April 1st will be 1 year for me going neglect. i have not had any big issues with my hair until this week. They are smelling really bad. I have tried a few different things i have found on this site and other that is said to help get rid of the smell. Nothing seems to be working. I wash my hair about every 3 days now and my girlfriend blow drys my hair so that they are dry all the way. for some reason, this week when she was doing this she noticed the awful smell. she wants me to take them out and start over with backcombing, i do not want to start over with any method. i have gone neglect for close to a year and i am really happy with the results. so does anyone know how i can get rid of the smell? i know a lot of people have said Apple Cinder Ving. but that didnt help.
i had a similar problem with my last set but sadly i didnt find a solution i just used some body spray to cover it up good luck tho
Sorry Raven I don't know what to suggest except rosemary soaks and tea tree oil to get rid of the, I presume, mouldy smell.
its kinda a moldy smell. from everything i can find, its due to me wearing my hair up after i get out of the shower in the mornings to go to work. i have found one thing i havent not tried yet, someone on another site said to use neutralizing shampoo, then the acv rinse then lemon juice / water mixture. i am going to try that, if that dont work, i guess that i am going to have to start all over (very sad thought)
I hope you don't have to start over and hope the neutralising shampoo works. If you do have to start again don't wash your hair just before work to give it a chance to dry
i have no idea how to get the smell out, but i would try everything from peroxide, rubbing alcohol, gasoline, etc before i combed/cut
I really hope you find something that works. I cannot see how backcombing would have produced different results if the smell is from them not drying properly. It would happen all over again. Please keep us updated on how you remove the smell. Surely something will work.
thanks everyone, i am getting off work at 2 today so that i can try a few other things. lol NP, i dont know if gasoline would help any but i am def going to try everything that i can b4 i restart. i was even told about some kinda a shampoo for dogs that get smells out. i will keep everyone updated and maybe i will find something that will work
I personally don't think any shampoos are really going to help. I would go with baking soda and lots of tea tree oil, yeah it's a bitch when you have to tie them back when they're not really dry. Good luck.
I agree with merrivale, I don't think any shampoo is going to get rid of the problem, it may cover the stench. I'd do lots of tea tree oil, baking soda, and vinegar washes. I know vinegar washes mold off my walls and so does baking soda. You just have to scrub and let it soak for a good long time.
I asked a friend of mine about this, she had the same problem a couple weeks ago. Gotta figure the smell is from "something" not being "ok" What can cause odd smells in dreads? Obviously mold, mildew... but bacteria etc, as well. Some people boast about never using shampoos, only washing with water. Personally, I cant see that being helpful. Going 100% natural doesn't mean you cant shampoo. The "deep cleanse" suggested by so many, is good. But figure what its doing, its vinegar, its simply stripping out product build ups. Vinegar in products such as Window/Glass cleaner because it helps cut/remove oil from surfaces. What my friend did was use a "clarifying" all natural shampoo. (assuming that does what the deep cleanse does) Then she used a astringent in a spray bottle for a few weeks. Most would say tea tree, but that's a oil. Right now I think if I were you I'd stay away from anything with oils as they would lock in your problem. She used watered down "sea breeze" astringent. Astringents will kill the mold and break down loose materials making it easier to rinse it out. She said she sprayed it on her locks before and after washing them... and in about a week they were fine again. I personally think too, from my own experiences that its hard to fully rinse your locks. So many times I get out of the shower and I can hear bubbles of soap in my hair when I towel it off. So rinsing with high pressure and alot of squeezing, especially on mature locks, is important. Hope this sounds better then gasoline!
I think its cus you are washing so often, mine barely dries over a day so maybe if you spread your washings out it will get better. Or get rid of it first and then spread your washing out to twice or once a week Good luuucckk
try witch hazel... it comes in a bottle and its like 20% alcohol. find it next to the hydrogen peroxide in the grocery store. it should clean you up in one wash. you might want to dilute it.
wash in tomato juice. it's what you're supposed to use when you get sprayed by a skunk. if it can get skunk smell out it better fucking get mold smell out. or you can use feminine douche LOL (only reason I say that is my step-mom uses that on our dog who seems to continuously think skunks are his BBFs)- apparently it also removes nasty ass smells hahahaha. People will probably give you a very strange look when you buy this though.
heres an good update, i washed with neutralizing shampoo, blow dried them completely then used 3 lemons and left that in for about one hour, washed again with the shampoo then used 3 cups of ACV to 2 cups water and left that in for about 1-1:15 then i washed again with the shampoo. spent about 1 hour blow drying them all the way. The horrible smell is gone! there is a small acv smell but i can live with that. thanks everyone for their help. if that didnt work i was going to try using hair bleach and bleaching the hell out of it lol
