Hair Care Weekly #2: Hair Straightening With A Hot Comb Using Open Flame

This post is for African Americans who use a hot comb to straighten hair. Here is how to do it the right way over an open flame on your stove.

Pre-Step: Wash your hair well with shampoo. Condition and then blow dry until its a straight as you can get it. Don't do it for too long though.

Step 1: Purchase two hot combs. If you have really coarse hair, buy one where the teeth of the comb are closer together. If you hair is less coarse, you can buy one with wider space between the teeth.

Step 2: Prepare yourself. Get a towel that you won't mind slightly burning and ruining. Make sure you have clear space as well. You will be doing this in your kitchen because that's most likely where the stove is. You might want to grab a mirror that you can set down as well so you don't make any mistakes.

Step 3: Use a heat protection product to protect your hair from the heat from the comb.

Step 4: Lay both of the hot combs on the stove top right where the flame is. Make sure the handles are far away from the flame. If you have an electric stove, this is not going to work. Use two hot combs because it will make the process faster and you won't have to wait for it to heat up because you'll always have another one ready.

Step 5: Lay out your towel and fold it at least twice. Use a hand towel cause they're smaller. Wait about 5 minutes or so and take one comb off the stove. Press it quickly on both sides on the towel.

Step 6: Take a piece of hair from the back of your neck and run the hot comb from the roots all the way to the tips of your hair.

Step 7: Continue this through the rest of your hair until its all straightened.

Optional Step: If you want, you can use a flat iron to make your hair more silky.

Step 8: Spray with a shine spray to make hair look nice.