· Reading the dying dreadlocks how-to Please be sure to read the entire dying dreadlocks how-to before beginning. Reading the entire dying dreadlocks how-to will give you a better understanding of the dying process and will help your dreads in the end. Whenever possible we recommend dying your hair before doing your dreadlocks. If you allready have dreads you obviously can't do that.

· A Fair Warning We at SuperHippie.Com don't think it is a good idea to attempt to dye your own dreadlocks, but if you want to dye them on your own we would like to make sure that you know the in's and out's of dying dreadlocks. Dying dreadlocks can cause a lot of damage to your dreads if done incorrectly. The dying process can cause, molds, fungus, and breakage. If you know anyone who is planning on dying their own dreadlocks, please direct them to SuperHippie.Com before allowing them to ruin their dreads. You must exercise extreme caution when dying your dreadlocks.

· Pre-Washing Before dying your dreadlocks you will want to pre-wash your dreads. Your dreads must be completely clean in order for the process to work well. Residue and build ups will cause the dye to not stick in certain areas (mostly inside your dreads). If you use wax in your dreadlocks, this step is very important. Wax is very hard to remove from your dreadlocks and may remain inside of your dreads after one washing so you may want to wash them a few times. If you have a large build up of wax, apple cider vinegar works great for removing wax from the inside of your dreads. Just soak your dreadlocks in the vinegar before washing and allow it to set for 10 or 15 minutes. This will help remove the wax and hold the dye. When prewashing your hair you will want to use a residue free shampoo. Residue free shampoo strips your hair of all residues and leaves none of its own behind. Scents are residues!

· Applying the Conditioner DON'T DO IT!!! It will ruin your dreadlocks. When dying normal hair the dyes ruin the hair, and the conditioner is made to lubricate it and keep it from tangling. When dying dreadlocks, the dyes still ruin your hair but the conditioner will only make matters worse by loosening your dreads and allowing them to fall out. Don't throw the conditioner away though. Give it to someone who doesn't have, or want dreadlocks. It is a very strong conditioner and it does work well for straight haired people.

· Dying your dreadlocks After you have got your dreadlocks completely free of residues you should let your dreads dry. Once they are dry you can start dying your dreadlocks. Dying dreadlocks is very simalar to dying regular hair but there are a few things that you will want to do differently. When dying dreadlocks you want to make sure that you get the dye deep inside each dread. Getting the dye deep inside each dread also makes it hard to get out, which is the main thing that makes dying dreadlocks so tricky. If the dye is allowed to stay inside the dreadlocks it can cause fungus and breakage. For this reason you will want to have your residue free shampoo ready and be ready to wash them imediately after dying your dreadlocks. When dying dreadlocks you will want to follow the directions on the dye that you have purchased very closely. Only leave out the steps that we have talked about here. Make sure you pay close attention to the time you leave the dye in. Leaving the dye in your dreadlocks too long will cause them to dry out even further and may cause breakage. Not getting the dye completely rinsed out of every dreadlock may cause mold and mildew. If you are dying your dreadlocks a lighter color than they are now, you may want to bleach your dreads first. Bleaching dreadlocks is about the same as dying dreadlocks. Follow all of these instructions for bleaching dreadlocks as well as dying dreadlocks. Remember this "if you are bleaching and then dying your dreadlocks, you are doing double the damage". Both bleaching dreadlocks and dying dreadlocks have a lot of room for error, therefore if you're bleaching and dying dreadlocks you run twice the risk.

· Post Washing After dying your dreadlocks you want to make sure that you wash them very thouroughly. First you should rinse the dye from your dreads. After you have rinsed them you should wash your dreads again with a residue free shampoo. This step is very important because dying your dreadlocks has allready done a lot of damage to them and excess dyes will damage them even further. If the dye is allowed to set inside of the dreadlocks it will dry your dreadlocks to the point of breakage as well as causing mold and bacteria to grow.

· Post Dying Maintinance After dying your dreadlocks you will want to be very carefull with them because they will be extra dry. Normaly dry is good for dreadlocks but after dying them they are super dry and they will break super easy. If you have access to aloe, I recommend rubbing them down with aloe every day. Do not use something that just contains aloe, like lotion. Use only pure aloe. I would only use the aloe from an aloe plant. If you do not have access to an aloe plant, you can use beeswax. This is one of those times that we at SuperHippie.Com do recommend the use of beeswax, however, aloe is much better. Whatever you do just find something to keep your dreads moist but don't let them loosen. After dying dreadlocks, you shouldn't wash them for about a week. Just keep them moist. You will want to keep them moist for about a week. Discontinue the use of beeswax about a week after dying your dreadlocks. If you are using aloe rather than beeswax, which we at SuperHippie.Com highly suggest, you don't need to discontinue use as soon. Aloe does not build up in your dreadlocks as easily as beeswax and therefore doesn't need to be discontinued as soon. You may use aloe on your dreads for up to a month if needed. If your dreads start to get loose discontinue the use of aloe, or any other moisturizer. They are moist enough. Return to regular washing one week after dying your dreadlocks.

· Multi Colored dreadlock dying If you are dying your dreadlocks multiple colors you will want to be very careful. If you are not careful you may end up with some messed up dreads. When dying dreadlocks multiple colors it is best to use something like aluminum foil to keep the dreads seperate. You should try to dye them all at once or wait a month or two between dying sessions to avoid washing your hair several times in one day and really messing up your dreads. You should thouroughly wash and rinse your hair after each dying session. To dye your dreadlocks multiple colors, you should follow all of our other instructions exactly. The only extra things are:
1: Mix up all dyes and have them ready before begining. This only applies if you are dying your dreadlocks in a single session. This allows you to dye them all in a timely manner.
2: Pay close attention to set times on dyes. Use the ones with longer set times first and allow time between dyes for each dye.
3: When dying, seperate the dreadlocks from one another with aluminum foil so the dye doesn't bleed from dread to dread.
4: Try very hard not to drip any dyes on different collored dreadlocks while dying other dreadlocks.
5: Remove the foil before washing your dreads. You may want to try to remove each color seperately and wash them so they don't bleed but that is kind of tricky.
6: Timing is everything when you are dying dreadlocks multiple colors. Dying dreadlocks multiple colors is very tricky. I would get help from a profesional or at least a friend before attempting to dye them in one sitting. Please don't risk messing up your beautiful dreadlocks.

· Glad we Could Help We really hope that our dying dreadlocks tutorial helped you out. You don't owe us anything for the tutorial but if you would like to help out, please just tell one person about SuperHippie.Com. Telling one person means a world of difference to us. Thank you very much, and good luck with everything you do in life. The SuperHippie Family wishes you nothing but the best.

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