How to clean the curling iron
When it comes to cleaning all those hair products from the barrel of your curling iron, you’ll need a few tips that won’t take much time! The good news? All those product deposits and stubborn stains can be cleaned!
It’s a good idea to remove the layer of grime on your curling iron so that the ceramic sleeve continues to get hot and work as it should. But don’t worry. Simple products and a good wipe really do work! Below I’ve put together a series of simple tips that I think will help you.
You’ll learn how to remove the stubborn film and lingering residue in one of the easiest cleaning jobs ever.
I don’t curl my hair often, and I’m not very good at it either, because I don’t really know how to get it to do what I want. I wrap a section of hair, wait, curl it, and hope for the best. Then I spray it with hairspray to make my precious time spent curling it last longer than an hour.
At some point during this simple process, my curling iron started forming this sticky brown residue, either from the product in my hair or maybe from burning my hair. I’m not entirely sure. What I do know is that my curling iron is sticky, gooey, and brown, and my hair doesn’t glide across the once-smooth ceramic surface of the straightener as easily as it used to.
I would love to blame the brown gunk on my curling iron for my hair not looking as great after using it.
I decided to find out how to clean a curling iron and remove the sticky, brown, baked-on mess.
As with many cleaning tutorials before this one, I decided to test different cleaning methods to find out the best way to clean curling irons so you wouldn’t have to guess. I know, I’m being cute like that. (You can find all of my tested cleaning tutorials here).
I did a little research on the internet and decided to test rubbing alcohol, ammonia,. One worked wonderfully, most of the others did not. Let’s start with what didn’t work.
How to Clean Curling Iron with Rubbing Alcohol
What you’ll need to clean curling iron
- Curling Iron
- Rubbing Alcohol (I used 91% isopropyl alcohol)
- Cotton pad/Cotton ball
With this cleaning method, you put some rubbing alcohol (I used 91% isopropyl alcohol) on a clean, dry cotton ball or pad and wipe the curling iron with it, gently rubbing off the dirt.
I can see why people think this works, but I have found that it does not work well, at least when the curling iron is cold. I also don’t think it’s strong enough to deal with the dirt that has accumulated on me over the years from irregular use, but consistent negligence in cleaning. I’ve been too chicken to heat up my curling iron to try to clean it with rubbing alcohol. I really don’t want to burn myself on a curling iron any more than necessary, thank you very much!
I think giving the curling iron a quick wipe down with rubbing alcohol before putting it away is probably a better way to keep it clean than cleaning a really dirty wand.
Here are my before and after results of trying to clean a curling iron with alcohol.
How to Clean Curling Iron with Ammonia
I have seen that ammonia does some amazing things. I figured since it was a ceramic curling iron, I could clean it with ammonia. I even tried two different cleaning methods with ammonia.
Here’s what you’ll need for cleaning a ceramic curling iron:
Curling Iron
- Small bowl
- A Gallon-Sized Ziploc bag (or larger)
- A Splash of Ammonia
- Cotton pads
- Soft Washcloth
- Toothbrush
Cleaning Curling Iron with Ammonia – Version 1
1. pour some ammonia into a small bowl.
2. dip your cotton pads into the ammonia and gently scrub the ceramic curling iron until it is clean.
3. Use a soft toothbrush that you have dipped in the ammonia to scrub stubborn, baked-on grime off the curling iron.
This method actually worked pretty well, but it didn’t quite get the job done. Here is my before and after picture after this method:
Now that your curling iron is clean and beautiful again, be sure to wipe it down with a damp cloth or cotton ball with alcohol after each use to prevent it from getting crusty again!
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