How To Clean Your Flat Iron - Byrdie

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Search Search Close search How to Clean Your Flat Iron, According to Celebrity Hair Stylists By Katharine McEntee Katharine McEntee Katharine has covered celebrity beauty secrets, insider tips from hairstylists and makeup artists, beauty news, and product reviews for Byrdie. Byrdie's Editorial Guidelines and Michelle Rostamian Michelle Rostamian Michelle is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience in the beauty industry. Her work has appeared in publications including Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, The Zoe Report, W Magazine, Byrdie's Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 29, 2024 04:29PM Reviewed by Sky Kim Reviewed by Sky Kim Sky Kim is a hairstylist with over a decade of experience. She currently works at Serge Normant at John Frieda in New York City. About Byrdie's Beauty & Wellness Board Hairstylist In This Article View All In This Article

• Why to Clean Your Flat Iron
• How to Clean Your Flat Iron
• Frequency
• The Final Takeaway

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You probably know the basic rules of using a straightener, like always spray a heat protectant before styling your hair, and don’t turn the heat higher than 400°F. And while you probably (hopefully) abide by these rules already, we bet you're likely neglecting one very important yet rather tedious one: cleaning your flat iron.

Considering the amount of heat protectant and styling products we use, it’s only natural that our flat irons will acquire some buildup. And as most hairstylists will agree, the cleaner the iron, the better the styling. Fortunately for us, cleaning a hair straightener is a breeze. To show us how to do it properly, we reached out to celebrity hairstylists Daven Mayeda and David Lopez for their expertise. Keep scrolling to learn how to safely clean your flat iron.

Meet the Experts

• Daven Mayeda is a Los Angeles-based celebrity hairstylist. He has worked with Shay Mitchell, Adele, and Mariah Carey, among others.
• David Lopez is a celebrity hairstylist based in New York. His clients include Ashley Graham, Hailey Bieber, and Chrissy Teigen, to name a few.

Why You Should Clean Your Flat Iron

"Like any other appliance you buy, a flat iron needs to be cleaned and properly maintained to work correctly," notes Lopez. "Build-up from products can cause the iron not to work as well," he says. Adding that it's especially important to clean your straightener if you've invested in one with a higher price tag as you'll want it to last a long time. While a dirty flat iron may not cause damage to the hair itself, Lopez says that if there's product buildup, the iron won’t be as effective and may cause you to continuously run it over your hair to achieve the desired result. "This will result in overexposure to heat, resulting in damage," he says.

How to Clean Your Flat Iron

What You'll Need

• A soft towel
• Warm water or rubbing alcohol
• Cotton rounds

Instructions

1. Heat the Flat Iron: To begin, Mayeda recommends turning your flat iron on the lowest setting and letting it heat up. This is a very important step, as the heat aids in loosening up product buildup on the plates, making it easier to clean.
2. Unplug the Flat Iron: Once it's sufficiently warm, Mayeda says to unplug the iron and double-check to make sure it is not connected to the outlet.
3. Clean the Plates: While performing this step, it's very important to be mindful of how you're cleaning so as not to burn yourself on the warm plates. Grab your unplugged iron and gently scrub the plates with a soft towel, cotton rounds dipped in water, or cotton rounds dipped in rubbing alcohol for a deeper clean. Make sure not to scrub too hard, as Mayeda says this can damage the plates.

Byrdie Tip

To get into the smaller crevices, Lopez recommends using a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol. Once the alcohol has dried, use a damp towel to wipe clean.

How Often to Clean Your Flat Iron

The more buildup there is on the flat iron, the less evenly your plates will heat up, and the harder it'll be to style your hair. To prevent this, Mayeda recommends cleaning your iron at least once a month. That being said, if you frequently use a large amount of product and are a loyal flat iron user, you should be cleaning it after each use (or at the very least, whenever you can visibly see the residue and buildup).

The Final Takeaway

Whether you invest in a high-end flat iron or not, it's important to take care of it as you would any other appliance. The more you use the iron, the more often you should set time aside to eliminate all of that product build-up on the plates. Not only will this help the iron heat evenly, but it will ensure you're not adding more heat to your hair unnecessarily.

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