Flat Iron Straightening and Static Hair

Straightening hair with a flat iron — Photo: Tinatin/Shutterstock

Q: My hair goes static whenever I straighten it with my flat iron. How can I prevent the static or get rid of it?

A: This is easy. A simple trick is to lightly mist the hair thoroughly with hairspray and allow the spray to dry completely before you iron the hair. The hairspray acts as a sealant to the cuticle and helps to insulate the hair from excess static charge.

Just apply the hairspray, allow it to dry, comb through the hair with a wide-tooth comb and work down to smaller-teeth until the hair is smooth again, then iron the hair as normal. Not only will it help to prevent static build-up, but it will give longer life to your results.

Remember that it is important to let the hairspray dry fully before using the iron. Otherwise, you can scorch the hair and create a gummy effect as the hairspray gets "boiled down" by the heat of the iron's plates.

If for some reason you don't want to (or cannot) use hairspray for this purpose, you can buy an anti-static spray in the laundry aisle of your supermarket and use it very sparingly on your ironed hair. In addition, you can also take an unused dryer sheet and rub it over the surface of the ironed hair which can help do spot-control of static in the hair.

©Hairfinder.com

See also:

Hair straightening

How to get rid of static hair

Polyester or polyamide clothes and static hair

How often you can use a flat iron to straighten your hair