Is it normal for dreadlocks to have black gunk in them? is it wax?

Yes it's wax, wax is bad for dreads, stop waxing and to get out gunk use 1 teaspoon of vinegar for every cup of water . Soak your head in the water and repeat if needed

I'm black and i've had locs for a year and a month.
-i wash my hair every week
-i twist my hair every time i wash my hair
-you can see the parts in between my dreads on my scalp and it looks really neat
-i have no "gunk" in my hair
-my hair smells clean and looks great

- do NOT use wax in your locs, that's where the buildup comes from
- once your hair is mature, you can wash it as often as u like once you are sure that u can get it to dry thoroughly....
-you can run your hands through locs like nobody's business, its just a different feel
-if u have spiders and bird nests in your hair, there is a high possibility that your privates are probably growing mold too.

For cryin out loud people. I have dreads too and I have mentioned that I'm white, and a chick. A lot of people think dreads are strictly for black people. Perhaps that's why. Anyway, u shouldn't wash them "all the time". Could be mold. I have little black bits, but its lint and such. It happens. And aussiewolf, you can run fingers thru dreads, not quite the same as normal hair, but still. And they are only dirty if you let them be dirty. Also, I did mine the natural way, 'the neglect method', and it took about a year to look dreaded but it was still clean. Blah blah blah people, think what you'd like to about them but you don't know jack unless you have them

i admire people who wear dreads. although, now i've read you can get mold and spiders in them i'm a little put off.

could be mould or it could be a spiders nest. i would never get dreads because of the stories you hear of people who have spiders and all sorts of other things living in their hair. they are really dirty and gross me out. but best of luck looking after your spiders nest!

Not really normal

Well, I see why he (dreaddread) mentioned he was white. The hair is fundamentally different. African American hair is wiry and can break if heated incorrectly.

I'm no expert but c'mon! havin your hair twisted in an impossible notted rope with little to no way to clean the inside core properly. It can be theorized that you may have some problems. The only method I heard about was dunking your head into some special cleaner (probably false). But hey if it gets too much of a problem, shave your head.

deaddread - hahaha i found it funny that you had to mention that you are white. well obviously the people who have spiders living in their, dont wash them properly. still they gross me out and they look horrible. i like to be able to run my fingers through peoples hair and you obviously cant do that with dreads. each to their own though.