I realize that I never wrote a post about actually getting dreads, but here’s my post about getting rid of them. To summarize, and to use one of my friend’s phrases, taking out dreads hurts like a flaming bitch. I have no idea what that means, I just felt like saying it. Seriously though, it really hurts. It involves a lot of shampoo, conditioner, combs, and a lot of picking apart knots. Some of them have to be cut off. Lots of hair is pulled out in the process. It really hurts.
But nevertheless, my hair is almost dread-free, and no shaving of my scalp was required, as everyone said it would be. Check it out:
BEFORE
AFTER
The change in the lighting shows how long it took to remove almost all of the dreads. All day. But now I have silky smooth hair again (except for in the back, im still working in that…)
nice 🙂
Im keeping mine.
I have a question about having dreads. Are they comfortable to sleep on, or are you now more comfortable without them? Do you think you will ever have them again?
Honestly, it didn’t feel that different to sleep in. Only when they’re first solidifying, and you wear rubber bands on them all the time – then they stick up a bit, but even then, it wasn’t uncomfortable for sleeping.
The real problem was just that the upkeep was too much for me. My hair is too thick for it to naturally frizz up like is required for dreads, so it was just too much work to keep them together. Maybe some day I would consider going back, but for now I’m fine without them 🙂
I wonder if having dreads, please don’t take this question negatively but didn’t your head acquired parasitic organisms like lice? Cause I think, with that kind of hair and for having it for a long span of time, heat and moist of the scalp will attract parasites, and it will give you a parasitic disease called pediculosis (headlice), and might be associated with fungal disease called dandruffs. It is unhealthy for your head.
I can understand why you would think those things, and at one point that was certainly all true (they say Bob Marley had 9 different kinds of lice in his dreads when he died), but nowadays I think most dread-heads keep their hair much cleaner than they used to. When I had my dreads, I used a special shampoo that was designed for dreadlocks, that could clean the hair without de-frizzing or de-tangling it. I think that as long as you keep the dreads clean, you wouldn’t have anything more to worry about with dreadlocks than you would otherwise, with regular hair.
Never knew taking out dreads was going to be that painful, but you survived! And it’s a relief to know that it’s actually possible without having to shave your scalp. If it took all day to take them out, how long did it take you to do them?