Residue in Dreadlocks

Residue is quite a common occurrence in dreadlocks. If you use a non-residue free shampoo or use too much shampoo and don't rinse thoroughly enough you can quite quickly find that residue is left behind inside the dreadlock. This residue coats the hairs inside which makes the dreads less bendy and also makes it harder for other soap to pass through, so you get more and more building up.

Dreadlock residue becomes noticeable at the tips of the dreads. The residue runs downward inside the dreadlock with the water that runs out when you're washing your hair. The residue coats hairs at the tip of the dreadlock with a sort of sticky coating that causes dust/lint to stick to it. If you look at your dreadlock and carefully pull a tip apart just a fraction so you can see inside it and see that there's some grey fluff - don't worry, it's just lint held in with a bit of residue! Sometimes it's more easily noticeable as with really whispy tips you can get lint sticking to the outside of the dread.

I'll shortly be following this video up with info on removing the residue and how to try and avoid it in the future.