Showering Without Washing Your Dreads

Ok, so well all know that dreadlocks can be washed as often as you like. I think I've covered that enough by now. But something else that is important is knowing that you can wash the rest of your body between dread-washes.

How often you wash your dreadlocks is down to personal choice. Some people wash theirs once a week and others as often as once every other day. As long as your routine is regular, it doesn't really matter how frequently you wash. If you wash your head every single day then your scalp is going to produce lots of oils to replace the oils you keep washing away each day. If you only wash once a week, then your scalp won't have to produce as much and therefore your head will get used to only being washed once a week. What I don't recommend is showering the rest of your body as infrequently!

Everyone is different, but I personally couldn't wait as long washing my body as I do my dreads. I was my dreads every 2-3 days, but I was the rest of my body at least once a day and no I don't do a complicated sponge bath arrangement, I wash in the shower, like a normal person, every day. How?

You will need:

• T-shirt or thick plastic bag
• Headbands and/or hair-ties
• A shower

If you have a shower with a fixed head (one that is attached to the wall or the ceiling) then I would recommend using a plastic bag. If your shower head is moveable (i.e you can hold it in your hand) then you can get away with just a T-shirt. You're going to simply use them like a shower cap. Choose a plastic bag that will fit all your hair and then use the headbands / hair-ties to make sure it has a tight fit. For the T-shirt method simply pull the shirt over your head and then lift it back - like if you were going to dress as an ancient Egyptian for Halloween but serious scrimped on the costume budget. Then use the headbands / hair-ties to secure your hair up. The T-shirt isn't used so much for deflecting water like the plastic bag, it's just there to hold all your dreads together and stop them getting splashed.

Once you've got your hair all tied up in the bag or shirt you can get on with showering. Easy. This is great for morning showers when you don't want to have a damp head all morning - especially in winter when it's cold!