I've been working on this site for years and what's beyond frustrating is that even people who come to naani.com regularly, still have misgivings on the subject of shampooing new locks.  No matter how much I say, "Wash your damn hair," new and seasoned visitors come along to tell me that their loctician, their friend or someone they met on the street told them that dreadlocks can't be shampooed.

Back in August I reluctantly did a brotha's locks.  I say reluctantly because he'd previously told me that 8 months prior to our conversation, he'd begun the locking process and that he hadn't washed his hair since.  Yes, bruh had not let water touch his hair for EIGHT MONTHS!  When I asked him why, he said that he didn't want them to unravel.  Like most of you, someone, somewhere told him that in order to grow locks, he couldn't wash them until they reached full maturity.

Needless to say, I didn't want to touch them and asked did he really think about what he was saying?  I wondered why anyone would want a hair style that would require them to walk around with nasty hair and scalp for months at a time? He of course tried to tell me that his hair wasn't dirty and that it didn't stink.

I believe this statement deserves a moment of slience.  Seriously, reread the above paragraph and think on it for a moment.

He hasn't washed his hair for EIGHT MONTHS!...but it doesn't stink?  Riiiiiiiiiiight!

Do you know why someone would encourage you to not shampoo your locks for months?  Well most often people (locticians) suggest that you refrain from shampooing for one of three reasons:  Your hair is "too soft," they've chosen a method that unravels easily (i.e. comb-coils, palm-rolls or finger-twists) or they don't know what the hell they're talking about.  Let's tackle the "too soft" reasoning first...

YOUR HAIRS' TOO SOFT
Get over yourself.  Not every Black person has ultra-kinky, ultra-nappy hair.  If I had a nickel for everytime someone wanted to convince me that their hair is different, special, soft or a unique "grade,"  I'd be able to retire today.

If White folks can lock, you can too.  Most Black folks have varying textures and many of us have in-between hair types.  The "softness" to which many of us speak is evident in our new-growth.  The shorter your hair, the curlier it appears and the better your "grade."  As you can tell, I don't like using terminology that's negative and "grading" hair textures amongst Black folks ranks high on my list of crap that needs to stop.

The reality is that some of us do have "softer" hair than others but just because you happen to fall in this category doesn't mean you're incapable of locking.  At the end of the day, anyone can lock so there's no need to force the process by refraining from shampooing.  You'll get there with or without water and I believe, it's better to get there with it.

RasQueen has very "soft" textured hair.  Although she encourages her clients to refrain from shampooing for the first 3-4 weeks, she takes the time to get to know her clients before giving such advice.  The reality is, sure, you can safely go several weeks without shampooing but do you need to or better yet, can/should you?

If you work out regularly, if you like to swim, if you sweat a lot, if you work in an environment that's filled with dust and odors, then going 3-4 weeks may not be practical.  A good loctician will consider who you are as an individual before locking your hair.  She will learn your daily routine so that your new locks work with you rather than against you.

CHOOSING THE PROPER METHOD
If you have what is termed "soft" textured hair, it's best to let it grow out a bit so that you have a little more length to work with.  You should then choose a method that's resistant to unraveling like two-strands, braids or interlocks.

This is why I encourage people to stay natural as long as possible.  Doing so allows you to better know your natural hair which is the basis of locks and in turn will help you understand the logic behind choosing a method that doesn't unravel easily.

Wearing two-strands and braids from time to time will give you the expertise that's needed to get through the early stages of locking because although we term the first 3 months of the process "baby locks," what you're really dealing with is the original style.  Meaning, if you began with two-strands, the first three months or so you'll be caring for two-strands, not "locks."

Anyone who has worn braids or two-strands for extended periods of time (a few weeks with two-strands, 2-3 months with quality braids and braid extensions), knows that shampooing periodically doesn't "destroy" the style.  In the case of two-strands, shampooing and rinsing with water can actually make your hair look better.  Instead of having flattened two-strands, the water plumps them up and makes them look fuller.

If you embrace the idea that your baby locks are not locks but are instead natural hair styled a certain way, then caring for them won't seem so mysterious.  I began with two-strands and because I'd worn this style from time to time when I was natural, I didn't fear water.  I knew that no matter how much water or shampoo I put on my two-strands that they'd stay the course and eventually lock.

YOUR LOCTICIAN IS IGNORANT
First let's define "ignorance."  Webster defines ignorance as "the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness."  Anyone who suggests that you must refrain from shampooing your hair in order to obtain locks is ignorant.

I, and most of the naaniMODELS on this site are proof positive that you can shampoo your hair as often as you like during the lock process.  The reason why I encouraged the naaniMODELS to share their journeys was to demonstrate the rule in action rather than the exception to it.

From ultra-soft, to ultra-kinky, the naaniMODELS are here to help you understand that no matter what your texture, no matter what you do, locking isn't a science.  We all go through the process in different ways but no matter what route we've chosen, we all ended up with beautiful, healthy, CLEAN! locks.

Most locticians who suggest that you refrain from shampooing state that you can use antiseptics to cleanse your scalp.  What I'm here to tell you is that yes, antiseptics are a good way to cleanse your scalp but these are temporary measures.  I mean think about it, would you use a wet-wipe to cleanse your body on a regular basis?

Nothing can replace the benefits of soap and water.  Besides, antiseptics can be drying over time and may lead to the development of scalp issues that if left unchecked, may require medical diagnosis and a prescription.

With that said, I know that there are some of you who currently have mature locks who engaged in a filth regimines so filth clearly works.  But at what cost?

EIGHT MONTHS?
Now recall the brotha that I was telling you about at the start of this article who hadn't shampooed his locks in EIGHT MONTHS!  I eventually gave in and did this brotha's hair.  It's important to note that during his first EIGHT MONTHS!, he occasionally used Murray's Beeswax and other products to help keep his twists intact.  So not only did I need to remove EIGHT MONTHS! of dirt and odor, I had to remove the product build-up as well.

Needless to say, he is one of most difficult cases of lock neglect that I've faced in a very long time.  Had I known his hair would require so much work, I would've taken pics throughout the process but it wasn't until I was half-way through the 9 hour session that I realized I was missing an opportunity to share with the naaniFAM.

I began by shampooing his teenage locks.  This should have been my first indication that I needed to get a camera because as soon as I started to lather his hair, the suds from the shampoo were turning brownish-black.  The more I lathered, the more I thought to myself, my God, I should be wearing gloves.

After approximately 5-7 shampoo's (I lost count), I finally decided if it isn't clean now, it's not going to get clean.  I deep conditioned his locks and allowed the conditioner to rest for 15-20 minutes.  The reason behind the deep conditioning wasn't just to soften his hair.  I wanted the fragrance and essentials in the conditioner to soak in.  Although his hair didn't overtly smell before or after the shampooing, it had a subtle stench that's difficult to describe.

Next, I did a Hot Water Treatment to help loosen any of the wax that the shampooing had not removed.  I'd used hot water throughout but after conditioning, I realized that something remained in his hair.  The treatment was difficult because the brotha's hair is only about 3-4 inches long.  I didn't want to burn him with the water but he knew and I thought understood at this point that the temporary discomfort was worth it in the end.

Once the shampooing, conditioning and treatment were complete, it was time to twist.  I used naani's LOCK'D DOWN Butter.  I got my third white towel (the first two had turned dingy brown from the shampoo-water run off) and then started twisting his locks.  By the time I got to the third lock, I realized something wasn't right.  I instinctively smelled my hands and if yall could have seen the look on my face.  The stench was still there!  More importantly, bruh was right.  His hair didn't stink.  It was so beyond stink that it was stank.

Again, it wasn't an obvious odor.  It was that deep down ingrained funk that I can only liken to old clothes or "clean" towels that are exclusively used to wash cars.  Meaning, you know how some clothing or towels, no matter how much you wash them, will never rid themselves of a particular scent?  Like if you store clothing in moth balls, they will always have that scent?  Well, it was like that and it wasn't pleasant.

Now it'd already taken me over an hour to wash and deep condition his hair and even though his locks weren't long, I couldn't believe that the cleansing process wasn't complete.  I got up, got a 9oz bottle of Antiseptic (which I ended up using in its entirety) and decided to use it on the locks before I twisted them.  I chose Yummy Witch Hazel because I'd already doused this brotha's head with shampoo and hot water and I figured the Witch Hazel would be mild (although the All-Purpose might have been better in this case) and Yummy has a very strong scent that would help to cover up some of the stench.

So I saturated a lock with the astringent and using the clean white towel, I squeezed and rubbed out the excess.  INSTANT SHOCK!  The part of the towel I used was browinsh-black.  The wax, the dirt, everything was still in his hair!!!  Yall, I can't tell you how frustrating this was.  I'd already blackened two towels during the shampooing and yet, the dirt was still there.  At this point, I just wanted to do my best and beyond that, it's whatever.

I'll spare you the rest of the details but approximately 7 hours, 3 more white towels, 2 sore hands and blurry eyes later, I'd finally finished his hair.  He was really happy with the results.  Before he left, he said you know you're going to have to do my hair from now on.  I said, what if I don't?  He said something to the effect of, "I guess it won't get done then. I can't do it by myself."

That was August, it's now October.  He hasn't done his hair since.  He called me a few weeks ago asking if I could do his hair.  I told him no.  I only charged you 25 bucks because you are a friend of a friend but had I known, there's no way.  I used up more than that in products.

LOCKING GLUE:  Why Filth Regimines "Work"
I want you all to know why filth regimines seemingly "work."  When hair is properly locked, natural matting and shed hair is what holds locks together.  People who choose Freeform or Organic Locks, do no twist their hair but instead, rely on a natural matting to form cylindrical locks.  Unlike Salon Locks, freeformers do not need to use "holding" products because as the method indicates, their locks are free of form.

Salon Locks on the other hand are deliberately manipulated to achieve uniformity in appearance and size.  People with Salon Locks tend to use gels, butters or waxes to facilitate the desired results.  Thus, those of us with Salon Locks rely not only on natural matting, but twisting and products to lock our hair as we ll.  Although the products and twisting help with appearance, by manipulating locks (twisting them), we're actually discouraging the natural matting process.  And this is why Salon Locks take longer to reach maturity than Organic Locks.

So the belief that not shampooing locks speeds the process comes from the idea that although hair isn't naturally matting in the same manner as it would with Organic Locks, product and sebum (hairs' natural oil) build-up will help bind hairs together.  Build-up will therefore replace the natural matting that is circumvented whenever we twist our hair.

Here's the problem; it's not just product and sebum that's been building up on your hair.  It's dirt, odor, lint and airborne debris as well.  Thus everytime you twist, you are squishing and squeezing all of these elements into your locks.  The more crap that builds up on your hair, the more the hairs will stick together and hold.  Filth in effect creates an unnatural "Locking Glue."

Well as the Eight-Month story demonstrates, the longer you use "Locking Glue," the more difficult it'll be to remove.  In addition, although "Locking Glue" may seemingly cause your hair to lock quicker, in my experience, it doesn't.  What really determines how quickly your hair locks is texture and the method you've chosen.  When you compare people with similar textures and methods, they tend to lock in the same time frame.  And this holds true for those who shampoo and those who do not.

At the end of the day, you can use dirt to hold your hair together or you can opt to be a lil' less nasty.  It's up to you.