At What Temp. Are You Straightening Your Hair?

At What Temperature Do You Straighten Your Hair?

  • At and below 150 degrees C (302F)

    Votes: 17 22.4%

  • At 160-175 degrees C (320 -347F)

    Votes: 35 46.1%

  • Between 215 and 235 degrees C ( 419-455F)

    Votes: 20 26.3%

  • This Is Why I Don't Straighten My Hair (Damage)

    Votes: 4 5.3%
  • Total voters
    76
  • Poll closed .
bedazzled

bedazzled

New Member
I just found this cool article from: http://thenaturalhaven.blogspot.com/2009/05/straightening-factshow-hot-is-too-hot.html regarding what happens to our hair when we put heat on it. I thought it was interesting so I wanted to post it here.

Human hair has a similar temperature profile to wool as they are both composed of the protein keratin (Thermochimica Acta, pg5-9, 1999). Wool was more comprehensively reported and therefore I'll quote those figures (Adv Exp Med Biol. p 329-344, 1977)


Stage 1 : At and below 150 degrees C (302F)
Loosely bound water and tightly bound water is lost from the hair


Stage 2: At 160-175 degrees C (320 -347F)
Hair undergoes a glass transition phase (meaning the hair begins to flow as hot glass would). Plastic deformation is possible (meaning in a 'normal' hydrated state, hair is elastic and can stretch and return back to its original length. Hair does also have temporary plasticity which is why styles like roller sets, twist outs/knot outs can occur. However at this heating stage, the plasticity is NOT temporary, the hair may return to a 'normal' looking state but it will not be exactly the same)


Stage 3: Between 215 and 235 degrees C ( 419-455F)
The keratin in hair has a natural twist to it knows as an alpha helix (α-helix). This twist is present in all keratin, whether straight hair or curly hair. At this stage the helices of the hair protein melt (not reversible).
Therefore this research suggests that under 150 degrees C (302F) is probably the best for straightening.

So How hot are you? Do you find that the heat protectant allows you to use more heat without damage? Spill the beans ladies.
 
ok so i need to reduce the heat.. i've always wondered about this.. i have a digital ceramic iron and i set it to usually 300-325 degrees.. thought that was better than the 450 or so it goes up to :blush:...

clears throat...re-evalutating reggie.....clears throat :look:

disclaimer: i always use a protectant that states it protects up to this amount of heat or more

eta: i only straighten maybe onece a month.. maybe

ok, still dont feel better after my eta.... that article disturbs me.. my hair would laugh at anything under 200.. or would it??
 
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well theres no option for 190-200 (but im gonna try stick to 190) thats pretty much a safe level for almost guaranteed reversion (maybe not so guaranteed if i did it more often though)

did they straighten the wool with heat protectant? lol
 
My flat iron goes up to 410 degrees and I use it on 375 degrees. My hair gets really straight. I use a pea size amount of heat protectant before I blow dry. I like my hair very bouncy so I use very little product.

I wonder what temperature my stylist puts her iron on. That's what really scares me.
 
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I do it at 230 degrees Celsius (446 degrees Fahrenheit). Did it w/o heat protectant in 2006 and then with heat protectant this year. My experience w/ heat protectants was fantastic and I have no intention of changing my technique or the temperature since I didn't have any hint of damage.
 
SparkleDoll said:
My flat iron goes up to 410 degrees and I use it on 375 degrees. My hair gets really straight. I use a pea size amount of heat protectant before I blow dry. I like my hair very bouncy so I use very little product.

I wonder what temperature my stylist puts her iron on. That's what really scares me.
Click to expand...



ditto at bolded.. and the last time i went, they were still using the ovens to heat them up.. who knows how hot the dang ovens get..(can we say smoke coming off of the iron??? :nono:) and during my salon years, i've never seen a stylist use a heat protectant..

i did a search once on how hot the irons should be.. and i found an article that said you should do a toilet paper test first.. so when the iron is as hot as its gonna get, hold a piece of toilet paper between the irons for a few seconds, and if it doesnt burn or smoke its ok.. i do this all the time :rolleyes:
 
hiphoprocker said:
ditto at bolded.. and the last time i went, they were still using the ovens to heat them up.. who knows how hot the dang ovens get..(can we say smoke coming off of the iron??? :nono:) and during my salon years, i've never seen a stylist use a heat protectant..

i did a search once on how hot the irons should be.. and i found an article that said you should do a toilet paper test first.. so when the iron is as hot as its gonna get, hold a piece of toilet paper between the irons for a few seconds, and if it doesnt burn or smoke its ok.. i do this all the time :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That's funny to see that someone else does this. My mom used to do that when she'd press my hair with a hot-comb at the kitchen stove. :giggle:
 
I tend to stick to 140oC when I flat iron, I'm scared of heat.. from the damage to my hair to burns on my arms (yes I'm that bad)
 
I use mine at 370(F). I wonder why it does not take into account what happens between 347(F) and 419(F).
 
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I used 410 F with heat protectant and I started to get scared my hair wouldn't revert but its back. From now on I am going to try not to go over 350f but I don't plan on straightening my hair til 01/10
 
i had the chi with no temp control, but I got rid of that, now my flat iron (Tool Science), get up to 450F but I iron at 350-370. I don't flat iron much (esp since I'm in a weave) so I get reversion. I wonder though, just how much our heat protectants help.
 
I flat iron somewhere between 110 and 140 degrees Celsius. I'm scared to go higher because of heat damage. I don't really need my hair super-straight anyway, as I don't really like that look *on me*. I prefer big hair :).
 
310 F. 2 or 3 passes per section. I only flat iron once every few months, so I'm not too concerned with heat damage.
 
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WOW! This article scares me! I've never used more than 220 degrees and I thought THAT was high. I usually use 150-180 with one pass. I don't have tight coils and I usually put a smoothing agent in my hair and blow dry, so I guess it doesn't need the extra heat.

After reading this article, though, I don't think I'll be going anywhere near 200 degrees, even when I'm short on time!
 
i use 375. i have coarse natural 4b hair. 200 degrees is not going to do ANYTHING for my strands. i also use a blowdryer and a hot comb when i straighten my hair. as long as I do 13 passes of the hotcomb and flatiron each my hair does not burn. i use leave in, heat protectant, and chi serum and my hair is still light and fluffy
 
I think I'm in the 300's. Just because my iron's numbers smudged off, so I turn it on and then turn the dial back 4 notches. I'm so broke the FHI is not in my budget. How hot do those marcel irons get? Coz I see them at beauty shops all the time. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and my mom used to put a hot comb on the stove and cool it off with a damp cloth before she put it on my hair. She used a warm hot comb though and my hair was down to my back. My mom had good sense to sizzle a cloth and not my hair. Now these marcel irons, when they used one with spritz on me my hair held a curl frozen in its place for the entire week.
 
I have a CHI flat iron that does not have a temperature setting. How do I know what that temperature is?

Also, this week I tried a rollerset that failed, so I used the blow dryer a few days later after cowashing. I REALLY think that there was more heat on my hair sitting under the dryer for 45 minutes than there was using the blow dryer for about 7 minutes (because I waited until my hair had done some air drying.)

I just don't see how blow drying gets a more negative wrap than rollersetting.
 
Great article, though frightening. This just deepens my questions about heat protectants...I know my hair "feels" better when I use them, but I wonder what's actually happening.

Hmmm.....:perplexed


cj
 
LadyRaider said:
I have a CHI flat iron that does not have a temperature setting. How do I know what that temperature is?

Also, this week I tried a rollerset that failed, so I used the blow dryer a few days later after cowashing. I REALLY think that there was more heat on my hair sitting under the dryer for 45 minutes than there was using the blow dryer for about 7 minutes (because I waited until my hair had done some air drying.)

I just don't see how blow drying gets a more negative wrap than rollersetting.
Click to expand...

Direct vs indirect heat, I think is what it is. I can't rollerset either, by the way.
 
I stay around 360F or lower. Anything under 270F will not do anything to my hair. I don't find that I have to go over 360F to get it pin straight.
 
Nonie said:
That's funny to see that someone else does this. My mom used to do that when she'd press my hair with a hot-comb at the kitchen stove. :giggle:
Click to expand...

That's how I would press with a pressing comb. Take it off the fire and test it on a paper towel.

I flat ironed a couple of days ago on 370. I used heat protectant, if that matters.
 
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