Hair straightening facts for kids

Hair being straightened with a hair iron.

Hair straightening is when a person makes their hair straighter. Their hair may be curly, wavy, or almost straight. There are methods to make even very curly hair straighter.

There are two different types of straightening: temporary and permanent. Temporary hair straightening keeps the hair straight until it gets wet or damp again, so only lasts for up to a few days. Permanent hair straightening keeps the hair straight for up to a few months, even when the hair gets wet.

A person can temporarily straighten their hair using:

• Hair irons, tongs use heat to make the hair straight.
• Hot combs, combs that use heat to make the hair straight
• Hairdryer, a machine that blows air over the hair to dry it quickly, so that combs can be used to style the hair straight.
• Hair cremes, cremes that help hold the hair in place more, but do not completely straighten the hair.

A person can permanently straighten their hair using:

• Chemical relaxers
• Japanese hair straightening
• Brazilian hair straightening

Other pages

• Hair iron
• GHD

Images for kids

• 

  Large rollers can be used to straighten curly hair

• 

  Madam C. J. Walker (1867–1919), popularizer of the straightening comb