~Written by MoonShyne

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Dread wax. Where do I begin? Well, I suppose I can start at the point when I was first introduced to the horrors of dread wax.

Back in 2001, my husband decided to dread his hair. This was pretty new to us, so we decided to look up dreadlocks online....the first website we came across was probably the same site many of you also first stumbled upon, though I won't be naming names here. They did offer what seemed to be a very efficient backcombing method, and that's what we did. However, I was suspicicious of the wax from the very beginning and had already read several horror stories, so we decided to omit the wax. It didn't take long for his back-combed fuzz-locks to turn into tight dreadlocks and everyone we knew was extremely jealous. Serveral folks I knew suddenly wanted dreadlocks too, and decided to purchase so called "dread kits" from the unnamed website I mentioned before. I was stuck with the unfortunate task of dreading everyone's hair, since I was apparently so good at the backcombing method. At their own insistence, I did end up using wax on all of those new baby dreads...just a tiny amount, something less than the size of a pea per dread (which were around 6-8 inches long). I must admit, the wax gave the appearance of instant dreads, whereas my husband had to wait several weeks for his own dreadlocks to mature.

But that didn't last long. Almost overnight, all of those waxy dreads started to collect dust, lint and debris, and the wax made it very difficult to wash that stuff out. I was also noticing during weekly maintenance that the waxy locks never seemed to tighten, and also never really seemed to get completely dry after washing. The wax itself was also becoming a major problem, since it seemed nearly impossible to wash away, and applying more of it weekly or even bi-weekly was causing it to cake up inside of the dreads. I didn't like touching them. Finally, after just a few months, the first set of waxy dreadlocks began to smell moldy, and the owner cut them off. It wasn't long after that when the rest followed suit, and in the end the only one left with dreadlocks was my husband, the only person who hadn't used wax.

No doubt you may have heard from others about how "dirty" dreadlocks are. Our own FAQ's tackle this rumor several times, trying to dispel this myth. There is no doubt in my mind that many, if not most of these rumors are a direct result of the use of dreadlock wax. I've known too many people who have used it and end up ruining their hair, and I've read this same story from many, many people online.

This is what wax really does. (website has larger views of the below photos) 

And if case the visual isn't enough, I'll go ahead and explain it too. While wax may make your hair LOOK like dreadlocks, it also keeps your hair from moving. Newly forming dreadlocks need friction, they need movement to encourage knotting, which leads to tightly formed, mature locks. Wax keeps that from happening, meaning that while your "dreads" may LOOK tight and awesome in the beginning, they'll never really mature. Wax also is sticky, so naturally all those little airborn particles floating around get stuck in your hair....along with various bits of lint, and if you spend anytime outdoors you'll likely end up with whatever is out there as well. This happens to all of us, but normal washing is enough to deal with it. However, water just beads right off of wax, making it very difficult to wash out all the things sticking to it.

Wax itself does not simply wash away, so the more you use, even in small amounts, the more it'll build up inside of your hair, causing the sort of problems you see above. This brings us to our next issue with wax...water. Wax creates a barrier that traps water, so every time you take a shower, or get caught in the rain, that moisture get trapped inside of the dreadlock with no way to escape. Dark, moist places create the perfect environment for mold and mildew, which not only smells bad, but may also be bad for your health. This is not to say that wax is entirely evil, it can be useful in very small amounts to help tame those occasional crazy stray hairs you might have sticking up, and many people have used it sparingly with good results. But when used as promoted and directed, wax can and does kill dreadlocks.

So at this point, you may be asking yourself, "If this is all true, then why do these websites and companies sell wax?" The answer is simple...wax=money. These websites exist entirely to sell you something, whether it's the wax, or an overpriced bottle of salt water. They spread misinformation, and they intentionally word their websites in ways to imply that anything other than "their way" is wrong. For instance, the term "neglect method" (which many of us here at Dreadlock Truth now refer to as the 'Patience Method'), referring to natural, non-waxy dreads, seems to be a term they invented in order to give the appearance that you are somehow neglecting your hair if you choose to not use a product. If you look through their websites, you'll find many such instances of this intentionally misleading information. One site's FAQ even goes as far as to say that it's normal for dreadlocks to be full of sludge and that it isn't a problem as long as it's pretty on the outside. Your dreadlocks aren't much different from your body though, meaning it's important to be healthy inside and out.

But that kind of misinformation spreads easily. I can't tell you how many times I've had complete strangers approach me or my husband just to tell us we're doing it wrong, or act shocked to find out that we do not use wax....the common question after that is, "how do you get them to stick together then?" One of the unnamed sites has even set up a FAQ to downplay the wax issues, but their FAQ fails to cover any problems, and instead simply tries to discredit non-waxers with petty name-calling and insults.

The truth is, no matter what you may have heard or read from another person or website, wax is absolutely not nessecary at any point during the locking process. It does absolutely nothing to help speed up the formation of locks, and in many cases has created nothing more than a waxy, sticky, stinking mess of hair. And it doesn't matter how they try to write these truths off, or how they try to label these facts as the rants of anti-business guys or crazy caveman "neglectors", the fact remains that the people on this website will never have to chop off their lovely locks due to their wax.




Unfortunately, many people don't find out the truth about dreadlock wax until after they've already purchased and used it. There's no need to panic though, you dreads can still be saved!

The most efficient method of removing dread wax, though probably also the most unpopular, is to simply brush out your new dreads, wash all the wax out (this may take several washings, depending on how much wax is used) and simply start over. Yeah, we're not too fond of this idea, but if your dreads are brand new, less than a week or two, they can easily be combed out and your hair can be cleaned thoroughly. Like I said, this isn't the most popular method. But it is an option, and it works, so I'm including it.

Now, another option is to melt the wax out of your hair. There is more than one way to do this. One way to melt it out is to wash and soak your dreads in very hot water, as hot as you can stand. You'll likely need to do this several times, but you should notice a definite improvement. Another method of melting is by using a blow dryer. This takes a while because you have to work with one dread at a time, but I've read about other people using this method with fantastic results. Hold your blow dryer so that it blows parallel with your dread instead of directly into it, you don't want to melt the wax deeper into the dreadlock. Using a dry towel, rub away the melted wax as much as you can. Personally, I believe that using a combination of these two steps (hot water+blow dryer) would have the fastest results.

Of course, deep cleaning is also a nessecary step in helping to remove all the dirt and debris attracted by the wax. Kyndmama's deep cleaning concoction really does work wonders for your hair. The before and after shot from one of our members really speaks for itself.