Every woman, who uses it daily or only for the most glamorous occasions, has a hair straightener in her own necessity. However, whether it is a very high-quality plate, professional level or pocket size, and super-economic or the good habits for maintaining such a popular instrument do not seem very well known.
Almost all women admit that they never cleaned their plates! But let’s try to overcome the shame and see how to clean the hair straightener.
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A well-maintained plate will last a long time!
Proper maintenance of the hair straightener is important: the dust and the residues of the products we use to straighten our hair or blow-dry it to accumulate on our tool plates.
It is essential to take care of it to prevent the straightener from getting ruined prematurely and, even worse, from ruining our hair by working below expectations.
It does not matter whether it is ceramic, titanium, or tourmaline … it is advisable to clean the hair straightener once a month to ensure optimal functionality of the instrument.
How to clean the hair straightener? We have selected the three most effective methods, and here are the instructions below.
Whichever method you decide to follow, it is good to remember that cleaning the plate should generally be done with the plate off and cold and the plug disconnected from the power outlet.
Furthermore, remember to clean all the plate’s sensitive components, not just the plates: keys, levers, and joints should be kept in order as much as the metal parts of the plate.
Method 1: Water and Alcohol
The most widespread method for cleaning the plate is that which involves the use of water and alcohol. To proceed with this method, you will need:
- A cloth, possibly in natural fiber
- Ethyl alcohol
- Warm water
Moisten the cloth with warm water, and rub it gently on the plates of the plate. A certain delicacy will be a must if you have a ceramic plate whose delicate plates risk scratching.
As the last step wet the same cloth previously moistened with the denatured alcohol and pass it gently on the plates, which will be shiny and sanitized.
Remember to never pour alcohol or water directly onto the plates, but always use a soft cloth – preferably microfibre – to treat your plate.
Method 2: Bicarbonate and hydrogen peroxide
If you are fond of grandmother’s timeless remedies, know that baking soda is also suitable for cleaning your plate. In particular, if used in association with hydrogen peroxide, it creates an excellent cleansing paste for our purpose.
You will need:
- Baking soda
- Hydrogen peroxide
- A sponge
Mix two tablespoons of baking soda with a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide: you will get a thick paste, stretch or shrink by adding hydrogen peroxide or more baking soda. The obtained compound must be applied on the plate plates and left on for about 10 minutes.
Once the exposure time has elapsed, remove the mixture using a dry or slightly damp sponge.
There is no need to rinse – which should be done with a cloth and never directly. Cleaning the plate with this method is very simple and allows you to have a new and perfectly dry plate immediately after cleaning.
Method 3: Relaxer
You can have specific products for hair treatment at home and maybe think of using them creatively. For example, cleaning the hair straightener is not exactly orthodox, yet it gives excellent results.
Relaxer is a cream product that is used to straighten curly hair. Still, it can also be useful in treating our hair straightener, particularly if it is a ceramic straightener.
Once a uniform layer of Relaxer has been applied to the plates, you must switch on the plate for about 10 minutes. It would help if you did not touch or manipulate it during this warm-up period. After 10 minutes, you will need to turn off the plate and let it cool.
Once the plates have cooled, remove the relaxer (and dirt!) With a damp cloth as usual. Easy!
Why clean the hair straightener?
Foams, lacquers, gels, oils, and products of all kinds pass on the plate, which we use daily to beauty the hair and styling.
Also, thanks to the heat and the use of towels and clothes to dry the hair, the plate tends to retain small quantities of dust, which in the long run, risk scratching the plates or compromising their functionality. Given the large offer on the market and the continuous technological evolution, there is an increasing tendency to buy good-quality tools that last over time and do not damage the hair.
A badly maintained straightener can ruin the hair as much as its incorrect use or the use of a poor-quality product. So it is good, especially if we make daily or semi-daily use of this essential beauty tool, to enter the order of ideas that even the hair straightener needs some maintenance.
It is important that, at the time of its use, the plate is perfectly dry and that there are no grains of dirt on the plates, which could ruin and even burn the hair.
It would be a good habit to pass a damp cloth or slightly soaked with alcohol on the plates after each use to avoid accumulation. But we know well that, once heated, the plate must be left to cool. Therefore, immediate cleaning of the instrument is advisable as unlikely.
When the straightener is cold, we will probably already be out of the house, so we mark these methods to clean the hair straightener, and remember to dust them off at least once a month! Thus, our plate will always be performing and will not risk being damaged too much over time.