How To Clean A Flat Iron Hair Straightener

That’s said the durability of products depends largely on users. To buy the best hair straightener, you would spend a lot of time searching online for reviews and recommendations.

Therefore, there is no reason that you skip an important step – cleaning the plates, by leaving it in the corner and using it only when you need it.

Not just that, not cleaning your hair tools can also be bad for your hair. Hair damage, snagging hair, and split ends are possible because of buildup.

It’s understandable that people rarely clean or only cleans their flat irons until they notice their hair tools are too dirty with a lot of buildup on the plates.

If they would know cleaning flat iron will not only get rid of the build-up products on the plates, but also make the heat conduct properly, and for me keeping my tool clean and polish as much as possible is an important part of my beauty journey.

Here is how I often clean my flat iron.

 

How To Clean A Flat Iron

Methods to clean a flat iron are up to how frequently you use the tool and dust & build up the level on the plates.

• If you don’t frequently use your straightener and after some months, there is just dust covering on the plates, you can use a warm towel to remove them; then, turn it on for a while to warm the plates, let it dry and put back on the box for storage.
• If you have not cleaned your straightener for long time and too much build up sticking on the plates, I recommend you some below methods:

 

1Using warm towel

Firstly, turn the flat iron about 3 minutes so that all build-up will be melted. Then, unplug and let it cool down while you moisten the towel with warm water.

When the plates are safe to touch, rub the warm towel over the flat iron until it is clear.

In case, after applying this method, the persistent dirt still stick on, you should move the next method – Using a hot tool cleaner

 

2Using a hot tool cleaner

 

Firstly, glide a hot tool cleaner thoroughly on the surface of plates. Then, use a towel or cloth to rub a whole surface and all edge of the flat iron.

Immediately, you can see a majority of the oils and residues disappear. After that, let the plates dry by wipe out the soft cloth the flat iron.

You should apply this method 2 times per week to prolong the longevity of your straightener.

If you applied a hot tool cleaner on your plates but the dirt cannot be removed, don’t worry; there are still other methods for hard dirt like using baking soda.

 

3Using baking soda

 

Baking soda is a white crystalline powder which is considered as a non-poisonous product using for cleaning, cooking, or beauty.

When using baking soda as a cleaner for a surface, its crystalline form will help to rub gently to remove the dirt without any scratching points on the sensitive surface.

Because of mild alkalinity, baking soda can dislodge fatty acids in the dirt from the surface and dissolve easily in water.

Therefore, using baking soda for cleaning your flat iron is ideal by the reason of its effectiveness and safety.

Because of its powder form, you have to drip baking soda with hydrogen peroxide (rubbing alcohol) before applying it on the surface of the plates. Make sure that baking soda and hydrogen are mixed evenly.

Then, cover the mixture on the surface carefully in order to prevent the mixture from running out of the flat iron.

After that, you use a sponge to glide on the surface several times and wait for 10 or 20 minutes so that buildup comes off.

Finally, using a soft towel to wipe the mixture out of the plates and dry the flat iron before storage or next use.

Comparing with Titanium plates, Ceramic flat is easier to clean. Therefore, besides to above methods, you can apply the warm saltwater on the Ceramic surface of the flat iron, and then rub over the ceramic plates with a paper towel until the flat iron is clean and shining.

You can clean titanium flat irons using this method, some best flat irons such as Babyliss pro nano titanium and Izunami Hair Straightener Ktx450 are able to maintain their quality plates after cleaned by baking soda.

 

Why should the flat iron be cleaned?

Firstly, we should concern about the material. Titanium and Ceramic or even other metals are easy to attract dust and build up. Oils, spray, and other protective hair products are close friends of hairstyling addict but an enemy of hair straightener.

Because when applying these products to your hair, oils or protective products cannot penetrate totally into your hair and some spray cannot remove if your hair has not been washed, therefore, the residue will stick to your flat iron when you glide it on your hair.

For the next hairdo, if you do not clean, being heated, the build-up will be melted, and again attach to your hair.

This will creates a bad smell and make your hair breakage and split ends. For a long time, it can damage your hair.

Secondly, when you turn hair straightener on, the heat is distributed to the buildup which makes it melted; as the result, the heat obtaining your hair is reduced and limits the effectiveness of the styling hair process.

Cleaning the flat iron helps to provide heat to plates effectively.

If the plates are not hot evenly because of build-up, then it leaves some parts of your hairpieces not straightened.

Moreover, cleaning flat iron, of course, extends the life of the straightener and you will save money by not buying the new one too soon.

The last one is that cleaning keeps your plates in clean and shiny status, which may create more inspiration in the hairstyling process.

It means that not only does Titanium flat iron need to be cleaned, but also the plates made from other materials such as Ceramic should be cosseted; and It is always the best hair straightener as the first use.

 

When should your flat iron be cleaned?

We highly recommend you to clean flat iron after each use. It limits the ability to build up and dust to stick on your plates.

If you are busy, you can clean when you realize that the surface of plates changes into other colors because of dust or build-up; or when the heat controlling ability of the straightener is not effective.

You increase the temperature but the heat is not enough to obtain your hair; for example, as usual, your hair is suitable at 370F but now you have to increase to 400F to demand your expectation.

Besides, the time to clean your flat iron depends on the material of the plates. If your plates are made from Titanium such as the Babyliss Pro, Izunami Ktx450, or Brazilian Heat After Dark, you should clean after each use because Titanium is easy to attract the residue of hair products than others.

If your plates are made from Ceramic like the GHD V GOLD CLASSIC STYLER, Solia Tourmaline Ion, it is highly recommended to clean after 2 or 3 times of use.

 

Last tips

• Always unplug the hair straightener while cleaning
• Never touch directly the plates when you are doubted the temperature. Use a soft cloth to check the temperature before cleaning the straightener.
• Never use hard tools or metal to touch the ceramic plates, which can damage your hair straightener by scratches.
• Always let the plates dry before storage or next use.
• Usually, clean your flat iron after use. Some people clean the plates only when noticing so much buildup on the surface. However, using a straightener with too much dirt can damage your hair and the flat iron because the buildup melted on the plates will change into other harmful chemicals through a chemical reaction.

 

So the above methods are our tips about cleaning flat iron, let us know if they are effective for you and do not hesitate to share other methods to us by leaving comments below!