Low-heat flat iron for hot oil treatment shortcut?

[Vara La Fey]

In that case, putting the oil on and sitting outside on a hot day would likely be enough! (I'm not necessarily recommending it - maybe in the shade, but not actually in the sun which is itself damaging for hair.) You could also/instead warm the oil in the sun before applying.
Hot heat tools are catastrophic for hair, and absolutely the first thing to eliminate in the quest for healthy hair as lapushka already said.

I often leave the mask on for 24 hours or more, which includes some outside time. Masking seems to reduce my breakage to almost zero.

Best hair-thing I've done in a long time was a couple weeks ago when I shampooed with my clarifier, rinsed, then coconut oiled for 10 min, rinsed, then conditioned (Sun Bum, no bad ingred's), rinsed and air dried. It literally took 2 hours to dry. I've said this before somewhere around here. Now there's an update.

Yesterday after a 48-hour coconut/olive/avocado oil mask I gently shampooed with my no-sulfate, rinsed, used the same conditioner, rinsed and air dried - and my hair was flyaway straw-frizz and was dry in 20 minutes.

That was even worse than in between those times when I shampooed no-sulfate, didn't condition or add oil, and air dried.

I'm 1C, coarse, dry, stiff, brittle and thin (not many per square inch). This is a lot of trial and error, but I'm determined that these BSL locks WILL be to my waist in 18 months or less.

I never did much with heat anyway, and anything >212F has already been banished. I might yet banish the heat tools at any temp. Sooo many of you have advised that, now and in years-old threads I've read on here. And you're all way ahead of me on hair care.

[Vara La Fey]

Oh no. No no no. Direct heat anyway is hideously damaging and heating oil with a flat iron = frying in my book. Agree with a head wrap, or saran wrap with a towel over top. But, as they say, you do you. It sounds as though you are leaning that way anyway. Let us know how it goes.

I was only ever asking about the iron/oil combo at temps less than water's boiling point. (Maybe a month ago I hot-oil ironed it once at 304F, which got me thinking it was a mistake.) 211F still might damage hair, so I will likely avoid that as well. My operating principle should prolly be: anything too hot to touch with my fingers is too hot to touch with my hair.

So with that in mind I'm considering a flat iron plugged into a dimmer switch (recently suggested by an LHC user) that gets me down to maybe 130F. Or a blowdryer in the same temp range. Else just overnight mask like I've been doing anyway.

I've realized I will never do head-wraps. I know what my hair and low hairline are like from attempts in the past. I'm not banging my head on that wall again.

I'm trying to learn by researching, reading, questions, experiments, and paying attention to results.

Maybe my roomie will do a pic of my hair. It's BSL. And it'll be the Before pic.

[Lady Stardust]

It’s great that coconut oil gives you such good results. I use babassu oil in a similar way, it’s a penetrating oil (as is coconut oil) so it protects the hair before you wash it. I’ve noticed that my hair dries more quickly when I use oil before washing, which makes sense because the oil is slowing down the water entering the hair shaft.

I’m sorry to hear it didn’t go so well yesterday. Maybe it would help to do a clarifying wash, because that could be build up causing the straw like feeling.

[Vara La Fey]

I heavily clarified (Prell classic!) a couple weeks ago, and have avoided non-water soluble silicones since just before that. I doubt it's buildup, esp since the coconut oil does seem to get through enough to stop my breakage.

You're likely right about oil before shampoo leading to frizz. The other day I tried to shampoo gently so as not to destroy the effects of my 48-hour mask, but I'm so used to shampooing brutally that I prolly don't know what "gentle" even is. Frinstance, I didn't rinse first; I just went straight for the shampoo. Sulfate-free, but still designed to remove oils.

And that's partially why I put the oil between the shampoo and conditioner that other time, and may just do it regularly. But a 3-step hair treatment every time will get on my nerves.

Hmm. Could I just throw the oil and conditioner on together, then a quick rinse? One's oil, one's water, but people say all the time "add some oils to your conditioner".

[lapushka]

I heavily clarified (Prell classic!) a couple weeks ago, and have avoided non-water soluble silicones since just before that. I doubt it's buildup, esp since the coconut oil does seem to get through enough to stop my breakage.

You're likely right about oil before shampoo leading to frizz. The other day I tried to shampoo gently so as not to destroy the effects of my 48-hour mask, but I'm so used to shampooing brutally that I prolly don't know what "gentle" even is. Frinstance, I didn't rinse first; I just went straight for the shampoo. Sulfate-free, but still designed to remove oils.

And that's partially why I put the oil between the shampoo and conditioner that other time, and may just do it regularly. But a 3-step hair treatment every time will get on my nerves.

Hmm. Could I just throw the oil and conditioner on together, then a quick rinse? One's oil, one's water, but people say all the time "add some oils to your conditioner".

In an oil rinse, which is what you are in effect doing, some people put the oil on the hair, smack their conditioners on immediately after, then let that sit for a couple minutes, rinse clear. I do a WCC routine, and typically do it after my first condition. So, in between if you will.

Maybe check out the other threads on here, you might find some gems. Before you stick to what you know, explore a little!

[Kathie]

I get your point is that heat makes molecules move more and therefore might offers superior conditioning.

However, there is another way.... increase the time you have the oil on your hair.

Everything moves from organised to disorganised with time (entropy, osmosis, down a concentration gradient, etc). Therefore oils will move from an organised state of being on the outside of your hair into your hair (if they can penetrate) with time.

That raises another point. Not all oils can penetrate hair. So once they are applied no amount of heat is going to move them around.

If your goal is to use heat to make sure the oils are distributed evenly over the outside of your hair then another option is to use a good amount of oil, rather than heat.

[Kathie]

Hehe... I can see a pun in the title when considering that flat irons are linked to breakage.

Flat irons for a. short. cut.

[baanoo]

I get your point is that heat makes molecules move more and therefore might offers superior conditioning.

However, there is another way.... increase the time you have the oil on your hair.

Everything moves from organised to disorganised with time (entropy, osmosis, down a concentration gradient, etc). Therefore oils will move from an organised state of being on the outside of your hair into your hair (if they can penetrate) with time.

That raises another point. Not all oils can penetrate hair. So once they are applied no amount of heat is going to move them around.

If your goal is to use heat to make sure the oils are distributed evenly over the outside of your hair then another option is to use a good amount of oil, rather than heat.

When I do an oil treatment, I douse it well and leave it on overnight. I then mist my hair with water and apply conditioner before I get in the shower. Leaving it in overnight works wonders for me!

[Vara La Fey]

In an oil rinse, which is what you are in effect doing, some people put the oil on the hair, smack their conditioners on immediately after, then let that sit for a couple minutes, rinse clear. I do a WCC routine, and typically do it after my first condition. So, in between if you will.
Maybe check out the other threads on here, you might find some gems. Before you stick to what you know, explore a little!

Thanks. I need to do more research, as some ingredients (like cones) "lock in" the others, and my routine should conform to hair structure per se, from the inside out. I.e.: water, fatty alcohols, oils, then water-soluble cones? Or just water, fatty alcohols, oils and no cones of any kind? I really don't know, and learning it could save a lot of trial and error.

[Vara La Fey]

I get your point is that heat makes molecules move more and therefore might offers superior conditioning.
However, there is another way.... increase the time you have the oil on your hair.
Everything moves from organised to disorganised with time (entropy, osmosis, down a concentration gradient, etc). Therefore oils will move from an organised state of being on the outside of your hair into your hair (if they can penetrate) with time.
That raises another point. Not all oils can penetrate hair. So once they are applied no amount of heat is going to move them around.
If your goal is to use heat to make sure the oils are distributed evenly over the outside of your hair then another option is to use a good amount of oil, rather than heat.

Yes, moving the molecules was def the point, rather than to use heat for any other purpose. I sometimes do long masks with coconut oil: up to 2 days at a time. As to oils themselves, I stay with small-molecule stuff, and wouldn't touch mineral oil or other petroleum.

I need to learn hair structure from the inside out and build a routine which conforms to it. I'll post what my "research" finds. Right now I'm kinda throwing darts in the dark. Esp if my hair is as high-porosity and fragile as I suspect, it might have special needs.