Best temperature to straighten hair without damage

Heat styling tools are not a one size fits all, as different hair demands different temperature. The heat you apply to your hair should depend on how thick or thin your hair is and whether or not has it been chemically treated. You really can straighten your hair on a regular basis without damaging it. The trick is to educate yourself on temperatures.

Here’s a quick and easy guide to ideal heat styling temperatures that leaves every hair type glossy and healthy.

Straightening Fine and Chemically Treated Hair:

If your hair is naturally delicate and fine, you need to treat it like precious silk. This is insanely true if your hair has become ultra-fragile due to processing. Whether you’ve bleached, relaxed, or permed your mane, you need to treat it with extra care. When you're styling fine, processed hair with heat, 180°C is a safe bet. Anything over 190°C is going to cause serious damage to your hair.

Straightening Coloured Hair:

Make your hair color last longer by keeping your straightener’s temperature under 200°C. Just turning down the heat a little bit can make a major difference in keeping your locks vibrant. This is doubly true for reds, blues, greens, pink, etc, that are notoriously prone to fading.

Straightening Normal Locks:

Have fairly run-of-the-mill locks? They still need protection! Cheap quality flat irons are way too hard to control and hard on your hair. You don’t want to damage your healthy strands. Unless your hair is exceptionally thick and hard to style, always keep your straightener under 200°C to maintain the health of your hair.

Straightening Textured Hair:

If your hair is super dense, curly, or thick, you need a lot of heat to penetrate in it. Start out by styling at 230°C. Once you get your hair styled, reduce the heat to 190°C. This helps in straightening those hard to style locks and also doesn’t deteriorate the health of your hair by exposing a lot of heat for too long.

Straightening your hair at a correct temperature that adapts to your hair type is very important. As not taking this into account can make this daily routine a direct and major cause of hair damage.

Happy Styling!

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By Charlotte Rytter 11. Feb 2020

Straightened hair, curly hair – a straightener is a jack of all trades capable of making your hair feel and look perfect. But you have to take care so the heat from the straightener doesn’t damage your hair. In this blog post we guide you to the perfect temperature setting for your hair.

Your straightener is hot and ready to take on your long locks. But how hot is it, and is the temperature right for your hair? Many straighteners allow you to set the temperature. However, being able to set the temperature to 230°C doesn’t mean that you should. Your hair type decides which temperature your straightener should be set to.

Set the straightener according to your hair type 

Many Scandinavian women have fine to normal hair. But even within this narrow definition, the right temperature may vary a great deal. If you don’t know your hair type, ask your stylist for advice or read our blog with a guide about how to determine hair types here .  

Best temperature to straighten hair without damage

Fine/damaged hair: 120°C-150°C

If your hair is fragile, don’t set the temperature of your straightener too high. Your hair may be fragile for many reasons. Either it’s naturally fine or damaged by too many permanent hair treatments such as bleaching or perms.

Fine/strong hair: 150°C-180°C

Your hair can cope with higher temperatures if you have strong, fine hair. However, you still ned to be careful with the heat from your straightener.

Normal/damaged hair: 180°C

Set the temperature of your straightener to 180°C if your hair is normal but damaged from chemical treatments such as colouring.

Normal/strong hair: 190°C-210°C

The stronger and thicker your hair is, the higher temperatures it can cope with.

Thick hair: up to 210°C

If your hair is thick, you can climb a few steps higher on the temperature scale. You can use 210°C when styling your hair. However, we recommend that you start out at a temperature below 210°C and only work your way up the temperature scale if you don’t achieve visible results.

3 tips: How to minimise the risk of heat damage

 Even if you have the sweetest straightener on the market and you now know which temperature matches your hair type, you should try to minimise the heat damage with these three tips before you start straightening away.

#1 Remember to apply heat protection

Always apply heat protection before styling your hair with your straightener. If you apply the heat protection to dry hair, remember to let it work for a moment before starting your straightening routine. If you use your straightener on damp hair, you risk damaging your hair, and that’s exactly what you’re trying to avoid with the heat protection.

Try IdHAIR Mé Heat Defender and protect your hair against the heat from straighteners, hair dryers and other hot hair styling tools.

#2 Use a straightener that distributes the heat evenly

Always buy a straightener that distributes the heat evenly so you don’t have to treat the same strand of hair repeatedly. The more heat you expose your hair to, the greater the risk of damaging it.

#3 Clean your straightener

Rub the plates gently with a damp cloth. A dirty straightener can lead to dragging, which can damage your hair. Residues of hair products will inevitably build up on your straightener. So make it a habit to check if its time to clean it. Always clean your straightener when it is warm/cooled and unplugged. Water and electricity don’t mix well!

We hope these tips will help smoothen your next straightening experience.

Have a nice hair day!

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What is the safest temp to straighten hair?

When you're styling fine, processed hair with heat, 350°F/175°C is a safe bet. Anything over 370°F/190°C could potentially cause damage to your hair.

What temperature is least damaging to hair?

For thicker hair, the range of 300 to 375 is safe. While for thinner hair, remaining below 290 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. If your hair is not healthy enough or is damaged, then staying away from flat irons is the best solution.

Is 200 degrees too hot for hair?

Usually any temperature above 200 degrees celcius will cause damage to your hair. It needs to be set below the temperature that damage starts to occur, but above a temperature that allows you to style it,” explains Cambridge University professor and GHD's Chief Technology Officer, Dr Tim Moore.