How to Straighten Hair with Heat Protection Spray

Co-authored by Arthur Sebastian

Last Updated: June 28, 2024

Using heat to style your hair can damage your hair over a long period of time. Thankfully, there are many heat protection products that can reduce the damage that heat does to your hair. Use a heat protection spray before you dry or straighten your hair for best results.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Prepping Your Locks

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Make sure that your hair is clean and has been properly conditioned. If you shampooed, ensure that all of the shampoo is washed out of you hair before applying conditioner. Rinse your hair with cool water before stepping out of the shower. A cool rinse ensures that your hair follicle is closed tightly and minimizes hair loss.^{[1]
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Use a wide tooth comb to detangle your hair before drying. Begin at the ends of your strands and work your way up to your scalp. Do not tug too hard on any tangles in your hair.^{[2]
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Apply a heat protection spray. Before blow drying your hair you should apply a heat protecting spray. Hold the spray bottle about a foot from your head and spritz your wet hair. Make sure to cover the entire surface area.^{[3]
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- Heat protection spray can be found in the haircare aisle of most general and beauty stores.
- Select a heat protection spray that can be used on wet and dry hair.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Drying Your Hair

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Avoid using a round brush to dry your hair if you intend to straighten your hair. Trade your round brush for a paddle brush. This will guide the hair into a straighter position.^{[4]
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Set the straight hair with the cool setting on your hair drying. Heat is helpful when you are styling hair. The cool setting on the hair dryer helps to keep that style for hours.^{[5]
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Jen Atkin, Celebrity Hairstylist

Preserve hair health while blowdrying. "My biggest trick is to use the ‘cool shot’ button. When you’re blow drying your hair, finish each section with a cool shot and a boar bristle brush with that cool air–it helps to get the cuticle to really stay calm and smooth."
Before you apply more heat to your hair with the hair straightener, spritz the strands with the heat protection spray. Make sure that you select a spray that you can use for both wet and dry hair.^{[6]
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Part 3

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Straightening Your Hair

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Section off your hair into at least three different sections on each side and the back. Decide which section you would like to work with first and clip the other sections of hair out of the way.
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Straighten each section. Work the straightener through the strands of hair. Set your straightener to a medium heat setting. Move slowly through the hair but do not stop and hold the straightener on the hair. This will damage or burn the hair.^{[7]
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- Using a low setting will require you to drag the straightener through your hair multiple times, which can damage the hair.
Use a hairspray or blitz the hair again with the cool setting on the hair dryer to set the hairstyle.

Expert Q&A

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Question

What should I look for in a heat protectant?

Arthur Sebastian
Professional Hair Stylist
Arthur Sebastian is a Professional Hair Stylist based in San Francisco, California. He is the Owner of Arthur Sebastian Hair Salon, a studio offering Hair Styling, Color & Brazilian Blowout services. Arthur has 30 years of experience styling hair. His career began with apprenticeships at Wayne’s Beauty College in Santa Cruz, California Miss Marty’s School of Beauty in San Francisco, California. After receiving his Cosmetology License in 1998, he rented his first station at Wack Shack Hair Salon in San Francisco, going on to hold positions at Posh Hair Salon, Acabello Hair Salon, and Red Union Salon before opening his own studio. With over 500 online customer reviews, Arthur Sebastian Hair Salon has a 5 star average rating on Yelp and 4.9 average review on Google.

Arthur Sebastian

Professional Hair Stylist

Expert Answer

Look for a spray that can do double-duty and also protect your hair from the sun. Quite a few products now have UV protectants. If you'll be spending a lot of time in the sun, these products can protect your hair from becoming weathered and faded.

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Question

Heat protectant spray is wet, so how do I straighten my hair while it's in? My straightener only works on dry hair.

Community Answer

Don't put on as much spray. A light spritz is all that is needed, and shouldn't leave your hair wet.

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Question

Can I put my serum in before straightening or after washing the hair?

Community Answer

I would suggest putting it in after you wash your hair, because then it has time to dry and it lets the serum do its job. I would be careful when putting it in your hair before using a hot tool, because it could fry your hair or ruin the hot tool. But if it helps, then use less than a quarter sized amount. I would also suggest that if you are putting serum in your hair while it is dry, you put it more towards the ends.

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Tips

Never skip applying a heat protector to your hair when styling your hair with heat.

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Use a higher setting on your straightener to avoid running the straightener through each section multiple times.

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Warnings

Too much heat applied to your hair will damage your hair over time. Heat protecting spray helps to minimize this damage.

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Use caution when working with a hair straightener. The straightener will get very hot and can burn your skin.

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