Using British straighteners in US
 

Hello all,

I am new to this forum, but hopefully someone can help me.

I have a pair of hair straighteners that I brought with me from England that I was told would work here with a 40w reverse wattage converter from Radio Shack. However, upon going to my local Shack I found out that said device is for a two prong European plug, not the three prong UK one!

I have looked online and become confused. Do I need a step up transformer or would the Radio Shack devise work if I just get a plug adapter (UK->Euro) then plugged it into the converter? I'm so confused and I just want my Ghds to work!!

If you can help at all, please do!

Thank you so much!

Becky

I very happily managed to use my GHD's over here for three months just using a bog standard converter thing. Then they died a death. I've switched to an American brand called CHI which are just as good.

Re: Using British straighteners in US
 

you mean just the thingy that switches the plug shape from Uk to US? or the radioshack thingy....

i've heard of CHI, maybe when the ol' GHDs die (knock on wood!!).
thanks!

Re: Using British straighteners in US
 

Yes I was using the thingy that switches the wassit into an oggimaflip plug jobbie. I didn't do the Radioshack thing.

I have to say nothing beats GHD's so I feel your pain but the CHI's are pretty good. GHD doesn't let you order online for products either. You have to phone them in for delivery here.
:confused:

gosh I used to worry about things like that before I moved here...thing is, you soon find out that most appliances like this are so dirt cheap here that you may as well buy the US product, and keep your British products as spares for those inevitable trips back home.

Exactly why bother you can pick those up in places like target or walmart for about $15 or $16... it's not worth messing with.

Ash:)

My daughter is addicted to her hair straighteners. She has really expensive (UK) ones, I forget the brand name, but they are ceramic and get hotter than the usual kind. She brought them here and uses them with an adaptor we bought at Gatwick airport for about £3. We did buy some here, thinking they would be as good, but they really aren't!!

See? Isn't it so much better when women answer this type of electrical question? I personally can deal much better with the wotsits and the thingumybob and the oggimaflip plug jobbie than all those techincal terms. I still haven't bought my transformer coz I haven't a flipping clue what I'm looking for. Ask a bloke and you get more information than a NASA manual...ask a woman and you get a description of the dooda and then I can happily walk around radio shack looking for said item according to the description. Thanx ladies! :D

I feel inadequate. I have a shower, I get out, I dry self and hair with a towel. I comb hair. I leave (oh well I do put on clothes too.)

Don't bother with the comb. A quick ruffle suffices.

I was in Walmart tonight buying - you guessed it - straightners for my daughter. They had ceramic plated ones from about $14 and up (the most expensive being about $28). They also had glass plated ones.

That doesn't surpise me... stuff like that is usually quite cheap here... me? I would pay that and not have to mess with adapters etc.

Ash :)

Re: Using British straighteners in US
 

hey
i took my straighteners to florida a few months ago when i went on holiday and i used an uk usa adpater plug. it was ok but took so long to heat up(they take about 10 secs to heat up here) and werent half as effective as they are in the uk. but maybe they were just mine straighteners. im movin to usa next month and i plan to just buy some there.
its your call..

i broke down and just bought some US straighteners....they are supposed to be nice salon quality, so we'll see how they stack up next to the blessed ghds. thanks for your help, ladies!

Which ones did you go for? I do like my Chi's but there nowhere near as good as my beloved, may the rest in peace GHD's.

i got the H2PRO 207YVI Ceramic *Ion* Heat Iron 1" because i got a deal on it. i was going to get the chi but they revoked their 1 yr warranty if you buy it online, so the place offered to upgrade me to this one for free (saving $20). i haven't gotten them yet (grrr!) but they said they get hotter than the chi, so maybe they'll be ghd worthy.

hair straigtener disaster
 

I was in the reverse situation: rather than buying a new one and getting rid of the one from the US, I used a converter. I completely fried my hair; it literally melted to the ceramic on the ends. I had to cut ALL of my hair off (it was shoulder length and is now a graduated bob/shag, over the ears...and is still scorched on the ends. Do what I didn't do: just get a new one!