Problems using GHD Hair Straighteners in AMERICA

I'm wondering if anyone can help me. I've got a relatively old pair of GHD hair straighteners, which i'm taking with me when i go on holiday to Florida tomorrow. I went last year and found that whilst the hair straighteners did work, they would not heat up to the proper degree necessary to work well. I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem with their straightening irons in America and it is (as i thought) simply that America's plug sockets use a lower voltage than English ones do.

Any help or suggestions for good portable straighteners for extremely curly hair would be much appreciated. I'm not too worried as i realise the humidity of Florida will make it curly anyway, i just like to use my straighteners occasionally.

Many thanks x

Reply 1

buttons7

1

yeh, they don't work very well. i took mine to america a couple of years ago because i had to go to a wedding (and therefore needed straight hair), but it took me about two hours to straighten it all properly (although i did have very long hair at the time, and there is quite a lot of it). do you really need to straighten it? the humidity will make it curl, so you'll need to do lots of straightening to keep it under control, which means you will damage it. maybe just get some smoothing shampoo (pantene pro-v stuff actually does work - i've got really fine curly hair and it works on me!) and perhaps some curl controlling stuff. it's actually really refreshing not having to iron your hair!

Reply 2

RealityIsDull

13

look in the argos catalouge.... they'll be a good one in there

Reply 3

mypaperheart

16

The reason why the GHDs don't heat up as quickly is due to the fact that America's plug sockets have a much lower voltage than the UK for safety reasons (i think its 110 volts as opposed to the UK's 230 volts) so it just takes longer for them to get going as there's less power.

A simple solution - plug them in a bit earlier than you normally would to give them a chance to heat up. They'll work the same, just takes them a bit longer to get going :smile:

Reply 4

mypaperheart

16

Oh and by the way.... if your hair is naturally curly then leave it as i'm sure its gorgeous!! You're lucky!! :biggrin:

Reply 5

buttons7

1

Rosalily

The reason why the GHDs don't heat up as quickly is due to the fact that America's plug sockets have a much lower voltage than the UK for safety reasons (i think its 110 volts as opposed to the UK's 230 volts) so it just takes longer for them to get going as there's less power.

A simple solution - plug them in a bit earlier than you normally would to give them a chance to heat up. They'll work the same, just takes them a bit longer to get going :smile:

nah because when you use them they lose heat. my ghds are a bit dead nowadays and whenever i put them through my hair the little red light stops flashing because they get cooler. so you have to wait for them to heat up repeatedly.

Reply 6

twiga

15

I'm not liking the sound of this... I'm going to New York for 5 days, I'll die if my GHDs don't work!!!

Reply 7

sparklyglitter

10

Hair straighteners wll work abroad...it will just take a tad longer.I've had mine just over a year and I've taken them to the Americas 3 times...they worked although they did take about 10 minutes to heat up and after straightening each piece of hair I'd have to leave them for a minute or so so they could return to the highest temperature again.

Although I was annoyed at having to spend an hour straightening my hair in a couple of the places I was in as I'd step outside and the hair would frizz up again...grr!So if you're going somewhere humid I probably wouldn't bother with straighteners.

Reply 8

_poptart_

2

mine are GHS's, and they worked fine in New York even though I was warned they wouldnt work! That was about a year ago and now they still work :wink:

Reply 9

FunkykindaGal

1

When I went to Miami in December, my GHDs wouldn't heat up properly. And my hair didn't go straight very well, but then after a few days my hair started to go nice and straight with my GHD - it was really weird!!!

Reply 10

what_apples

11

you can get a power convertor that you can use in the US to provide 230V to your appliances. Not sure if it would be best to get one here from Maplin etc (there are plenty for running American stuff over here AFAIK, not sure about the reverse) or if you should get them over there.

Reply 11

phatz00

1

yups..as just stated, your best bet is a voltage converter. You can get it at any of the chain electronics stores in the US (circuit city, best buy) or any specialty stores. Also, you can order them from online.

i have the same problem going to the UK with my straightners...it just burnt out because the voltage was too high! so the next time, i took a step down converter.

good luck!

Problems using GHD Hair Straighteners in AMERICA

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