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 abide by these rules already, we bet you're likely neglecting one very important yet rather tedious one: Clean 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, and the better the styling, the more Insta-worthy hair we'll have.
If you're wondering how to clean your hair straightener, it's (thankfully) an easy process. But to make sure we know how to do this properly, we reached out to celebrity hairstylists Daven Mayeda and David Lopez for their tips on how to clean a flat iron.
Meet the Expert
- Daven Mayeda is a Los Angeles-based celebrity hairstylist.
- David Lopez is a celebrity hairstylist based in New York.
Keep scrolling to learn how to safely clean your flat iron.
Emily Roberts/Byrdie
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. Especially if you’ve invested in a more luxury flat iron, you’ll want to care for it properly so you have it for a long time." While a dirty flat iron won’t 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.
What You’ll Need
- A soft towel
- Warm water or rubbing alcohol
- Cotton rounds
How to Clean Your Flat Iron
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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 lot 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 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 unnecessarily adding more heat to your hair.
There's no argument about how having a good cleansing routine, from makeup to brushes, is a beauty must, but do you know how to clean your electronic hair tools, or even why you should bother to clean hair straighteners at all?
For many of us, hot irons fall through the cracks, which could be a major mistake— especially if we’ve spent time and money investing in them (because, let’s be honest, they’re not exactly cheap).
Even the best hair straighteners need a bit of TLC to keep them in tip-top condition, and here's why: Not only will this help them work better, but it could be better for the condition of our strands in the long run too.
Why is it important to clean them? Straighteners can be magnets for product build-up (think: hair gel, mousse, all our other hair lotions and potions), skin cells, natural oils, grime, dust, dirt, and bacteria. When all this accumulates, it spells bad news for the plates—all this residue can prevent plates from gliding through hair smoothly, resulting in a greater likelihood of snags, hot spots, and heat damage, by having to repeatedly go back over the same section of hair for a smooth result.
How often should I clean my flat irons?
One of the first things to note when learning how to clean hair straighteners is frequency. “I would recommend cleaning them about every third time you straighten your hair,” says Paul Edmonds, award-winning hair stylist and founder of Paul Edmonds London. This will prevent build-up from getting overly ingrained in the plates, which can be trickier to remove.
How should I clean my flat irons?
If you've been weighing up the Dyson Corrale vs GHD Platinum straighteners or invested in the L’Oréal Professionnel SteamPod 3.0, you'll want your investment to pay off and your tools to last you years to come. That's why the golden rule to how to clean hair straighteners is to be as gentle as possible; scrubbing and using abrasive cleansers on plates could end up scratching and damaging them.