How Often Do I Wash My Dreadlocks?

How Often Do I Wash My Dreadlocks?

So here’s a question that comes up a lot - “how often do you wash your dreadlocks?”This one gets asked both my deadheads who are trying to get some idea as to how often they should wash their own hair, of course as well as non-dreadheads who are not always entirely certain that I do wash my dreadlocks!

Ok, so first off, yes I most certainly do wash my dreadlocks. Personally I wash my dreadlocks every 2nd or 3rd day, somewhere between two to three times a week. When you tell people this they’re often a little taken back as two to three times a week is not really all that unreasonable - I know people with unlocked hair who wash theirs less frequently than that, and washing hair more frequently than that is often stated to be unhealthy for the hair. The washing process isn’t all that special or complicated, I just hop in the shower, lather up some shampoo, work it in, then rinse it out… probably pretty similar to how anyone else would wash any other hair. There are slight differences, I use dreadlock-specific shampoos that wash out easier than regular off the shelf shampoos, but they still do the same job - you can even use them on regular unlocked hair to check that claim out.

Now I’d say I wash mine a little more regularly than the average, one to two times a week seems to be what most people go for. There’s no strict rule that states you have to wash them a certain number of times per week, or per month, it’s a very individual decision. You see most people will wash their hair when it begins to feel greasy or oily, rather than specifically dirty - if you actually wash your hair less often, your head stops producing as many oils, and so it takes longer for your hair to get greasy, and so you can go longer between washes. I wash every 2 to 3 days because that’s what my head is used to, if I wanted to wash only once a week, well for a couple of weeks it may feel like my hair was a little oiler than usual, but after that I’d get used to it and I’d be perfectly able to go a week between each wash. People are going to make decisions as to how often they wash their hair depending on their personal situation - how much time they’re able to spend washing and drying their hair each week - and how physically dirty their hair gets in a week - relaxing your washing schedule will reduce issues related to greasy / oily hair, but won’t actually protect them from any dust, dirt or sweat that your hair may encounter.

So there we go, hope that cleared that one up. Two to three times a week works for me, but it might not work for you, it may take some trial and error to find the right balance - but the same can be said for any other type of hair.