10.19
Q. Can I bleach or dye my dreads, and should I do it before or after I lock up?
A. You can bleach or dye before or after you dread your hair, it don’t matter.
Before is better, if possible, cuz it will be easier to do without your hair all locked up. Coloring before will also help to fry the hair, which will help the dreading process. It’s not difficult to dye or bleach once your dreads are in, though, just proceed as you would with normal hair and really squish the dye out when washing. It’s up to you.
Just make sure that your dreads are strong enough to handle the action, which could be up to 3 months or more after you put them in, and don’t use any dreadlock wax in there for a while cuz the bleach/dye might not take to it very well. You’d have to wait until the dreads are really tight and together.
There isn’t a specific bleaching product that I recommend over another – L’Oreal Blondissima (‘Super’ strength) from the drug store seems to do the job for bleaching and it’s easy to use.
Bleaching is actually kind of good for getting dreads together because it really dries them out and makes them easier to lock up, but use a natural dreadlock wax like Knotty Boy or maybe their conditioning spray after to keep them from getting too dry and brittle.
And I also would recommend anyone that’s bleaching their dreads to pick up a good natural anti-dandruff shampoo because bleaching your scalp is a really good way to get dandruff and your gonna want to use something that helps keep your scalp healthy and itchy-free. The KB shampoo bar is good. I use it after I bleach my hair and I don’t gots dreads right now!
Most of the facts that I read were true because I have experienced dying my own hair and when finished my hair was dry and briitle as never before. I went to my stylist to see why my hair was so dry and she told me it was the dying process.When i left her home I had shiny,moisterized, and clean dreads I felt like a brand new man. Now I have choosen to dye my hair burnt orange and I am going to take your advice on using the L’Oreal Blondissima (super strength) Thank for The advice!!!
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Yeah, great advice. Thanks! I dye/bleach my long dreads since a few months and find that they dread easier and they look great. I think it is important to never overapply bleach – go only as far as your roots go and the hair will be just fine.
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Thanks for the info – you’re the first dread site that was brave enough to answer my question before I asked it.
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Hey thanks a lot. I’m really thinking about getting dreads sometime soon, but I keep my hair blonde by bleaching it & I wasn’t sure if I would be able to continue bleaching it while dreading.. So this helps a lot! Thanks! [:
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Thanx so much. My mama bleached and dyed my hair last year and sum of my locs got thinner. I dont know if it was the amount of time she left the bleach in or what bt a few started popping. Thanx alot for the info because I plan on bleaching and dying my hair again for my senior prom this year.
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Thankyou for writing that up! I have naturally blonde hair, but died it purple bfore I got my dreads done, I’ve dyed it since 3times, but the same colour. But now I’m sick of the regrowth! (My hair grows really fast) I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to bleach it as bleach is so much stronger and dries so much more than normal dye. But now I know I can!
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i definitely thought you weren’t supposed to dye your hair any color before dreading, bleaching yes because it can fry the hair which makes it easier to dread. but i thought the dye in the hair would make it harder to dread, because you’re supposed to be using a residue free shampoo before and after getting dreadlocks. but hair dye is a residue, is it not lol. so is it okay for me to dye my hair red before i get my dreads? or should i wait until after and when they get pretty tight?
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wait until you get them tight – hair dye will NOT help lock dreads and bleaching will dry your hair – and from what I hear they lock better without bleaching. Like dye, wait until dreads are locked in good before bleaching.
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Ugh, suprisingly this is the ONLY place I’ve found that explains I can have colored dreads without synthetics.
But, my friend did tell me that I’d have to wait a while to do my dreads after I dye it, because the wax might not take to kindly to it.
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I’ve had dreads for a little over three months. I’m still wondering about conditioning. Like Bree said, we’re supposed to use only residue-free products. So the times I’ve colored my roots, I haven’t used any of the conditioners, naturally. Today I’m going to bleach some of the dreads. So what’s the deal?
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I have had my locs for 6 years. They are multi-colored, blonde, red and black. Recently, I decided to add another color (purple) but have NO experience with Bleach. Loreal for dark hair has been my best ally along with all Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil products for my other colors. I’d love to bleach and add the purple to my black hair and to my blonde hair. Problem is, I need to do the blonde retouch BEFORE the purple. How do I do this? can I use the blonde and THEN the purple on top? It seems like ULTRA-FRYING would happen and I already have some locs that have broken with natural growth, so I try to be as careful as possible. Any suggestions?
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This was very helpful. I’m getting dreads done very soon. I am dying my hair black with purple and white streaks first. After the dreads are in and the dye starts to fade, I’ll most likely dye most of them black with a few purple and a few white. Hopefully the bleach you recommended will work. Thanks. =)
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Thank you for answering this q/o directing the OP to synthetic dread info! I have naturally med brown hair and have had my dreads for 1 1/2 years. Recently, like I normally would with or w/o dreads, I just dyed my hair darker. I used Revlon Color Silk and it turned out great but I am realizing I want my hair lighter! With dark hair, my dreads almost look messy instead of dreaded, kwim? Now I think I’m not so afraid of bleaching or lightening my hair with dreads. Gonna give my dreads a little break, get the dyes out, then go for it
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