Why do my hair dryers keep dying?

April 29, 2024 6:29 AM

About three years ago, I let myself get a fancy hairdryer (pricier than drugstore, not as expensive as a Dyson), and it made my long, fine hair look and feel great. About six months later, it started shaking, and smoke and a burning smell soon followed. I replaced it with a different fancy hairdryer. Less than a year later, it refused to turn on. After months of bad hair, I bought a dryer identical to my first fancy hairdryer. Yesterday, it wouldn’t turn on. I’ve had it for less than six months. What is going on?

A little more info:
—I clean the dust filter often, and there’s no obvious debris in the filter.
—The second dryer stopped working in a hotel. I used the most recent dryer in a hotel last week.

What am I doing wrong? My drugstore hairdryers didn’t stop working like this. Everything I’m reading online indicates that hairdryers—especially higher-end hairdryers—should last years.

(And, hey, if you have a great recommendation for a hairdryer for thin hair that works for more than a year, I’m all ears.)

posted by TEA to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (12 answers total)

Is there a “reset” button on the hair dryer somewhere, possibly on its cord? If so, try pressing it. It’s possible that the hair dryer’s built-in circuit breaker has tripped (or the “test button” was accidentally pressed), which cuts power to the hair dryer until it is manually reset.
posted by mbrubeck at 7:32 AM on April 29 [7 favorites]

Although store "protection plans" can be a racket for most things, the ones at Best Buy are worth it, if there is an appliance you tend to wear out. As long as you are within the term of the protection plan, they'll get you an identical or equivalent item, no questions asked, for a few years.

If you are near a Best Buy, maybe consider them for your next hair dryer and add the protection plan, and it won't matter so much if it dies, because you'll be able to pop in to a Best Buy and swap it out for a brand new one.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:39 AM on April 29 [1 favorite]

The combo of shaking + smoke + burning smell sounds like a motor burning out because there's stuff trapped inside. There should be a mesh vent towards the back of the hairdryer -- any chance it's getting covered with lint or dust? Or maybe stray hairs are getting trapped inside because the hair dryer is kept on the floor or on a towel in which hair gets caught?
posted by joyceanmachine at 7:51 AM on April 29

Do you always use the same outlet for the hair dryer? Any chance there is something wrong with the outlet (e.g. voltage too high) which is wearing out the hair dryer over time? (You can test voltage yourself with a multimeter but make sure you read the directions.)
posted by mekily at 7:54 AM on April 29 [14 favorites]

With fine hair it shouldn't be taxed that hard, but I wonder if your long hairs are getting sucked in the back end, getting past the filter, and wrapping around the motor or fans?

BTW I have a Rusk and love it, it's been working great for years.
posted by misskaz at 8:00 AM on April 29

My hairdresser recommended Parlux hairdryers as a salon or professional brand that will last a lifetime. YMMV. They have a US distributor.
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 8:58 AM on April 29

I have very long hair that has killed drug store hairdryers on more than one occasion. I got a dyson about 2 years ago and I regret nothing. I use it probably every other day for hair drying and have had no issues. I’ve also used it for very off-label projects like thawing out a pipe and inflating a yoga ball with no problems. It makes my hair look amazing, and long term has changed the texture of my hair for the better(probably because of less heat damage). The fly-away attachment alone is probably worth the price of the thing. I let one of my friends try it and she said “this is why rich people have nice hair.” The air intake is on the bottom of the handle, not on the back, so no more getting your hair sucked into the motor, which was sometimes a problem for me. And it dries so fast! I would check out their warranty or buy from a place where you can get a protection plan if you’re worried. If you can afford to splurge on the Dyson, it is worth it.
posted by August Fury at 12:03 PM on April 29 [1 favorite]

If these items are failing in less than a year they may be eligible for replacement under the manufacturers warranty or under the Mastercard extended warranty protection plan which doubles the manufacturers warranty up to 2 years.
posted by bq at 12:20 PM on April 29 [2 favorites]

Did something in your hair-drying environment change at the same time as when you went from cheapo to fancy? I'm wondering if the bathroom is more humid than before, perhaps because you moved and it's an entirely different bathroom that doesn't ventilate / dry out as fast. Or the vent fan stopped working so well. Something to do with humidity, attacking the motor ...
posted by intermod at 9:03 PM on April 29

Or the hair dryer is stored differently, hanging up a different way/different area of bathroom and some other product is contributing to the burnout. I know I stopped flinging baby powder about after a shower when I noticed it was drifting down onto my hair dryer.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 5:33 AM on April 30

This used to happen to me all the time when I was buying consumer-grade hairdryers; I thought that was just the way all hairdryers were. I would usually return them and get a replacement and then bam, the same thing would happen only a few months later.

In 2007 I moved into an apartment with a hairdresser and she advised me to start buying professional-grade hairdryers. Hairdressers typically buy and own their own tools and have to use them for hours a day, so hairdryers that crapped out after only a few months simply would not do. The first one I bought was a Twin Turbo 2600 which is an unglamorous but extremely sturdy dryer beloved by many hairdressers. You can still get them. It lasted me a number of years and completely turned me around on hairdryers.

Since then, I have been buying Parlux dryers which are a bit more fancy but last just as long, typically at least 3–4 years of daily drying with occasional dropping on the floor.
posted by RubyScarlet at 8:02 AM on April 30

In addition to clicking the reset button on the dryer, also look for a red or blue reset button on the outlet. If the dryer has tripped the circuit, the outlet will stop operating. You can also test this by plugging something else into the outlet to see what happens.
If the outlet the dryer is plugged into doesn't have a button, look elsewhere in the bathroom or nearby for one. Many outlets are wired into the same circuit, so the reset button on a different outlet will be the one.
posted by mama penguin at 5:32 AM on May 1