buildup can lead to irritation, breakage or worse. Start your locks off right with our residue-free Dreadlock Shampoos for squeaky-clean locks that look, smell and feel amazing.

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Natural MISTic Lock Deodorizer & Fragrance Spray

You've got a hot date tonight, but after working a double shift in the kitchen there's no way you can go out smelling like the lunch special! No worries, just spray a little MISTic into your locks to refresh and instantly rid them of clinging odours.

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TIPS

1. If you've chosen to use Knotty Boy Dread Wax to maintain those lovely locks, keep in mind that reapplication should be done only as needed - not just "every day". When in doubt, give one dread a good palm roll. If the hair holds together in a proper dreadlock shape without a ton of loose hair flying around, you probably have enough Wax in there for now. Use your judgment; too much Wax is far more of a problem than too little. You can always add more later.

2.The lather of typical salon or drugstore-bought shampoos is usually achieved with sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate, a powerful chemical foaming agent which, in fact, contributes nothing at all to the cleaning process. However, the ever-popular, all natural Knotty Boy Liquid Dreadlock Shampoo contains no such chemicals, so it is important to note that while it will leave your head clean and minty fresh, it won't be giving you any huge, soapy bathtub mohawks. Fortunately, for those of us who still crave the traditional sudsy experience, luxurious bubbles are a naturally-occurring phenomenon in the Knotty Boy Dreadlock Shampoo Bars!