Hello everybody, new dreadhead here. I've had my dreads for exactly one month now. I did the rip and twist method and so far everything is going pretty good. I had a quick question, and I searched around the forums for a while but couldn't find an answer. When I wash my hair of course it takes a good while for them to dry completely. What I do is first towel dry them (I don't rub them with the towel or anything just kind of squeeze the towel on my head), and then wrap them up for a little while with the towel. Like 5mins or so. Then I palm roll them a little to try and squeeze most of the water out of them. After that its pretty much a combination of blow drying and sitting around and letting it air dry. I just take turns with that for like 3hrs. My question is, Ive read about mold being produced with not drying your dreads properly, and even after like 3hrs of drying them, I can still squeeze the thicker ones and they still feel a little damp. Can this turn into a problem?? Bc to be honest if I'm suppose to be drying them until they're COMPLETELY dry, geez luiz who knows how long that would take! haha Im just worried about the whole mold in the dread thing. So any info would be appreciated. Thanks. And PS: This forum is awesome...glad I found it.
I usually sling my dreads when I get out of the shower to kinda whip the water out of them... kinda like a dog shaking dry lol... then I towel dry... I squeeze and actually do rub around in a circular motion... pretty hard too. I've found it to be the best time to get hair to tangle more. Then I blowdry until dry, which doesn't take very long after the slinging and towel drying. And then I rip (like I said, the towel rubbing really gets them to lock up better. I'd say the slinging gets the most water out... try it out.
My method goes a little something like this. 1. Wash hair 2. pat with towel 3. Sit around, sit around, sit around... sit up sit up and sit down
Personally, I wouldn't say it was a problem IF you are letting them dry completely in between washes. It's when they are constantly wet is when it's gonna cause mould. At one month into dreading I wouldn't say it'd take long at all to dry. Try wrapping your dreads into a towel for an hour after squeezing the excess water out and then hair drying. Works for me and I have some meaty bastard dreads. Dreads feeling 'a little damp' after three hours is normal. I often go to bed with slightly damp dreads it's nothing to worry over, if you do want them bone dry though try a walk or car ride with the windows wound down.
I used TnR and have had no problem.. Hell, it dries faster than it used to before I did this to my hair. And I have like shoulder length hair.
i just wrap mine in atowel for a lil while, they usually stay wet for a while, even when i go to bed, but i have a fan pointed at head all night, cant sleep without it, by morning they are dry.. the fan thing is a bad habit, been using it for like 20 yrs, if i go camping or stay elsewere i do not sleep because i have no fan and i need that noise,, and humming myself to sleep just isnt the same..lol
I wring mine out like a rag, then wrap in a towel while I put lotion on my face and bod.. then take em down and forget em.. they're dry in like 20 mins if I go outside!
Thanks everyone. Yea, I usually just go to sleep after I give them a good amount of time to dry up. But its just certain ones that are a tad bit damp after so long. But yea by morning they're perfectly dry. I guess I kind of figured that was ok, but wanted to hear it from people that have had their dreads for a long time already. Peace of mind I guess. Thanks again.
Usually I do about the same that I did when my hair wasn't dreaded... that being, I get out of the shower and wrap my hair up in a towel (kinda like a turban), sit around in a towel for a few hours (between 1 and two..needless to say I never shower and wash my dreads when I have pressing matters to attend to xP) and then take my hair down, squeeze out the dreads gently, and then sit around a bit more. It usually only takes another hour or two for the dreads to dry to about 90%, and by the end of the night they are completely dry. I can't stand sleeping with wet hair, so sleep just isn't even an option until my dreads have dried.
like they said, as long as they dry before your next wash you have nothing to worry about. i fling mine around like tenshi if im outside (those droplets travel a long way lol) or i just wrap in a towel (and usually again with a dry towel) till they dont drip and then try to ignore them. unless im outside and its warm, they wont be dry till the next day.
I also used twist and rip. I will be doing my first wash on Monday. My plan is to dry my hair like I did before. Wash, rinse, wring, sling, wring with towel, let sit in town for a few, let it go. I started with thin straight hair and it never took much time for my hair to dry before. My baby dreads are pretty skinny, I'm excited to see how much time it takes them to dry. Good luck, let us know what works best for you!
