A creative use for retired straighteners

[chopandchange]

Most of us have given up straightening our hair. Well, here's a new creative use for the now redundant straighteners - fry an egg!

How hot must those things be?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAC3Z0oAV0E

At the end of the video it says something about NOT TRYING THIS AT HOME, so I suppose we should pay attention to that!

[alwayssmiling]

love it!!.................Just what I needed to keep me away from the devils instrument thanks

[jenwexler]

That's really interesting...It definitely helped mess up my hair over time....And I always used protection.

[Anje]

I think I've seen making grilled cheese sandwiches as a suggested flat iron use in the past.

ETA: "This is an experiment and not to be replicated at home."
OK, I object fundamentally the this insinuation that we should not experiment at home!

For my next experiment, I need to compare how high the flames shoot out of a toaster using different varieties of poptarts! (http://www.pmichaud.com/toast/)

[prosperina]

It's too bad I'm not a violent person, because it always occured to me that a flat iron would make a lovely instrument of torture.:eyebrows: Those things get so hot!

I still use mine though--only on my bangs.

[Intransigentia]

If you do fabric crafts, a curling iron (not sure about flat-irons) is really great for smoothing out ribbbons and trims that have been stuffed in the bottom of the supply box for a long time and gotten all crumpled.

[Dragon]

Thats interesting.

[Niwa]

After four years of foregoing direct heat, I got curious and decided to start using a curling iron for special occasions. It took me three months to damage the ends of my hair. Maybe if I had used less heat, I would have had less damage, but less heat also meant less polished results, so there was a catch there. My curiosity is satisfied now and I will never go back to heat.

[sibiryachka]

If you do fabric crafts, a curling iron (not sure about flat-irons) is really great for smoothing out ribbbons and trims that have been stuffed in the bottom of the supply box for a long time and gotten all crumpled.

Hah, great idea! The one I can't bring myself to discard, even though I'm 90% sure I'll never use it again, works as both a straightener and a curling iron, so I'm set either way. And while I will probably never use it on my hair again, I do have a boatload of crumpled, creased ribbons sitting around in a drawer. Brilliant.

I prefer my eggs scrambled; I don't think it would work very well for that.

[chopandchange]

I prefer my eggs scrambled; I don't think it would work very well for that.

Toast?

:cheese:

[virgo75]

Hey, that's great!!! :lol:

Another use that I read about was to use it for deep conditioning.

You're supposed to drench your hair with your conditioner of choice, wrap it in sections in aluminum foil like you would for foil highlights, then use the flat iron over the foil to heat up the conditioner & hair inside.

I haven't done it yet, but it sounds interesting.....

[akuamoonmaui]

I use mine to iron my hems and that stupid part of your shirt where the front meets the collar. I always miss that spot!

[renarok]

Someone here also said he/she uses a flat iron to put a crease in his/her slacks. (Sorry I can't remember poster's name :rolleyes:)

[FoxRain]

Oh my godness, how scary.
Honestly, even when I used straighteners I never let it get that hot. I was scared my hair would catch on fire so I always used it after a few seconds.
Of course whenever my friends did it they would always wait minutes for it to heat up. You could feel the heat from a distance away, and smoke would always arise from their hair.
Remind me why people do this again?:confused:

[Tonks]

A friend of mine once told me "The smoke is good!" when I mentioned that she was basically literally frying her hair (and it smelled!).

[Anje]

Hey, that's great!!! :lol:

Another use that I read about was to use it for deep conditioning.

You're supposed to drench your hair with your conditioner of choice, wrap it in sections in aluminum foil like you would for foil highlights, then use the flat iron over the foil to heat up the conditioner & hair inside.

I haven't done it yet, but it sounds interesting.....
Yeah, I wouldn't try that.... At least test it without hair in the mix. If the conditioner boils, it's definitely too hot!

[jenwexler]

I think I've seen making grilled cheese sandwiches as a suggested flat iron use in the past.

ETA: "This is an experiment and not to be replicated at home."
OK, I object fundamentally the this insinuation that we should not experiment at home!

For my next experiment, I need to compare how high the flames shoot out of a toaster using different varieties of poptarts! (http://www.pmichaud.com/toast/)

It's a shame I can't replicate this at "home." I miss having a kitchen and a grilled cheese sounds good right now haha.

[Angeletti]

Wow that's crazy, more people that I know need to see that video because I don't think they realize how hot those things get. Just the other day someone was talking about how she got her 8 year old child a straightener, I thought that was a little strange but that's just me I guess, it's not something I would let my kid have that young.

[jenwexler]

Since I went on my first heat strike, I noticed my roommate was straightening her already long and beautiful hair...I could smell the fried hair the second I walked into the room.

[triumphator!]

YES! This is awesome. I live in a dorm with no kitchen and I often crave omelets.... haha :D

[Anje]

It's a shame I can't replicate this at "home." I miss having a kitchen and a grilled cheese sounds good right now haha.
No, no... I'm quoting the disclaimer on the bottom of the video of the egg on the flat iron. I'm in favor of experimenting at home whenever it is reasonably safe to do so.

Make sure you clean your flat iron well (and be careful with the water going into electrical components) before making grilled cheese with it. And take pictures!

[ddiana1979]

Never had a flat iron (my hair is 1a/b, so what'd be the point?), but I do remember that my crimper in the 80's literally made a sizzling sound on my hair. From my best friend back then, who taught me how to use it, "That's how you know it's done." Yeah, "done" alright, like a fried egg. *cringes* Fortunately, as I am extraordinarily lazy when it comes to hair & cosmetics, I rarely used it.

[little_cherry]

Pancake time! :D

[chopandchange]

No, no... I'm quoting the disclaimer on the bottom of the video of the egg on the flat iron. I'm in favor of experimenting at home whenever it is reasonably safe to do so.

Make sure you clean your flat iron well (and be careful with the water going into electrical components) before making grilled cheese with it. And take pictures!

You can also use an iron. Has anyone seen "Benny and Joon" where Johnny Depp's character irons the cheese sandwiches? It made such a nice satisfying wooshing noise when he did it. I've always wanted to do it that way. See here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P8RU6Mc-LU

[aenflex]

I would never hurt my Chi. Ever. I would never use it to make food.
Though I have retired it, I will never forget or take for granted how it changed me and soothed all the latent sadness at having the poofiest, most ridiculed hair in grade school. Better late than never. I still take it out and pet it every now and then :)



(but my hair doesn't miss it)

[melrose1985]

CRAZY! I actually use mine for straighten the edge of my jeans and shirts. You know how the hem fold some times, the hair straightener works well for this!

[bluesnowflake]

I keep telling my sister to stop straightening her hair every day and that it's damaging.. no luck so far.

[Alvrodul]

If you do fabric crafts, a curling iron (not sure about flat-irons) is really great for smoothing out ribbbons and trims that have been stuffed in the bottom of the supply box for a long time and gotten all crumpled.
Now that is a useful tip! It means I can get a bit more mileage out of my old curling iron - it has been gathering dust in my bathroom since ... I can't really remember. I can't have used it more than a handful of times since my middle niece was born. And she is now a teenager!:cool:

[Henrietta]

Oh, nice. I thought that it's only Polish students' idea to make sandwiches with two irons etc.:D
I cannot believe I was frying my hair with it everyday few years ago...:(

[moonkitty]

That was so funny...and sad when you realize the damage done to your actual hair using such a device!

[sibiryachka]

CRAZY! I actually use mine for straighten the edge of my jeans and shirts. You know how the hem fold some times, the hair straightener works well for this!

I bet it will also work on those pesky pocket flaps that get all rumpled in the dryer!