How To Keep Dreads Dry While Swimming

Getting your dreads dry after you lot wash them is super important. If you lot permit them stay moisture on the inside they will abound mildew and offset to stink, this is called "dread rot". Lots of people have cutting their dreads considering they couldn't get the smell to go away, this is not fun, especially since it always happens later on on, later on the dreads are mature. Subsequently you've worked difficult to make your dreads kick arse the final matter you desire to exercise is cutting them!

Equally dreads tighten and mature they e'er dry more slowly, fifty-fifty if no residues are present. (Residues just compound the issue and brand things tougher.) When your dreads are new you tend to class an expectation for how long your dreads volition take to dry. Y'all don't consciously do it, but afterward some experimentation you effigy out what y'all need to do to get them dry in a reasonable amount of time.

This is commonly quite easy when dreads are new. New dreads may only take a trivial longer to dry then your regular pilus did.

Very often we terminate thinking about how long they are staying wet after a month or and then but they continue to tighten and drying continues to slow down until they reach maturity. If you're not conscientious they volition sit down wet longer and longer and somewhen dread rot becomes a existent threat. Just beingness aware of how like shooting fish in a barrel this can happen volition hopefully help you lot remember to check on them, and become a long way to preventing problems.

Why do dreadlocks dry so slowly?

Because the hair inside dreads is packed together then tightly, very niggling air can circulate through the dread and assistance it dry. Fortunately dreads naturally wick much of their water towards the tips. With the help of gravity the majority of the water volition find information technology's way downwards to the tip and drip off.

Have you ever noticed if you squeeze the water off of the tips of mature dreads they are full of water and dripping again seconds later as the water wicks right back into them. You can also squeeze a agglomeration of them tightly together and concur them near the tips to get a steady stream of water for over a infinitesimal! Ok, so I was bored.

This wicking helps become the insides dry out but it'south like shooting fish in a barrel for dreads to loose some of their wicking power.

As a adept dread....um...parent...in that location are two things y'all can exercise to make sure yous never have to deal with dread rot.

1) Ever go them as dry as you can.

You demand to become every bit much of the h2o out as possible later you wash them. Don't e'er let them sit wet. Drippy dreads are no fun anyway. Here'south a routine that volition go your dreads dry and never leave you drippy:

Phase i, In the shower:

Drying starts while you're still in the shower, earlier yous even grab a towel. Go ahead and wring them out. You tin can do this in several groups of 20 dreads or so. For long dreads, offset college up squeezing the water out of the higher part start so lower and lower until y'all reach the tips.

Water will keep to wick it'southward way though the dreads toward the tips. After you wring them out wait 10 seconds or and then and wring out the tips again. In mature dreads you'll notice them full of water again. Do this until you lot can't get steady drips, maybe 3 or 4 times. I've besides constitute that shaking them a fleck volition bring water to the tips faster - it's fun too, just be sure not to give yourself whip-lash!

Next yous want to echo this wringing out with a towel wrapped effectually them. Just put the towel over your hands and wring them out as you did earlier. This volition suck more of the water out of the dread. Wait again and repeat.

If you are outside you can swing your dreads in a large smooth arc to help get the water to the tips faster. Yous can also soak friends that are like 15 feet away! =] Within, this is usually not the best idea. Squeeze the tips of the dreads over again with the towel to get more water out.

Stage ii, the wrap:

Now that seventy%-80% of the water is out you motility on to phase two. At this point, if you're pressed for fourth dimension, the hair dryer is your all-time bet. With the majority of the h2o out of the way it should be much easier to dry them. If they are mature and thicker it'south doubtful you lot'll exist able to go them 100% dry only you will be able to get the exterior of them dry out and that will assist the inside dry much faster.

An alternative to the hair dryer is to wrap them up in another dry out towel. The towel will continue to suck the h2o out. You lot tin can remove the towel subsequently 10 minutes, flip it over and then the dry side is facing the dreads, and wearable it again for 10 or fifteen min. while yous eat and go ready to go to work/school or some other place to bear witness off your actually clean dreads. =]

If you detect that over time your dreads are taking longer to dry you'll need to spend some more time with the hair dryer in this footstep. This can happen with both thick and thin dreads and so be sure that they are getting dry out and keep an heart on how long information technology takes.

Stage three, air dry out or pilus dryer:

At this point yous have virtually 85% of the water out. This is expert just there is notwithstanding plenty water inside the dread that it can crusade problems. You would non want to necktie them upwardly or put them in a hat, or exercise anything else that would slow down the rest of their drying. Afterwards several hours of air drying in low to medium low humidity (or about 10 min with a dread dryer) they should be proficient to get.

For a long time I opted for the air dry out choice. I put upward with semi-damp dreads for hours and I worried about them not getting dry out fast enough. Information technology actually fabricated washing my dreads a real pain and sometimes I'd put off washing them so I wouldn't have to bargain with drying them. I also had some close calls when they ended upwards sitting wet for far too long because of humidity or other factors.

In the end what I've come to is that a good dread dryer (a hair dryer that works for dreads) is an of import dread tool. Time and time again information technology will be the deviation between leaving them "a bit drippy" or getting them dry enough they'll never have a problem, and it tin do it fast.

There's a lot to consider when you lot're picking out a dread dryer. It needs to take a oestrus setting that doesn't roast your pilus and it needs plenty of air period. Bravado air through a dread is no piece of cake task. I've also found that the right diffuser can forbid the dyer from overheating while making the shape of the air wider and much meliorate for drying dreads.

You can tell I have my dread dryer pretty seriously. Multiple fan speeds and heat settings, dual fans, a diffuser, turbo, It'south similar the sports automobile of dread dryers. =] I got in on Amazon and it was only about $10 more a cheap-o dryer. I'm sure it's saved my dreads from the rot monster more than than once cause it gets dreads dry out fast!. This is a dread tool you won't regret it a bit.

I know this probably all sounds like over-kill to anyone with new dreads (or with super sparse dreads that dry faster), merely now you know how to get them dry out even if they are thick and mature.

Other tips:

I like to wash my dreads before bed. In the morning they are all poofy and they wait crazy thick since they dry out without the weight of the dread pulling them down. If you do this make sure you use a dread dryer and get them like 99% dry.
Humidity is a big factor. Winter months, when we run more estrus, should reduce drying times. If you live in a very humid area you'll need to be extra conscientious to go your dreads dry. You should besides consider starting smaller dreads if yous haven't started them yet.
If you have combined a few dreads and you have some big congos that are style larger than the rest, pay close attention to them and make sure they are drying properly.
A tight bead can get in difficult for a dread to dry out correct under the bead. If you lot exit beads on your dreads all the time you lot should slide them way up the dread afterwards a shower where they are loose so the dread can dry before you put the bead dorsum in place.

2) Proceed'em Free of Residues

After getting the majority of the h2o out your second responsibleness is to go along your dreads clean on the within so they dry faster and keep to wick properly. This is pretty piece of cake, just avert using shampoo that leaves residues in your dreads.

At that place are a lot of people using Castile soaps/shampoos and other handmade soaps to wash their dreads. Depending on how they deal with the residues left behind this could crusade large problems later on. These soaps are all based on the same traditional soap technology, which means they are all partially converted to free fatty acids when they mix with the metal ions that occur in h2o. These fatty acids are not very soluble in water and they remain as residue (aka soap scum as seen in bathtubs & sinks as "soap rings" ). These residues don't do anything at get-go, but as they are repeatedly beingness deposited in your dreads they are slowly increasing the time information technology takes for the center of the dread to dry. Not the all-time situation. If breeding dread rot is not your goal, yous demand to avoid regular Castle soaps and other shampoos that leave rest. Our dread Soap is unique because it is with coconut surfactants. These surfactants are much more than efficient cleaners than traditional oil and fat soaps and they don't produce the scummy precipitates that traditional soaps do.

Go along in heed that residue does non build up overnight or anything so if you lot have to wash your dreads with regular shampoo at some point, information technology'southward not like you lot're dreads are going to instantly get stinky and autumn off... Also, until the dreads are pretty mature they are not tight enough for drying to be a problem, residuum or not. People rarely take a problem with dread rot until their dreads are six months old or older. Finally, if your dreads are uber sparse they won't have enough hair for drying to be a trouble, so dread rot will exist less of a worry but you yet need to be enlightened that it can happen and make certain they continue to dry quickly. The dreads volition tighten and mature faster and more than completely if they are cleaner which is a big help for sparse dreads since getting them tight is more than challenging.