Roving care, and hair care and wear.

[Pwny666]

Hi all!

I recently started making and wearing roving dreads, and I have to say they have been the answer I was looking for. Soft, "temporary" dreads, that are easily installed and removed (not to mention fun to make!). My only issues thus far has been the care of said roving, and well, my head!

I leave them in for about a week at a time, this is my 2nd week with them. I have a mohawk, and the dreads are attached to what use to be my mohawk. however, I stopped about 3/4 of the way down my hawk. As my dreads were really poofy and I figured it would look silly if I kept going. Plus it makes it really easy for me to put them up. However, im not really sure how to care for them when they are in my hair! Is it ok to get the roving wet (ish) (not soaked) once they are in? the sides are of my head are shaved, which makes head-wash-time a slight bit easier. I have just been being very careful in the shower not to get them even the slightest bit damp if I can help it. But I cant stand dirty hair >.<
..any tips?

How about aftercare of said roving/ dreads, once they are out? I had been hand washing them and hanging them up on their hanger to dry. Is there a type of soap I could use to make them last longer?

Also!
What is the longest I can keep these in my head for, safely?

pic of my first set, -right after- the very first installation. My boyfriend helped me get the back ones in

[MrsEss]

Well felted roving is actually waterproof, however if yours are poofy, then I'm guessing they'd soak water up - as they dried you have the potential of them starting to stink. They'd lose their palm rolled shape as well, do you could end out with a head full of mess. (I'm imagining a big, felted ball with hair matted in it) you don't have to wash your hair when you're wearing dreads.

I don't understand what you mean about making your dreads last longer by means of a soap?

The search option is your friend here - there are quite a few posts on installation care & different methods people use to wash their scalp.

[Squidgy]

Firstly can I say how amazing your dreads are... I love them and the colours are super cute... if you have not been making them for long then these are fab...

Moving on - I would suggest to you not to get the dreads wet when installed in your hair, wool can take a while to dry out and if it not well felted will start to felt and bind together more when installed... which in turn then dreads your hair even more...

Have a look around the technique and discussion pages and you will find lots of information about care, washing, cleaning, storing etc etc....

Welcome to the forum!!

[Pwny666]

Thanks so much! I really enjoy wearing them, I suppose im just over concerned.
I'm making a few more to add in with these tonight. I'll take a look around the forums here. I just found this site a couple days ago, and its already been loads of help ^.^

[zeara]

I usually instal roving for up to a month. I wear a shower cap when i shower, but once a week i wash my hair with my dreads in. At first i tried not washing my hair at all but my scalp got soooo ichy and gross and scabby. Washing my hair with roving in has never caused any damage to dreads or hair, but my dreads are pretty solid (not poofy at all).

[laura.]

hi all! new member here, but i have a bit of experience with wool, so i thought i'd offer my 2cents.

i have natural dreads that i have extended with wool roving. i put in the extensions in january and now it's almost may - so, 4 months and counting. i wash them twice a week. in my experience, once the roving has been felted you'll have a hard time getting them to felt together in the shower. vigorous washing could get them to tighten up if they're puffy (good or bad, depending on your goal), but i highly doubt you can end up with a big matted mess. my real dreads are far more cannibalistic than the wool is! if your dreads are puffy, they'll definitely soak up a bunch of water. but they can be wrung/pressed out with a towel and left to air dry and shouldn't stink unless you get them wet again without letting them completely dry out first [think mildew]. also, since puffy dreads aren't felted as tightly - they could totally felt up more. not really to each other, but it's possible that your natural hair can get pulled into the wool if it felts up while installed - which could make it difficult or even impossible to take them out later. the best way to avoid that is while you're making them, continue to felt them up until they really don't feel as squishy and puffy. they'll soak up less water in the shower and will be far less likely to take your real hair hostage while installed.

if you're worried about your real hair coming loose at the roots, or the weight of the dreads pulling them down and away from your scalp, you can try putting a nylon stocking over your hair to keep it close to your head and prevent it from getting all messed up in the wash. now that my dreads are a bit more mature, i loosely bind them together with an elastic band. it helps to use a non-shampoo that you don't have to scrub and rub to make a lather (my recipe is at the bottom of this post).

which brings up the issue of shampoo residue. as someone with natural locks, i take care not to allow soap residue build up - which can lead to stinky moldy issues. if you want to be able to wash and wear your roving dreads for an extended period of time, i suggest you treat them like natural dreads (it is just locked up hair, after all).

my "shampoo" - i use a 64oz water bottle with a cap and add a few tablespoons of baking soda, a good squirt of lemon juice and 6-8 drops of tea tree oil. fill with hot water and shake. pour over dry head, taking care to soak the roots and gently massage. rinse thoroughly and you're done. totally removes excess sebum and whatever smells your hair may have absorbed (like smoke!), is ph balanced so as not to irritate your scalp, and smells like tea tree oil - YUM!!!


laura