Cleaning Conventional Marcel Irons

 I had some leftover relaxer from a relaxer service so I decided to put it to good use.  I heated up one of my marcel irons that seemed to be "chipping away."  Pictured above is the marcel iron after the first pass of relaxer on the iron while it was hot.

 There was definitely residue on the iron.  Some could be from it being tempered.

 I used a craft stick to scrape the iron plates while the relaxer was sizzling on the hot marcel iron.

The melted relaxer dripped off the iron into the shampoo bowl.  I was using a Paul Mitchell relaxer to clean the hot iron.

The marcel iron was much smoother after the second cleaning.  I did rinse the iron quite a bit, and I had to heat the iron to get excess water out of it.  It seems to have some tiny holes near the handles that I think water got into.  

The approach I used worked well enough.  I can also ship the iron back to Golden Supreme for them to clean it as well for under $20 + shipping.

To each his own - I may try this procedure again down the road if the plates begin feeling rough again.  I did not re-temper the iron.  I may do so.  It works fine as is, but it may work even better if I re-temper the iron.  I have a separate article on this blog about tempering.

Best Brand for Pressing Combs: Kentucky Maid

Over the years, there have been two brands of pressing combs that have made pressing hair easy.  Kentucky Maid is #1 because of their wider selection of pressing comb choices.  You can choose between fine and medium teeth.  As well as brass or steel teeth.  As well as copper or steel spacers.  Their pressing comb construction has maintained a higher standard than the Golden Supreme brand.  The Kizure brand comes in second place because they do not have spaces.

 This fine tooth pressing comb pictured above has copper spacers and has done nicely to straighten hairlines for about 10 years or more.

I just bought more Kentucky Maid pressing combs because I saw another artist at the hair show doing a great job pressing the model's hairline. I asked her about her pressing comb. She said out of the brands that she has gone through, Kentucky Maid wins in lightweightness and getting the job done.

In the picture above, the pressing comb on the left has copper spacers versus the one on the right has steel spacers.  Can you tell the color at the base of the comb between the brass teeth?  Steel construction is heavier and more pricey than the copper construction.

I talked about my Kizure pressing comb in a separate article on this blog.  I like it because of its oversized teardrop base.  The Kizure pressing comb has no spacers, and it's a little heavy, but the base size makes it work for me.

As for the Golden Supreme line, I love their marcel irons, but their pressing comb construction is without spacers and limited in selection.  I find them hard to press with.

If in the Charlotte, NC area, Buywise Beauty Supply off Beatties Ford Road keeps a wide selection of Kentucky Maid pressing combs.

I was happy to see more conventional stoves at the Bronner Brothers Hair Show.  Most flat irons were being used to curl hair extensions versus real hair.  Sometimes we have to go back to what was healthy and working for Black hair.

Review: Golden Supreme Elite Heat Tester

 I purchased this Golden Supreme Elite Heat Tester a few years ago.  I felt it was slowing me down, and I was scared that I was going to break the test band/plate.  During that time, I was still trying to learn how to work the marcel curling irons.  I had too many new things going at one time.  So I put this tester away.

Well, now, I have Mastered the marcel curling irons.  When I am on a roll, I do not need to test the marcel iron unless I have stopped to part the hair or had some interruption in service.  Usually, I would use a white paper towel and look to see if the paper towel changes color.  Do not get me wrong, the paper towel method has worked over the  years, but why not add my new tool back to my regimen?  I paid about $100 for it a few years back.  Yes, it's time to set it back up.  I will not need to use it when I am  quickly curling hair, but when I am uncertain of the temperature of the iron.  All I have to do is lightly hold the iron on the test plate.  The instructions emphasize "light touching" to avoid breaking it.

The three categories of heat are shown.  Relaxed hair and fine hair are at the lower temperature range, and the coarse, natural hair falls at the top temperature range.  There is even a "too hot" light.  I am excited to add this tool back to my thermal routine.

Tool Review: Marcel Waving Iron

The marcel waving irons can be a quick way to get a textured look using the thermal stove to heat it up.

This waving iron is made by Golden Supreme and all of the barrels are solid.  This type of iron is also called an undulating iron.

Tool Review: Golden Supreme Starter Set

As you may know, I also service clients at a nearby mall. I finally bought a new set of marcels for that location. That way, I do not have to transport tools between locations. I am especially excited about this purple set because my stove is adjustable temperature. The idea is that I can keep my irons warm without overheating them. It has been about ten months since I converted to marcel irons for heat styling, and I am fully commited to them even to the point that I am denying flat iron service requests. I would rather for a client to go someone else for flat iron services than to know that I contributed to flat iron damage. Sometimes the clients feel that they know more than the hairsylist; sometimes the client does know more than the hairstylist. Case in point: Deciding which relaxer strength to use . . . I remember telling a hairstylist to use a mild strength relaxer because I knew that my scalp was very sensitive. I probably should have told her why I requested a mild strength, but about five minutes into the relaxer application, my scalp was starting to burn. I immediately asked the hairstylist, is this a mild relaxer? Her response was "no, it looked liked you needed a regular strength relaxer." Oh my God, it was not a good day! That situation happened to me in a New York hair salon. Let me not get into my long list of my own hair horror stories. I actually am dedicated to this blog because I believe knowledge is power for the stylist and the consumer.

Unfortunately, because I was a "flat iron only" hairstylist for several years . . . I have grown many ladies' hair to mid back with quality maintenance products and protective styling aids, but I also have seen some of my hard work go down the drain with continued use of flat irons at high temperatures. It is not worth the risk to me, and for those clients who relate the flat iron usage more to "hair growth," I have an uphill battle that I am willing to lose. It took me several years to give up my flat iron addiction even after I remember being told a few times to consider going back to stove and marcels. I was not ready to receive the message, then January/February 2011 (this year), the light came on. My compounding experiences with long-term flat ironing plus what I was seeing over the years really made me go "cold turkey" and I am not going back. Knowledge is power.