At What Temp Do You Flat Iron ?

[Autumn~Tint~Of~Gold]

According to this it doesn't seem that ironing at 300 or below should be truly damaging to the hair.
I regret ironing at 400 or above which I've done so many times but never actually needed to because my hair gets silky straight in the upper 300's. Around 280 or so I can smooth my ends.
I'm mad at myself for using excess heat for sooooo long.

this website below is awesome.
http://www.thenaturalhavenbloom.com/2009/05/straightening-factshow-hot-is-too-hot.html
Straightening Facts :How hot is too hot?

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Well, the first thing to note is that every person's hair is different (but similar). Therefore there is a range of temperatures to consider and what might be low heat for you may be high heat for someone else. I would suggest that if you are straightening, you should attempt to use the lowest possible heat for the shortest possible time.


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. Yes you will have to trade moisture for straightening. If your hair doesn't get straight, then it probably isn't meant to be, don't turn up the heat! My hair for example has never been straight, even when I relaxed, the kinks like me and I love them
Does your flat iron have a temperature regulator? Do you know how hot it actually is?

 

[flyygirlll2]

I typically use 370-375 when I've flat ironed my hair. I have thick strands and my hair is also coarse so if I truly wanted it to be silky straight, I'd have to turn up the heat to over 400 degrees.

 

[junipertree]

310 - 320.

My hair can't take heat.

 

[nyeredzi]

About 325

 

[Saludable84]

400. I use heat protectant and protein to blow dry and then add a little chi when I flat iron.

 

[faithVA]

I read that article before I flat ironed for the first time last month. Unfortunately I have a flat iron with out a temperature read out. It just has settings 1 to 30. So I flat ironed on 1. I'm hoping that is the low 300s if not 300. My hair was straight enough.

 

[Prettymetty]

I used 375 for my bkt, but usually I only use the lowest setting

 

[ms.blue]

370-400 deg F. Anything lower and my hair poofs up.

 

[Daina]

I use anywhere between 325 -350, I can get fairly straight lasting results on 350.

 

[ATLcutey20]

375, but it doesn't get my hair bone straight.

 

[morgandenae]

I can do 300 on my leave out since the front of my hair is Wavy/Curly. If I'm going to flat iron my whole head I do 350-370 since I'm taking on my type 4s.

 

[ForestRose]

I do at 190 C which is 375 F. Only on my leaveout though. I don't plan on straightening my whole head till I see a length of BL and longer and atm I'm only CBL.

My hair is really fragile and my leaveout suffers even at that temp after several presses. But the front of my head has stronger, thicker strands so it damages is less. If I did my whole head at that temperature even just once a week for 2 months my hair would suffer really badly

 

[FoxxyLocs]

350-375. Rarely 400. Never any higher than that. My hair gets bone straight at 350. I've never tried going lower. I've never had heat damage unless the stylist went over 400.

 

[toaster]

I read that article before I flat ironed for the first time last month. Unfortunately I have a flat iron with out a temperature read out. It just has settings 1 to 30. So I flat ironed on 1. I'm hoping that is the low 300s if not 300. My hair was straight enough.

This made me smile because that's something I would do. I'm hope level 1 is less than 300 degrees. If you assume level 30 is 450 degrees and level 1 is 300 degrees than each level is only a 5 degree increase. Level 1 is probably closer to 200 degrees.

I flat iron my hair between 350 and 380, but I'm sure 400 is what's needed for my skill level to get my hair straight. My hair doesn't seem to be bothered by heat, but I don't use it often.

 

[Napp]

375 for me

 

[Lymegreen]

Any relaxed hair ladies? I'm interested in this as well

 

[MilkChocolateOne]

original sedu- 320

sedu revolution- 340

fhi platform - 370

 

[Aggie]

I use 325-350 degrees for my hair using my Sedu flat iron. My hair is fine and I don't want to heat damage my hair so I steer clear of that 400-450 degree mark on my flat iron.

 

[grownwomanaz]

370 = silky straight hair for me. I always deep condition and use heat protectant prior to.

 

[MzSwift]

Any relaxed hair ladies? I'm interested in this as well

I'm texlaxed and I still use 380. I'm working on going lower with each flat iron session so that I can see what temp will do the job.
I have fine strands though.

When I was natural, 380 would leave me looking like a blow out. With my texlax, I have bone straight results that last more than a week.

 

[Janet']

400-one pass...But, I deep condition heavily before.