Steaming & damp to dry flat ironning. [PICTURES]

[Auburn]

Bubbles formed within hair as a result of water boiling within the cortex


This, my friends, is called bubble hair. It is caused when the water in the hair boils, and tiny bubbles of steam then form inside the softened hair shaft. The hair is thereby weakened, and may break altogether.

These operate somewhere between 120 and 180 °C, roughly speaking. Water boils at 100 °C. If a hot curling iron is put on to wet hair, it boils the water inside the hair. The boiling water softens the keratin of the cortex; then the steam from the boiling water expands and forms tiny bubbles inside the hair. Eventually the hair breaks off, either at or somewhere near a bubble. And it is always, always associated with the use of heated appliances on damp hair.

Source


So with that being said, have any of you experienced damage from steaming or damp to dry flat ironing? Blow drying is obvious. What about maxiglide?

I hear that water just "evaporates" when you do damp to dry flat ironing but in order for it to just evaporate, the water is BOILED.

Even with the top flatirons in the industry, how can the flatiron use steam or flat iron damp to dry without boiling & damaging the hair? Can someone explain this also?

 

[Desarae]

IDK but it seems that the steam irons would be safer to use than the wet to dry, since with the steam you are infusing moisture INTO the hair, but with wet to dry, you are evaporating the moisture out, which seems more violent to the hair shaft.

 

[NJoy]

Interesting post, Auburn. Looking forward to responses. Thanks!

 

[Auburn]

IDK but it seems that the steam irons would be safer to use than the wet to dry, since with the steam you are infusing moisture INTO the hair, but with wet to dry, you are evaporating the moisture out, which seems more violent to the hair shaft.

Yeah FHI and Joico (& other brands) claim to INFUSE moisture into the hair but the hair can only take so much and the rest is boiled off so...

This article makes me think that those brands have just been feeding me a warhead... sweet at first but the destruction later.

 

[shopgalore]

So now Steaming is bad for the hair now? Cant we catch a break!! I just would like healthy hair :-(

 

[nymane]

I remember trying this in the beginning of my HHJ......SNAP CRACKLE POP! Didn't work for me...

 

[shtow]

Well first off, in terms of blow drying my hair took off pre LHCF when I let my hair dry at least 80 percent before blow drying.

As far as wet to dry flat ironing, my hair was breaking left and right as a result. My hair looked very smooth, but felt "off", almost like cheap BSS hair lol

This is the thread from when I did the damp to dry http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=339015

and this is me eating my words http://www.longhaircareforum.com/showthread.php?t=341581

Don't do it!

 

[Nonie]

IDK, but I have been doing wet-to-dry presses since I was a teen and have no plans to stop. If it has caused me damage, I am not aware of it.

When you blowdry hair, don't you heat up the water to the point where it turns into vapor? Meaning it too can be guilty of this phenomenon.

Irresistible has been doing this since I have known her and seems her hair hasn't suffered.

 

[Auburn]

IDK, but I have been doing wet-to-dry presses since I was a teen and have no plans to stop. If it has caused me damage, I am not aware of it.

When you blowdry hair, don't you heat up the water to the point where it turns into vapor? Meaning it too can be guilty of this phenomenon.

Irresistible has been doing this since I have known her and seems her hair hasn't suffered.

Yes. The dominican blow out is a good example of extreme heat though.

 

[longhairlover]

yeah the same can happen with blowdyring, hooded dryer used too hot as well.

alot of people don't know about this good post.

and I guess that's why they say to let the hair airdry to 80-90% before using wet to dry flat irons, but you know folks be using it on wet hair.

I don't own a wet to dry iron because i'm a bit weary of them, but like anything you have to follow instructions because they do say get rid of the moisture before using, i'm sure they say this because of the boiling of the hair if used on wet tresses.

I think most hair damage comes from lack of paying attention to instructions, and if you read the instructions on using a tool following them properly.

 

[Chaosbutterfly]

I don't think it works like that though...at least not with steam appliances.

The article refers to liquid water in the hair, which can be boiled away. Steam can't be boiled away, because boiling makes water into vapor, and steam is already in vapor form.
When you use the steam burst on your iron, it infuses the hair with moisture, but moisturized hair doesn't have to be wet or even damp. If you do it right, then your hair should be dry but the cortex of the hair should have the moisture from the steam.

I used to have a steaming curling iron, and they were very specific about how long to hold down the steam burst button. Now, if you overuse the steam burst, get your hair wet, continue ironing over the wetness, and then end up with bubbles...well...that's not the manufacturer's fault. You didn't do it how they told you to.

As for damp to dry ironing, I think that if it's done with a quality tool meant for damp to dry heat styling, then you shouldn't end up with bubbles. I don't know for sure (I'm about to whip out that google-fu ) but those tools probably have some kind of technology in place to keep bubbles from occurring.

 

[Auburn]

Even with steaming DRY hair, arent you scorching your cuticles? I know heat period will scorch them but the water would have to surpass the cuticle to get to the cortex. Once there, couldn't it boil on the second pass or if you left the iron on your hair 0.0001 seconds too long?

 

[Nonie]

Just want to point out that if this theory is true--and I am not saying it isn't-- then it would not matter if the hair was dripping wet or just damp. Coz any amount of water will boil. Also water doesn't boil just because you apply a lot of heat all at once. If you apply low heat to water for a good length of time, it will eventually boil.
So basically even blowdrying damp hair isn't safe

Question: Does hair porosity come into play?

 

[biancaelyse]

Wet to dry irons are the devil!! My sil used one of these on my daughter's wet hair (without my permission) and her hair broke off in clumps in areas!!

It has taken years to grow out the damaged parts.

I wouldn't recommend ironing wet hair to my worse enemy. It takes multiple passes to both dry and straighten the hair and if the temp is very high you are indeed cooking your hair.

I can see how steaming dry hair is not as harmful. I used Caruso rollers for years and they did no damage.

 

[Lucky's Mom]

Umm.... I am considering it..... again...

 

[Nonie]

Wet to dry irons are the devil!! My sil used one of these on my daughter's wet hair (without my permission) and her hair broke off in clumps in areas!!

It has taken years to grow out the damaged parts.

I wouldn't recommend ironing wet hair to my worse enemy. It takes multiple passes to both dry and straighten the hair and if the temp is very high you are indeed cooking your hair.

I can see how steaming dry hair is not as harmful. I used Caruso rollers for years and they did no damage.

I think wrong use as a PP mentioned is the problem. I never have to pass my iron more than once to dry my hair. And the second pass is just because I apply a serum to seal and prevent reversion.

 

[Chaosbutterfly]

I don't know for sure, but I don't think that's necessarily true.

I think it goes back to the nature of steam.
When you put liquid water on your hair, then the cuticles should be the first things to get wet and then the water makes its way into the cortex. Then you pass the iron over it, the water in the cuticles conduct the heat to the water in your cortex and you get boiling?

But I think that if you steam your hair, it can get into the cortex without wetting the cuticles, because water vapor has lower density than liquid water and the cuticles should be lifting to let it in. So your hair is moisturized from the inside out, instead of from the outside in. If you use the steam feature right, then your cortex should be getting most of the moisture while your cuticles are staying relatively dry. Then you can pass the iron over your hair and straighten it without boiling the moisturized cortex, because the cuticles are still dry and aren't conducting heat as well?

I don't know any of that stuff for certain....it kind of makes sense to me.
But I do know that steam appliances are generally going to be good for the hair, if you know how to use them correctly.

 

[Auburn]

Just want to point out that if this theory is true--and I am not saying it isn't-- then it would not matter if the hair was dripping wet or just damp. Coz any amount of water will boil. Also water doesn't boil just because you apply a lot of heat all at once. If you apply low heat to water for a good length of time, it will eventually boil.
So basically even blowdrying damp hair isn't safe

Question: Does hair porosity come into play?

I was thinking about that!

 

[Auburn]

Umm.... I am considering it..... again...

..... okay

 

[biancaelyse]

I think wrong use as a PP mentioned is the problem. I never have to pass my iron more than once to dry my hair. And the second pass is just because I apply a serum to seal and prevent reversion.

My daughter has an extremely thick head of hair and from what she told me it was very wet so one pass would not have dried it, much less straightened it.

If others do it and are happy with the results then fine. I would never do it on my daughters or myself.

 

[Auburn]

My daughter has an extremely thick head of hair and from what she told me it was very wet so one pass would not have dried it, much less straightened it.

If others do it and are happy with the results then fine. I would never do it on my daughters or myself.

If my hair has TOO much moisture, it puffs up on the first pass then straightens on the second.

 

[Nonie]

This bubble theory, does it only apply where water is concerned? I ask coz I believe there are usually products applied to hair before pressing which might also turn to vapor. I know the last time I did WTD, my wetness was from a spray protectant. So there was no getting around that if I were to follow directions which said to spray right before flat-ironing.

So is water the devil here? Also pressing very wet hair is dangerous coz the water could scald you. Most of us press damp to dry even if we call it WTD. And that Biancaelyse's sis had to pass the comb that many times tells me she was pressing very wet hair or thick sections. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius so the iron doesn't need to be that hot to dry the hair unless it's too much hair and water being passed through the comb. I use my iron at 230 degrees Celsius.

 

[Auburn]

100 degrees Celsius = 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

212 doesnt work for me at ALL unless I do 293847289374 passes

 

[Nonie]

100 degrees Celsius = 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

212 doesnt work for me at ALL unless I do 293847289374 passes

It probably would not be hot enough to temporarily break the bonds in your hair to make it straight but I bet if you took a small section and made it damp 212 degrees would dry it.

 

[OneInAMillion]

Bubbles formed within hair as a result of water boiling within the cortex


This, my friends, is called bubble hair. It is caused when the water in the hair boils, and tiny bubbles of steam then form inside the softened hair shaft. The hair is thereby weakened, and may break altogether.

These operate somewhere between 120 and 180 °C, roughly speaking. Water boils at 100 °C. If a hot curling iron is put on to wet hair, it boils the water inside the hair. The boiling water softens the keratin of the cortex; then the steam from the boiling water expands and forms tiny bubbles inside the hair. Eventually the hair breaks off, either at or somewhere near a bubble. And it is always, always associated with the use of heated appliances on damp hair.

Source


So with that being said, have any of you experienced damage from steaming or damp to dry flat ironing? Blow drying is obvious. What about maxiglide?

I hear that water just "evaporates" when you do damp to dry flat ironing but in order for it to just evaporate, the water is BOILED.

Even with the top flatirons in the industry, how can the flatiron use steam or flat iron damp to dry without boiling & damaging the hair? Can someone explain this also?

Thanks for the post OP. This reminds me of when I attempted to have a BKT done on my hair last summer. The hairdresser put rejuvenol on a small section on the back of my head. While my hair was soaking wet with the product, she proceeded to flat iron that one piece and the sizzling was so loud that I thought my hair was frying. I actually got up and told her that I wouldn't be needing her services...not in those terms of course.

That one piece in the back of my head has been extremely fragile ever since. I'm sooooooo glad my gut told me not to go through with the whole thing. I definitely pissed her off and she tried to assure me that this was the way the process is done.

 

[goodmorningruby]

Waiting for Iris to chime in...

 

[Aspire]

Thanks OP. I have been wondering about this new trend myself. Personally, I think the wet to dry trend is just hype orchestrated by flat iron manufacturers, mostly because they are seeing the long-term damage to their clients hair from the excessive heat. I must admit, in high school (a LONG time ago) I bumped my hair partially damp and loved the effect. However, after doing it 3 or four times, my hair experience a LOT of breakage. I won't do it again.

I do think steam is a different matter though. My hair seems to love steam treatments. I am not sure that this is much different from a hair dryer, HOWEVER, I don't use a hand hair dryer for normal drying, and I rarely use my hooded one for hair drying, only conditioning. I would consider using steam in moderation.

Thanks again for posting, maybe some of our chem/bio experts will chime in.

 

[likewtr4chklit]

I'm scared :-(

 

[Paisley]

IDK, but I have been doing wet-to-dry presses since I was a teen and have no plans to stop. If it has caused me damage, I am not aware of it.

When you blowdry hair, don't you heat up the water to the point where it turns into vapor? Meaning it too can be guilty of this phenomenon.

Irresistible has been doing this since I have known her and seems her hair hasn't suffered.

her hair is thin to, i want thick and long, like dlewis

 

[catgurl]

Thank you OP this is very interesting question.

I have been wondering this myself as I have been considering a Maxiglide. Reading this thread I think I will pass!

I rarely straighten my hair and when I have its been blow-outs.
But I recently discovered that using lots of heat protectant does not ensure your hair won't be damaged! Bye bye 1.5 inches.

I always waited until my hair was damp not wet and wasn't even trying to get it very straight. I like big hair

And I still had damage to my ends. I am now on a personal challenge to use no heat until May but I know I won't give up blow-outs forever. In the future I will try cool setting and see how it goes....

BTW, I found this info on the Natural Haven's blog about heat temps:
http://thenaturalhaven.blogspot.com/2009/05/straightening-factshow-hot-is-too-hot.html