Best hair straighteners for 2024: Which? Best Buys and expert buying advice

Are pricey Dyson hair straighteners worth it and do GHD straighteners really give you a 'good hair day'? And what straighteners do you need to use if you've got straight, wavy or very curly hair?

We've tested 15 hair straighteners costing from £25 up to £400. The best are easy to use and will leave your hair with a sleek, shiny finish that's free of static. But the worst will damage your hair with repeated use. 

We've found a few models that really hit the mark, and others that you definitely want to avoid if you want to keep your locks looking healthy and straight, as well as avoid arm ache or scorching your fingers while you use them.

Read on to find out the top tools for your hair type and tips on using straighteners. Alternatively, head straight to our hair straighteners reviews.

Best hair straighteners for 2024

Best cheap hair straighteners

Tables last updated January 2024.

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Which hair straighteners are best for my hair type?

Hair is often split into 12 categories, which go from very straight to a very tight coiled hair. See the image above.

When shopping for hair straighteners, it's worth thinking about the type of hair you have, as that can affect how easy it is to straighten. Below, we explain what you need to know depending on your hair type.

Type 1: straight hair

Straight hair has no natural curl and can be fine or thick. 

As hair is naturally straight, you probably don't need a straightening iron to actually remove curls or kinks, but you may use one to provide a sleek or shiny finish or to create waves or curls. For that reason, you can get away with straighteners that don't have very high temperatures (for example, more than 200°C).

This is particularly the case with very fine hair, which could be damaged easily if you use a heat setting that's too high.

Type 2: wavy hair

Wavy hair can be split into three types: A, B and C, with 2A having a slight wave, and 2C having a more well-defined S-shape wave.

Like straight hair, you may be able to get away with using straighteners on a lower temperature, but this will also depend on the thickness of the hair shaft. 

The thicker it is, the more likely it will need a few passes of the straighteners before it's fully straight.

Type 3: curly hair

With curly hair, you start to see clear 'loop' or spring shapes along the hair shaft. Type 3A will be the loosest or widest curl while 3C will be more tightly woven with a smaller width to the curl.

As hair may be trickier to straighten using just straightening irons, you'll need to blow-dry wet hair first so it's straight (and make sure it's fully dry), then start sectioning it out and smoothing it with the straighteners.

Very curly hair may need a slightly higher level of heat to be able to fully straighten it, but you should also be mindful that the higher the heat, the greater the damage.

Type 4: coiled or kinky hair

This type of hair is more commonly seen in people who are black or mixed race, although it can be seen in people of any ethnic background, including Caucasians.

The curl pattern is highly textured, can be coiled or zig-zagged and tends to be on the drier side. This means whichever hair straighteners you use, you should ensure you apply creams or oils to reduce the risk of drying out the hair follicle.

Similar to type 3, it's best to blow dry wet hair first before straightening it. Straighteners with a high temperature setting (more than 200°C) may be the most effective on this type of hair.

Best hair dryers See which impressed in our tests, including a Great Value pick that costs just £35

Straighteners for long hair

If you've got very long hair, you'll obviously have more hair to straighten, so you may benefit from getting straighteners with a wider plate as it provides more heat coverage. 

However, it's worth remembering that the wider the plate, the trickier it is to create other styles with it, such as loose or barrel curls.

What features should you look out for on hair straighteners?

Manufacturers of hair straighteners will often boast of a range of different features and how they will make the process easier or more straightforward. 

Some may lean more towards marketing jargon than others, but here's eight of the most common features you may spot:

• Ceramic or titanium plates Ceramic plates may take longer to heat up and they heat the hair shaft from the inside out. Titanium plates heat up much faster and heat the hair follicle from the outside, so will be quicker at straightening out kinks, but they may be more likely to create surface damage to the hair.
• Adjustable heat settings Many straighteners give you the option to choose your heat setting, and these can vary from around 140°C to as high as 235°C. Look for straighteners that clearly state what temperature you're selecting (either through a digital display or obvious labelling).
• Floating plates This is where the plates of the straighteners have springs to provide flexibility when clamping them on to your hair. This should help to prevent snagging or tangling, but in our tests we found that some floating plates didn't clamp hair evenly.
• Ionic technology This is where negative ions, or a negative charge is applied to your hair to help neutralise hair follicles that tend to have a positive charge. This helps to alleviate frizz. 
• Tourmaline coating Tourmaline is a crystalline mineral group. They're ground to a powder and used as a coating on ceramic or titanium plates to produce more negative ions, which can allegedly provide smoother and shiner hair.
• Automatic shut-off The straighteners will turn themselves off after a certain amount of time to prevent overheating or to reduce the risk of fire if you accidentally leave them on and go out.
• Worldwide voltage The mains voltage can vary in different countries, so straighteners that can be dual or worldwide voltage won't be at risk of electrical issues.
• Heat-protective mat and/or bag Protect your surfaces or carpets by resting the straighteners on a heat-protective mat. A heat-protective storage bag means you can store the straighteners away without worrying about waiting for them to cool down.

What is the best temperature for hair straighteners?

This will depend on the type of hair you have (see above) and how easy it is to straighten.

If there are multiple temperature settings, it's best to start low and see if that's enough to get the desired result, rather than trying the highest temperature and hoping for the best.

Hair straighteners brand GHD only offers one temperature for its straighteners (185°C), which it claims is the optimal temperature to straighten hair without damaging it.

However, if your hair is very fine or very curly, and you have hair straighteners that go lower or higher, then you could see how effective it is at those temperatures, too.

How to prevent hair damage when using hair straighteners

Find the right temperature

As mentioned above, this will depend on your hair type.

Watch out for the sizzle

If you hear a sizzle or crackling noise, or see steam, it means there's moisture on the hair follicle. This is bad because your hair is in its most fragile state when damp or wet due to the proteins that make up each strand (keratin) forming weaker hydrogen bonds, rendering it more susceptible to damage from being pulled, stretched, bent, or otherwise roughly handled.

Ideally, you want hair to be bone dry when you straighten, so give it a blast with a hair dryer or leave it to fully dry naturally.

Apply a heat protectant spray or cream

The best time to do this is before you blow dry it. If you have to apply it just before you straighten, choose a spray and keep it light, waiting a few minutes to let it dry a bit.

Straighten hair once slowly, not many times quickly

Slow and steady is best when it comes to straightening hair, rather than repeatedly clamping your hair with the hot irons and going over it multiple times. Pull the hair taut when pulling the straighteners down to help with the process.

How to curl hair with straighteners

If you want a bouncier ringlet curl, we'd recommend a curling tong, but hair straighteners can double up as curling irons to provide loose waves if that's the look you're after.

Make sure to choose hair straighteners with rounded edges so they can wrap around the plate and glide easier. 

1. Section your hair with clips and leave a handful of hair that's free at the back. The back of the head is the hardest to reach, so it's good to start here when your arms are least tired and then work your way forward.
2. Clamp the hair, then rotate the straightening iron one full turn. If you're styling the sides of your hair or the front, make sure to twist the straightening irons away from your face.
3. As you do this, pull the straightener down the hair shaft. It's a bit like curling a ribbon with a pair of scissors – clamp, twist and pull. As you release the irons, you should have nice barrel-shaped curl. 
4. Once you've done the back, give them a spritz with some hair spray, then move on to the sides and front.
5. For a softer curl or wave, you can gently brush through curls with a paddle brush, or use your fingers to break them up a bit.

Can you take hair straighteners in hand luggage?

Yes. It's fine to pack corded hair straighteners in either your hand luggage or checked hold luggage when travelling by airplane.

But cordless hair straighteners are often powered by Lithium-ion batteries, or gas or butane, so should only be packed in your hand luggage and not in the suitcase or bag that goes in the hold of the airplane.

When going through security, you should remove your straighteners from your luggage in the same way you would for laptops or tablets.

How much should I spend on a pair of hair straighteners?

The price of hair straighteners can vary enormously and range from around £20 up to £400. Cheaper models will lack some of the added extras or top-of-the-range technology.

However, paying the highest price doesn't always guarantee that you get the best product. We've tested models that cost hundreds of pounds that have failed to impress in our tests.

How we uncover the best hair straighteners

Our hair straighteners reviews aren't like many reviews online, as we assess them based on both whether they straighten well and whether they're likely to damage your hair on their highest temperature setting. 

For a straightener's damage-protection ability, we send them to a lab where experts will straighten test hair repeatedly, then check what the break limit is for it. The easier it breaks, the greater the damage.

The lab also carries out other checks such as the accuracy of the temperature claims, the heat-up and cool-down time, and how hot the outer casing of the straightener will get.

This information is combined with a user panel trial, where 30 people with a range of hair types tried out different straighteners and gave their thoughts on everything from straightening ability and style retention to how easy they are to grip the hair and hold the handles.

For more information read our guide on how we test hair straighteners.