How often do you clean your flat iron? If you use your heating tools to conduct business the answer may be multiple times during the day. After each client or even in between sections of hair depending on the products being used. Many of us who use heating tools for personal use, may have an answer similar to once every few months or not at all. I know this sounds TRAGIC but it’s typically a harsh reality.
Having a burned-out flat iron may be VERY embarrassing. While you should be ashamed it’s fairly common. That’s exactly how I got the inspiration for this post. So the story goes like this, I was getting myself prepared for wash day and decided to do a length check on my hair. The products that I’ve been using for my hair are intended to provide me with length retention. While using these products I began to notice that my ends were looking thinner than they normally do.
This indicated that I probably needed to clip them to avoid additional breakage if that was the cause. So I got my scissors and just began to clip away all the thin ends. My hair was twisted in a protective style at the time so I thought it would be harmless. While doing this, I didn’t have an actual method of how I was trimming my ends. I just wanted the thin pieces gone. So I decided to do a length check to see if I had unintentionally cut off too much hair.
I grabbed my flat iron to prepare for the worst. (I typically only straighten one small section of hair) This is because I don’t usually use heated styling tools on a regular basis. I think this helps with my hair growth because heat damage is one type of damage that I don’t need. I know I’m not the only one, but I don’t typically clean my flat iron after I use it. As with anything over time, the products began to build up on my iron plates. When you have product buildup on your flat iron plates it typically looks like melted chocolate, depending on how much product buildup items you have.
This buildup occurs on the inside of your plates. Regardless of them being ceramic or titanium plates, it’s all the same. I straightened one small patch of hair before I started the cleaning process. The problem I was having with the product buildup was that my hair didn’t look as silky and shiny as it should have. In addition, my hair would become extremely frizzy and puff out soon after straightening. I simply decided that I needed a new flat iron, and I was going to get one.
I went online and began looking up all the types of flat irons that I would like to purchase in the future. I had also been testing out new products. I could review my blow-dry lotions and heat protectants better if I had a new flat iron. Shampoo and conditioners included. Having straightened or pressed hair would allow me to see if the products were functioning. This would allow me to assess my hair’s sheen, moisture, softness, and modified texture to the best of my ability.
Cleaning Your Flat Iron
After my online research, I got the idea that maybe I should just clean off my old one. Cleaning my flat iron would let me know if the products I’m using are working immediately. In turn, it will also let me know if I actually need a new flat iron.
The plate is what polishes your hair and makes it silky smooth. Cleaning your flat iron may also indicate whether or not your plates lost their luster. This method will let me know if my plates were dull or if my iron wasn’t essentially heating up to the proper temperature.
As a result of being covered, the buildup would essentially prevent the plate from polishing my hair strands. The product buildup could actually be blocking the heat from the plate onto my hair. So what did I do to figure out the best way to clean my flat iron plates? I went online and typed in how to clean your flat iron plates. There were many search results showing different methods of cleaning your flat iron. I went with the quickest method that I could find. I watched one video on YouTube and decided to try it. I already had everything I needed at home to finish the task.
So I went and gather my materials shortly after watching the video and I want to go test it out and see if it actually worked. Cleaning your flat iron using the method I watched requires a minimal amount of tools. The tools that you need to clean your flat iron using this method include the following:
- Your flat iron
- Outlet to plug your iron into
- Towel or cloth
- Oven cleaner
- Toothbrush
- Aluminum foil
- Face mask
To begin the process of cleaning your flat iron first you need to find a well-ventilated area. When cleaning your flat iron, heat it up for at least two to three minutes to let it get warm. While you are letting your iron warm, lay your towel down on a flat surface.
Once your iron heats up, turn it off. You can unplug it for safety purposes to avoid any electrical shocks. After you turn your iron off immediately spray your plates with oven cleaner. Close your iron plates together tightly and cover the top portion of the iron in aluminum foil.
Wrapping your iron in aluminum foil will cause your straightener to heat the oven cleaner more effectively. I will say that I didn’t necessarily like the wrapping of my iron in aluminum foil. The iron I use has ceramic plates which are typically gold in color. After I wrapped my iron in aluminum foil the first time and removed the straightener’s minor scratches. Similar to peeling off the paint or coating so I just scrubbed my plates with the toothbrush and wiped it off.
It’s normal to need to clean your straightener more than once. The same procedure you used the first time should be repeated. The second time after I sprayed the oven cleaner on the plates I left them unwrapped. I closed my plates tightly together and scrubbed the outside perimeter with the toothbrush. I thought that since the iron was still hot, the oven cleaner would seep back down between the plates. This was to avoid any further scratches or peeling.
After performing this several times, I was actually able to completely remove all the product buildup from my flat iron plates using this method maybe three or four times without the aluminum foil wrapping. Going into this process, I didn’t believe that the discoloration of my iron plates that was caused by the buildup would actually disappear. I simply assumed that I would be cleaning product buildup—like cakiness—off of my flat iron plates.
After removing the product buildup I went back into the section that I had previously straightened. I sprayed my heat protectant onto the section before straightening it. This time using my freshly cleaned flat iron. I noticed a big difference in how straight my hair was, how shiny it was, and how long it stayed straight after being flat ironed. My hair actually stayed straighter or flattened for a longer period of time than when I was previously straightening my hair with product buildup. Overall, I believe that this method of cleaning my flat iron was excellent.
I enjoyed watching this video because it helped me save a lot of time and money if I decide not to purchase a new iron. I did realize that I would probably choose a titanium flat iron over a ceramic flat iron if I had the choice. The majority of flat irons are typically ceramic, but the kind you need will depend on the texture and type of your hair.
Additionally, I would prefer to use an iron that actually displays the temperature being used. The Andis straightener that I currently have doesn’t display it on the dial. This is so I can determine whether the temperature of the flat iron is perhaps too hot for the texture of my hair. It would also indicate whether or not I need to the plate type for a more flawless silk press.