Dread Wax

A good dread wax with a nice strong hold is key to great dreadlocks. When you use wax use a small amount at a time and work it in completely. Wax holds the hair together and facilitates the locking process. Stay away from waxes that contain petroleum as they generally do more harm than good. Some waxes are enriched with vitamins and nutrients that help the hair grow strong and prevent breakage. Dread Head HQ makes an excellent all natural dread wax that we recommend for starting and maintaining dreads.

Dread Cream

Wax is great for starting dreadlocks in straight hair textures that need lots of hold, but it is often thicker than necessary and hard to apply to highly textured hair types. Creams are usually better suited to textured hair which needs less hold. Specialized loc creams focus on keeping the hair properly moisturized and giving the hair the nutrients it needs to form strong, healthy locs. Avoid creams that contain petroleum. They tend to lubricate the hair and slow the dreading process. Knatty Dread makes a nutrient rich loc product that provides nutrients while helping locs look their best.

Dread Shampoo

There are very few shampoos and soaps on the market that work well for dreadlocks. Nearly every natural shampoo available leaves some type of fragrance residue or herbal remedy behind in the hair. Ironically many of these additives can inhibit hair growth by suffocating follicles and cause problems such as itching and dry scalp. Residue build up is more of a problem for those with dreads because hair can be very thick at the scalp and hold much more residue than straight hair. This is why we recommend washing dreads only in residue free soaps and shampoos. These shampoos will also help dreads get tighter than they otherwise could by removing residue from the strand themselves. Clean strands can lock tighter and faster than those that carry residue. Dread Head's Dread Soap is the best we have seen. It leaves hair truly clean allowing dreads to tighten completely looking full and healthy.

Dread Combs

Dread combs are used for starting dreads using the backcombing method. They need to be strong so the bristles to not bend or snap off while you are using it. Plastic combs generally don't work very well. The bristles should be close together and they need be be able to slide in and out of the hair easily.

Beads

Beads are great for decorating dreads. You can get wood beads with the right size hole and just slip them on. Some people use hot glue to get them to stay if they are a little too big. You can also get hand blown Pyrex beads that slip on the dreads. They look great but they are usually about $35 a piece.

Peyote Stitches

Peyote satiates are little sleeves made of lots of tiny beads that make up a design. They are usually about 1/2" long and big enough to fit snugly around a dread. They look great and add a lot of color to your dreads.

Tams

Tams are crocheted hats made for holding dreadlocks. They look cool and keep dreads out of the way and out of site. Nice for at work or out to dinner with the family.