It is recommended to wash dreadlocks with a shampoo that is free from residue, waxes, fragrances, sulfates, and dyes.
We recommend avoiding most commercial shampoos because they often contain many ingredients that build up in dreadlocks. We also recommend avoiding castile soaps such as Dr Bronners because they are far less effective in hard water. We recommend avoiding home-made and DIY solutions because the effectiveness and longevity of such shampoos are greatly diminished due to the lack of chelators, effective surfactants, and safe preservatives. We also recommend avoiding shampoos which are mostly comprised of essential oils and saponified oils because they are known to be less effective in hard water situations.
We’ve simplified all of this into a single shampoo guide which you can access here.