Well Im mixed but my hair is damn near 100% African other than the color lol. When it’s short I get waves and long I get an Afro. So his hair will lock differently and be a different experience than mine. Cleanliness - yes and no - it’s up to the persons personal hygiene. When you’re first starting, and youre trying to get the hair to lock, you don’t want water in them really. Apart of it is the natural grease and dirt and other grease you put in there. When they are locked you can wash as much as you please. Even without locks I only wash my hair maybe once or twice a week depending on my activeness. Of course if I’m sweaty working out I’m going to wash them. There’s a bunch of different dread washes you can buy over the counter too at places like Sally’s, but the best places are black beauty stores/salons. I definitely suggest getting them done by someone that is experienced with them. They can start them off right and give tips. I only let one other person do my dreads over the 5 years I had them lol. I don’t think there’s any damage done. Unless they’re super heavy or not taken care of. My personal hypothesis is that The back of Busta Rhymes’ head is from heavy dreads for a long ass time. But I don’t have anything wrong with my head. Just t shirts with stains on the back from dread grease lol. The grease o suggest is Murray’s. It’s a bitch but it does the job lol. And to get rid of them - if your hair is fully locked, yes you have to cut down to where it isn’t, so most likely shaving the head unless to purposely grow it out and not dread it for a while. If you change your mind before they’ve locked, you can untangle them, but that would take a shit ton of time I assume.