Hot combing relaxed hair???

Bliss806

Bliss806

Member
Is it true that your not supposed to hot comb relaxed hair or it will break off?? I've heard this for many years however, my grandmother does it and says its a myth. She said that she hot combs her roots when she needs a touch up. Can someone please tell me whats right
 
Please do not hot comb relaxed hair. It WILL fall out. :nono:

If you have a lot of new growth and you're very skilled, you MIGHT be able to hot comb the new growth successfully without getting any of the heat on the relaxed part.
 
Bliss806 said:
Is it true that your not supposed to hot comb relaxed hair or it will break off?? I've heard this for many years however, my grandmother does it and says its a myth. She said that she hot combs her roots when she needs a touch up. Can someone please tell me whats right
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Bliss, what are you hair goals?
 
SVT said:
Please do not hot comb relaxed hair. It WILL fall out. :nono:

If you have a lot of new growth and you're very skilled, you MIGHT be able to hot comb the new growth successfully without getting any of the heat on the relaxed part.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with the above statement. I've seen this actually happen before my eyes. One of my best friends, had shoulder length hair and she was strapped for cash before going to her normal salon for a new relaxer, and decided to press her NG to make it smooth like the rest of her relaxed tresses. I did warn her that it would break off, but she didn't listen, so I left her alone. But she went a bit too far and did from the NG on down to the ends of her relaxed tresses and those relaxed tresses came out in her pressing comb! I didn't even say "I told you so". Guess what she did? She went and got a hair piece to put on her hair in the spot where her lil experiment fell out. The line between the NG and the relaxed tresses are fragile in this area and tend to break off when unnecessary manipulation is put on it. There's quite a few threads on the boards where you can make your NG look better without using a pressing comb at all.
 
I personally would not risk hot combing relaxed hair... as far as the new growth maybe use a ceramic flat iron on low heat to help straighten out the new growth.
 
yeah i had a similar post a last week, and the overwhelming answer was to step away from the hot comb and just flat iron it.
 
I used to hear the same thing.

However, I grew out my perm by pressing my NG. I went to the salon every 2 weeks. This was back in 1994. I never experienced what's been stated above. Perhaps if the comb is too hot it might damage the permed strands? dunno.

I would recommend trying this at home though.
 
I did it with no problem for 4 years before I went natural. I also did other bad things such as relaxingthe length of my hair every 4 weeks and also flat ironing daily.

This was my weekly routine.
Wash, Blowdry, hot comb, flatiron, curling iron

My monthly routine was the same except I would relax then everything else in my weekly routine.

By the grace of god I still have a head full of thick long hair. I would NEVER EVER advise any one to do that. I just wanted my hair to lay down. I have now been natural for 10 years and I hate FLAT hair, go figure.
 
Please don't put a pressing comb in hair that's relaxed or you will have NO HAIR when you're done!! :nono: If you want to get relaxed hair super straight, you can use the rollerset method or you can gently flat iron...using a ceramic iron. Some may do it, but you have to be very skilled at only touching up the new growth. I wouldn't risk it.
 
I agree with just about everyone else. Please don't do this.:nono:

Just use a flat iron on your roots if you have to. You could even use a round brush and a blowdryer.
 
SVT said:
Please do not hot comb relaxed hair. It WILL fall out. :nono:

If you have a lot of new growth and you're very skilled, you MIGHT be able to hot comb the new growth successfully without getting any of the heat on the relaxed part.
Click to expand...

I agree. I would suggest that you not do it. :nono:
 
I guess there are exceptions to every rule and I'm one of the exceptions. When my new growth gets too unruly, I always use my hot comb. I may do this once or twice a month. I do not own a flat iron. I went to a beautician to have my hair done for a special occasion 2 yr ago who burn about 4 inches of my mid-back length hair using a flat iron. It slowly broke off after about 3 months. Don't do salons anymore either. Currently, my hair has grown back and is very healthy.

The general rule is "NOT" to use a hot comb on relaxed hair but my hair thrived before the beautician burned it and is again thriving. It depends on the the individual and if they are experienced in using a hot comb. A super hot comb can burn/damage any hair! Can you damage relaxed hair with a hot comb? Certainly, you can, just as you can damage natural hair with a hot comb or a relaxer. Bottomline, if you don't know what you are doing or you are uncertain, I would not recommend it.
 
I guess I too am an exception and I would not think that I am anywhere close to being a beautician. However, I have done this several times with no negative results. Just as someone mentioned before, you would not put extremely hot appliances in your hair. I have an electric hot comb, that may make a difference because you can choose your level of heat by degrees and use the absolute lowest setting or somewhere in between.

I have even gone to a stylist who did it because I wanted to stretch relaxers. I personally knocked some of the kinks out when I needed my hair braided and it was rather close to time for a relaxer. However, we know just like any other product or service, what works for one may not work for all so use your best judgment.
 
I dont mean to hijack this thread but I do have a question along these lines. Well I just relaxed my natural hair a few days ago at a salon but my scalp start burning shortly after putting it in. Well my hair still looks like an afro afterwards so she pressed my hair. Well my hair looks and feels so thin now. Do you think my hair feels so thin because she pressed it? I ask because I would like to finish relaxing my hair so that I will be able to take care of my hair by myself and really dont want my hair to be any thinner. I dont recall my hair ever feeling this thin when I was relaxed for years.

Also my ends feels very dry and brittle. I want to put something on my ends that wont make them revert. My hair is really short. What would you suggest?
 
I use to hot-comb my hair all the time whenever I had half an inch or so of NG. Only 2-3 strands of hair would come out too.
 
My old stylist used to hot comb my new growth years ago. I never had any problems. She was old school though and knew how to use a hot comb without damaging my hair. I would not recommend trying this at home unless you know how to use a hot comb.
 
When I was younger and would go to my grandmothers house in the summer she would press my (relaxed) hair once the ng started to come in...I can't remember my hair falling out...and it was a pretty decent length then too ( a littl past apl)... I think that any heat source can be used... just in moderation...
 
GAbulldawg- Since texlaxed hair is chemically treated but not all the way broken down straight, I would see no harm in pressing. It'd probably be best to use an electric comb on a low to medium setting and a heat protectant. It would give you the same results as if you were flat ironing just with built in teeth(combs). HTH
 
Cloud06 said:
GAbulldawg- Since texlaxed hair is chemically treated but not all the way broken down straight, I would see no harm in pressing. It'd probably be best to use an electric comb on a low to medium setting and a heat protectant. It would give you the same results as if you were flat ironing just with built in teeth(combs). HTH
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Thanks very much for the advice. I will try that out. I did purchase an electric hot comb where you could vary the temperature. I'm hoping that this would get my hair straight because flat-ironing does not help to keep my hair straight. :ohwell:
 
I...used...to... with an electric comb, but my hair was texlaxed.
.
 
Avia62 said:
I guess there are exceptions to every rule and I'm one of the exceptions. When my new growth gets too unruly, I always use my hot comb. I may do this once or twice a month. I do not own a flat iron. I went to a beautician to have my hair done for a special occasion 2 yr ago who burn about 4 inches of my mid-back length hair using a flat iron. It slowly broke off after about 3 months. Don't do salons anymore either. Currently, my hair has grown back and is very healthy.

The general rule is "NOT" to use a hot comb on relaxed hair but my hair thrived before the beautician burned it and is again thriving. It depends on the the individual and if they are experienced in using a hot comb. A super hot comb can burn/damage any hair! Can you damage relaxed hair with a hot comb? Certainly, you can, just as you can damage natural hair with a hot comb or a relaxer. Bottomline, if you don't know what you are doing or you are uncertain, I would not recommend it.
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Great points. I think it can be done if that the person knows what they're doing.

I don't see much difference b/w the flat iron and hot comb. They can both be very damaging. I have heat damage from using the flat iron. I think I would have gotten better results with a hot comb, without the damage. But I won't take that chance anyway. :rolleyes:
 
It's NOT true that your hair "falls out"...sorry. If you don't know how to use a hot comb, forget it tho. You'll burn your hair much more quickly than you think.

My 80+ year old grandma not only hot combs but blow dries her relaxer and "stretches" by default. Her hair is APL ONLY because her hair dresser cuts it short...nope it's not damaged, he's one of those who thinks women of a "certain age" shouldn't go beyond X point.

She is a wiz w/ a hot comb and has beautiful mostly dark hair still that's VERY strong. If you doubt the strength of you hair, leave it be. That was why relaxers were invented in the 1st place, to straighten w/o a hot comb.
 
I always wondered why people see a hot comb as the devil's device, but they flat iron as if a flat iron is SO much better.

"Low" heat on a good ceramic iron is at least 275 degrees or so.

I think that either instrument used incorrectly will result in damage... a flat iron can burn and make your hair fall out too.

A hot comb doesn't have to be 500 degrees to work.. the big problem is keeping the temperature of the comb under control.

In other words, I wouldn't suggest that you jump into it without knowing how to work a hot comb.

I have hotcombed my hair relaxed and texturized.

​
 
Neith said:
I always wondered why people see a hot comb as the devil's device, but they flat iron as if a flat iron is SO much better.

"Low" heat on a good ceramic iron is at least 275 degrees or so.

I think that either instrument used incorrectly will result in damage... a flat iron can burn and make your hair fall out too.

A hot comb doesn't have to be 500 degrees to work.. the big problem is keeping the temperature of the comb under control.

In other words, I wouldn't suggest that you jump into it without knowing how to work a hot comb.

I have hotcombed my hair relaxed and texturized.

​
Click to expand...

I also wondered the same thing! Are they really that much different?
 
SVT said:
Please do not hot comb relaxed hair. It WILL fall out. :nono:

If you have a lot of new growth and you're very skilled, you MIGHT be able to hot comb the new growth successfully without getting any of the heat on the relaxed part.
Click to expand...


Exactly. I would never hot comb relaxed hair, but I if your grandma does her ROOTS only (NG), that's probably why her hair has not fallen out.
 
gabulldawg said:
I also wondered the same thing! Are they really that much different?
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I see hot combs as the "devil" because I was burned weekly for about 5 years on my neck, ears, and scalp between the ages of 6 and 11 when I was getting my hair pressed. I have never been burned by a flat iron, the heat is much easier to control, and I believe that ceramic irons are less damaging.
 
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