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What are the Different Types of Hairdressing Tools?

By Felicia Dye
Updated May 17, 2024
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Hairdressers, commonly referred to as stylists, are professionals who care for and style people’s hair. As is true with many other careers, these individuals tend to rely on certain items to get their jobs done. Some examples of hairdressing tools include capes, hood dryers, and electric hair curlers.

Capes are not only used by superheroes. They are also hairdressing tools. Hair styling can involve shedding lots of hair and using numerous products, such as gels, dyes, and oils. The capes are used to protect clients’ clothes. For additional protection, tissue strips are sometimes used to line the collars of the capes to catch materials that may drip down a client’s neck.

Combs and brushes are common grooming items for most people. For stylists, these are important hairdressing tools. Both combs and brushes can be made out of a number of materials. Both items can also have varying bristle designs. Using the correct one can greatly impact the outcome of a client’s hairstyle.

Most salons need hair dryers. There are two distinct types of these hairdressing tools. The hand-held models are usually called blow dryers. These are portable electric machines. They blow out air and are moved around the head to dry sections of the hair.

The other type of blow dryers are commonly called hood dryers. These are designed to dry the hair when a person places her entire head under an apparatus that looks like a hard hood. The inside of the hood has many holes that allow air to be distributed to the entire head so that drying of all the hair can occur simultaneously.

Hairdressers generally have special sinks. Such a sink generally has an opening at the front in the center. This space allows a client to lean her neck back, which allows the water used during washing to drain into the sink. In order for this system to work, it is generally also necessary for hairdresser’s to have special chairs. These are usually designed to recline so that a person’s head can fit into the sink properly.

Curls are generally achieved with heat. There are, however, two types of hairdressing tools that can be used to achieve this. One type is hair rollers, which are also commonly called hair curlers.

These are round items that are usually hollow in the middle. The hair is wrapped around them after being sectioned. Once they have been put into the hair, the client is generally seated beneath a hood dryer.

There are also electric hair curlers. These hairdressing tools use electricity to heat a metal barrel. The barrel is used to curl one portion of the hair at a time. With some models, the electricity does not flow directly to the curling implement. Instead, the implement is heated when it is placed into an electrically heated oven.

There are other types of hairdressing tools that work like electric hair curlers. These are used to achieve hair styles other than curls. A flat iron, for example, is used to straighten or flatten out the hair. A crimping iron is used to give the hair a crinkled or waved appearance.

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Discussion Comments

By Rundocuri — On Dec 10, 2014

@talentryto- Your friend should check for salons in her area that are going out of business. This is a great way to get good deals on everything she will need to start a successful hairdressing business.

By Raynbow — On Dec 10, 2014

@talentryto- Your friend should try looking for online options that sell different types of business equipment. Many of these websites sell all kinds of equipment, including hairdressing tools, at wholesale prices.

If your friend is lucky, she might be able to find the hairdressing tools that she needs in a complete set. If not, she can still get each individual tool by purchasing each one separately as she finds good deals on them.

By Talentryto — On Dec 09, 2014

I have a friend who is planning to open a hair salon, and is looking for all of the hairdressing tools that she will need for her business. The problem that she is having is that these supplies can be costly, and she doesn't have a lot of money until her business takes off. I'm looking for some tips for the best places for a hair stylist to purchase hairdressing tools at bargain prices.

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