Anxiety with drying dreads?

[purpledaze]

I just wondered if anyone else goes through this, or if anyone has any advice on how to stop myself obsessing over this? Every time I wash my dreads, I get super anxious that they aren't drying fast enough or that I haven't washed the shampoo out well enough and I'll have residue, etc. Especially when I let them air dry. It's worst just before I go to sleep, because I'm constantly touching my dreads convincing myself they feel damp even though it'll usually have been 7 hours since I washed them. It's just crazy! Any tips on how to stop being so paranoid over getting mold?

[james]

You will not get mould. Never. I'm quite a few years down the line with dreads and they have sometimes taken two days to dry in winter, I wash them and tufts of hair stick out all over the place.
On the original site we had a few folk that said 'break your mirrors', basically don't look. You don't have to do that but it is a neat psychological trick to pass the first bit. Having dreads can be about not worrying if you let it. It's a great thing. I learnt to not care. And when you think it's all gone wrong in two years people start saying 'cool dreads dude or dudette ' and you look at yourself and wonder how these things grew. And as time goes by people with start up dreads look at you and think 'wow', but you still think it's all unreal.
You've already made the big move, it gets better and better, just be yourself. The dreads will take care of themselves. It all makes sense looking back over time, I know it is hard to see it.

[purpledaze]

Aug 21, 2016 23:20:07 GMT james said:

You will not get mould. Never. I'm quite a few years down the line with dreads and they have sometimes taken two days to dry in winter, I wash them and tufts of hair stick out all over the place.
On the original site we had a few folk that said 'break your mirrors', basically don't look. You don't have to do that but it is a neat psychological trick to pass the first bit. Having dreads can be about not worrying if you let it. It's a great thing. I learnt to not care. And when you think it's all gone wrong in two years people start saying 'cool dreads dude or dudette ' and you look at yourself and wonder how these things grew. And as time goes by people with start up dreads look at you and think 'wow', but you still think it's all unreal.
You've already made the big move, it gets better and better, just be yourself. The dreads will take care of themselves. It all makes sense looking back over time, I know it is hard to see it.

Thank you! This put my mind at rest. I'll try to remember this, it must be such a great feeling when you start realising they look mature, and you start getting compliments on them. I can't wait  
Thank you for the great advice, I'm going to try and stop worrying about them so much now and just enjoy seeing them get more and more mature! 

[Deleted]

hey Marnie! *waves

I don't have much to add. I totally agree with that advice...now. ^^ Yeah, I had all sorts of anxieties in the beginning, mostly with cleanliness, maybe not specifically with mold, but of course it crossed my mind (haha actually, my hubby worries more about this now. ...ok, but that's not really helpful. just ignore that. )

uhhh, idk. Just that, I've got plenty of other things to be anxious about so, haha .

Well, just stopping by!

[purpledaze]

Aug 22, 2016 19:41:32 GMT @haircare said:

hey Marnie! *waves

I don't have much to add. I totally agree with that advice...now. ^^ Yeah, I had all sorts of anxieties in the beginning, mostly with cleanliness, maybe not specifically with mold, but of course it crossed my mind (haha actually, my hubby worries more about this now. ...ok, but that's not really helpful. just ignore that. )

uhhh, idk. Just that, I've got plenty of other things to be anxious about so, haha .

Well, just stopping by!

Hey! thanks for replying. Aw, sorry to hear you had anxieties like this too. It's nice to know I'm not alone, though! and I'm sorry to hear that you have a lot of anxieties, I hope they resolve soon haha, well thank you for stopping by, it helped!

[Deleted]

Awe! Well, they've lessened over the years, but you know, I just have good days and bad days...usually, it happens when I say too much or say too less, so...almost always?!? JUST KIDDING  haha  (ok, but now I'm a little anxious again. aye!    )

I'm just being crazy silly though! You know this! But you could probably look around this site and see when I'm anxious and when I've actually got it together. hehe  

[purpledaze]

I just wondered if anyone had any advice. I washed my dreads two days ago, and now a few of them smell like a damp towel. It's not exactly a bad smell, but it's not good either, if you know what I mean, haha. Should I be worried?

[Deleted]

So, idk about the towel smell (havent personally had thos issue) but, something that relieved my anxieties about washing and drying. Make sure your dreads are soaked through with water before you shampoo, so like 10 minutes or so. Then apply the shampoo, make sure it really gets worked in, scrub scalp and after that, scrub dreads and scrub them into the scalp (like 2 to 5 minutes). Then, rinse throughly. Depending how think or long the dreafs are will determine the time. I need...well, still working on that as I still had some shampoo left last time and had to go back under the sink. But maybe another 5 minutes of ringing them out whilst letting the water wash over them.

*haha I feel so, idk "posh" for saying "whilst" (we do not use words like whilst or learnT over here, so...yeah, it still amuses me sometimes )

ok, well hope that helps! Can I ask how long your dreads are now? Have you had a recent update? I thought ours were pretty closein timelines (well, my new partials I mean...I am honestly not even locked enough with those tho to be of much concern yet...but they are coming. Eee! Excited! )

[purpledaze]

Aug 27, 2016 14:53:30 GMT @haircare said:

So, idk about the towel smell (havent personally had thos issue) but, something that relieved my anxieties about washing and drying. Make sure your dreads are soaked through with water before you shampoo, so like 10 minutes or so. Then apply the shampoo, make sure it really gets worked in, scrub scalp and after that, scrub dreads and scrub them into the scalp (like 2 to 5 minutes). Then, rinse throughly. Depending how think or long the dreafs are will determine the time. I need...well, still working on that as I still had some shampoo left last time and had to go back under the sink. But maybe another 5 minutes of ringing them out whilst letting the water wash over them.

*haha I feel so, idk "posh" for saying "whilst" (we do not use words like whilst or learnT over here, so...yeah, it still amuses me sometimes )

ok, well hope that helps! Can I ask how long your dreads are now? Have you had a recent update? I thought ours were pretty closein timelines (well, my new partials I mean...I am honestly not even locked enough with those tho to be of much concern yet...but they are coming. Eee! Excited! )

That sounds like a good idea! Thank you for the help. My dreads keep shrinking and now they're just above my chest, but they used to be just past my chest, I'm hoping they don't shrink above my shoulders through because it'd be weird not being back to tie them back. I like that they're maturing, though! By the way I'm sorry I haven't replied to your message yet, I need to start using tapatalk again, it's much easier to reply to messages on here when I use that, I hope you don't mind

[jxbx]

Aug 27, 2016 14:31:14 GMT purpledaze said:

I just wondered if anyone had any advice. I washed my dreads two days ago, and now a few of them smell like a damp towel. It's not exactly a bad smell, but it's not good either, if you know what I mean, haha. Should I be worried?

I get this once in a while and it's usually when I need a fresh towel.

If you're in a damp place, it will help if you can run your "dread" towel in the dryer prior to use. Just put it in there before you shower. Use two towels to dry if you're not doing so already. One for you, one for your dreads.

[Deleted]

purpledaze I dont think u gotta worry about them being too short to pull back. Mine shrunk way morethan that but was still able to pull them back...well...all but one...but there are hairclips for that.
Also, I dont mind u dont message so much. I like chatting here too cuzit IS easier on the mobile. I justmissya whenyou don't talk for awhile. You are sweet girl.

[purpledaze]

Aug 27, 2016 20:14:03 GMT @haircare said:

purpledaze I dont think u gotta worry about them being too short to pull back. Mine shrunk way morethan that but was still able to pull them back...well...all but one...but there are hairclips for that.
Also, I dont mind u dont message so much. I like chatting here too cuzit IS easier on the mobile. I justmissya whenyou don't talk for awhile. You are sweet girl.

Oh, that's a relief! I'm gonna update my timeline soon since they'll be 3 months on the 29th, yay and aw, I miss messaging you! I'll try and get one sent tonight. And the shrinkage is happening so fast! I thought I wouldn't hardly lose any length until after 6 months but I've already lost a few inches!

[purpledaze]

Aug 27, 2016 16:46:31 GMT jxbx said:

Aug 27, 2016 14:31:14 GMT purpledaze said:

I just wondered if anyone had any advice. I washed my dreads two days ago, and now a few of them smell like a damp towel. It's not exactly a bad smell, but it's not good either, if you know what I mean, haha. Should I be worried?

I get this once in a while and it's usually when I need a fresh towel.

If you're in a damp place, it will help if you can run your "dread" towel in the dryer prior to use. Just put it in there before you shower. Use two towels to dry if you're not doing so already. One for you, one for your dreads.

Thank you! This put my mind at rest, I was panicking that I hadn't dried them properly. I'll remember that advice, too, I've only been using one towel!
Thank you for responding