The 8 best straighteners for thick hair that style quickly and smoothly without singeing
Our thick-haired expert testers have whittled down the best hair straighteners for thick hair to suit various budgets – reviewing each pair in detail here
Picking up any pair of great straighteners doesn't necessarily guarantee a lasting sleek finish on thick hair. The tech has to be able to effectively smooth thick strands, specifically – you can't just style at a scorchingly high temperature and hoping for the best. As you can't really test in a shop before you buy them, you have to put in some research, but our thick-haired testers have done the legwork to help you find the right pair here.
Much of the secret to smoothing thick hair speedily and effectively lies in the plates. In this case, the best hair straighteners are wider or longer than average. “Using a wider plate straightener can make it easier to style thick hair as it’s faster to straighten large sections,” confirms Live True London hairstylist Tyler Moore. “While it’s possible to style with regular straighteners, beginners may find wider plates easier to use.”
On longer hair, “Wide plates are super effective as they capture more stands in one go and remove frizz fast,” says Salon Sloane founder Belle Cannan. For the sleekest results, glossy coatings and variable heat settings are a must, regardless of whether you want a pair of the best cordless straighteners or best straighteners for curly hair.
With thick hair myself, I can tell you from firsthand experience that success really does mean having the right tool for the job. Straightening hair is easy, but you'll never get good results from incompatible – or just plain bad – tech. That's why, along with the woman&home beauty team, I've drawn on my years of testing experience to find and compare the top tools on the market. Here, I've shared detailed reviews of only the very best hair straighteners for thick hair. These are the tools that offer a fuss-free styling process and glossy results, every time...
The best straighteners for thick hair deals
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The best straighteners for thick hair, reviewed by our beauty team
The quick list
An iconic pair, the ghd Max Styler almost needs no introduction. The glossy plates glide across strands without snagging and shut off after 30 minutes of inactivity – ideal if you often worry about whether or not you switched your straighteners off before leaving the house.
With the biggest temperature range of all the tools featured in this guide, I loved how quickly Revamp's wide straighteners smoothed out my thick hair. Here plates are longer, rather than wider, to style more hair at once.
While it's not the cheapest tool in our guide, this pair is unique in that it uses steam to replace moisture lost during the straightening process. My usual frizz was nowhere to be seen and the plates fit right into the roots, allowing me to create an all-over sleek and straight look with ease.
These reasonably-priced straighteners also look very chic, and while they're the narrowest option I tried, their thinner shape allowed me to tackle shorter curly hairs around the crown. Being very lightweight, these are also great at creating waves and curls, if heatless curls aren't your thing.
With "wiggly" plates that create an "air gap" to reduce damage, I found these straighteners helped to minimise the look of split ends. They also retained some of the natural volume of thick hair – a plus if you're looking for that bouncy, 90s blowout hair look.
The latest addition to the famous ghd line-up, the Chronos Max pairs the tech of the Chronos with the jumbo size of the Max Styler. Ideal for those who want those larger plates and ultra smooth, lasting results. It's sleek in every way – both in terms of the user experience and finish.
The best hair straighteners for long and thick hair
Reviewed by: Jess Beech
The ghd Max was one of the very first pairs of wide-plate straighteners on the market, but it's evolved over the years in terms of features and functionality. Within the brand portfolio, the Max is closer to the Gold than the newer ghd Chronos and Platinum+ stylers, as it lacks some of the higher-tech features. (The newer, more expensive ghd Chronos Max, also featured in this guide, combines newer tech with the Max size.) As always for ghd, it only styles at 185ºC due to ghd's research into the healthiest styling temperatures, something that won't appeal to all.
That said, there are still plenty of pros here. Firstly, the curved edges make it ideal for learning how to curl hair with straighteners. You can create anything from big and bouncy curls on long hair to soft, beachy waves on shorter lengths. I personally like using a wider styler for curls and waves. Narrower plates make the process more time-consuming and can leave my hair looking doubly thick, which isn't my end goal, but may be something you're looking to achieve if you're experiencing gradually thinning hair.
I also found the plates do feel satisfyingly hot when you use them (controversial, I know, but I like to feel my straighteners working!). This tool also automatically shuts off after 30 minutes of inactivity, a big plus if you're often in a rush to leave the house or just generally like the peace of mind. The floating glossy plates also adapt to your hair's thickness and avoid snagging. Should you be in the market for more hairstyling tools, ghd also makes one of the best curling irons for thick hair.
Read our full ghd Max Styler review for more details
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The best straighteners for thick hair that style fast
The Revamp Progloss Ultra X Shine Wide Ceramic Hair Straightener
Reviewed by: Jess Beech
Revamp might not be as recognisable a name as some other brands featured here are (such as ghd, Revlon and Dyson), but trust me, the Progloss Wide Ultra X Shine Ceramic Hair Straightener is a perfect match for long and thick hair. The plates are extra long – more than a quarter longer than the average styler – meaning you can straighten thick hair quickly and efficiently.
A decent temperature range is always a plus and this has the broadest range in our guide, from 80ºC right up to 235ºC. I’m not convinced anybody with thick hair would see much of a difference styling at 80ºC, to be honest, but if your hair is very fragile from bleaching (perhaps you overdid it with a home highlights kit), it's could be useful. Speaking of damage, this tool incorporates ionic technology, whereby positive ions that form when hair is overheated, coloured or over-processed are neutralised and replaced with negative ones to reseal the cuticle. These negative ions give hair a shiny and silky texture, plus the plates are infused with hair-loving keratin, plus argan and coconut oils.
For me, the longer plates took some getting used to, but once I'd mastered the technique this design definitely reduced my overall styling time. My only other criticism of this Revamp model would be that even the 170ºC setting left my hair feeling very hot, which made me a bit suspicious of the accuracy of the temperature settings.
The best affordable straighteners for thick hair
The Revlon Double Straight Copper Ceramic Dual Plate Straightener
Reviewed by: Jess Beech
The first thing that struck me about Revlon's Double Straight Copper Ceramic Dual Plate Straightener is its unique shape and design. Instead of the usual two plates we're used to seeing on a traditional pair of irons, here there are four narrow ones joined by a bridge at the top. The idea is that the first plate passes through and straightens the hair, then the second reinforces its smoothness. Initially, I was sceptical that this was gimmicky and my thick hair would surely escape through the gap in the middle and snag. But I was pleasantly surprised – it actually worked very well.
Despite the narrow plates, the tool seamlessly passes through hair, styling a large surface area at once. I managed to straighten quite chunky sections which, overall, shaved a good five minutes off my usual styling time. The broad temperature range spans 140°C–235°C, but I found 170°C was sufficient for my hair, so I think even those with exceptionally thick strands wouldn’t need to climb much higher. But what really stood out to me was how soft and shiny my hair felt after styling; it was seriously glossy and stayed that way until my next wash.
The best lightweight straighteners for thick hair
Reviewed by: Jess Beech
My first pair of ghds cost me £100 and I remember thinking then that was a jaw-dropping amount of money to spend on a hair tool. Thanks to new technology and inflation, today it’s not uncommon for tools to cost three times that; even the so-called "more affordable" options creep towards the £200 mark. So I'm understandably happy that the mdlondon STRAIT Hair Straightener is still a very reasonable (by 2026 standards) £119.
My initial impressions were good: though it's very narrow, the longer design means you can still style wider sections of hair at a time, cutting down overall styling time. I have a halo of shorter hairs around my hairline that often twist into ringlets, but this thin styler reached them easily without feeling like I was about to singe my forehead. There's a slightly off-putting crackling sound as it heats up, but this is neither a deal-breaker nor does it impact the performance. I also like the screen that displays the temperature increasing degree by degree during heat-up. I like to use as little heat as possible on my hair, but even at 90°C these straighteners could still smooth well – my hair felt cool as it came out the other side, not guiltily hot to the touch.
If you prefer using higher heat, you’ll be pleased that these straighteners go up to 230°C, but I only went up to 210°C, which was more than sufficient for my hair. A final positive is that this tool is very light, which encouraged me to style more gently and not tug down on my hair with the irons. This will also be a plus point for anyone who finds straightening their thick hair tiring, or who wants to experiment with creating waves and curls without an accompanying arm workout.
The best straighteners for thick hair and less damage
The KEEO Genius Smart Glide-Straightener
Reviewed by: Jess Beech
I’m always interested to see brands doing things a little differently, as with the KEEO Genius Smart-Glide Straightener, which boasts wiggly plates instead of flat ones. These slot together like a jigsaw puzzle when you clamp them shut. The idea is that the resulting "air gap" between plates means you don’t cause unnecessary damage by pulling the tool too forcefully through to the hair (something I’m definitely guilty of when I’m in a rush, AKA 99.9% of the time).
If I'm totally honest, I was a bit dubious at first. I couldn’t see how I’d get a super straight finish or avoid feeling like my hair was snagging as I passed it through the ridged plates. But it didn’t take long for me to be proven wrong. The styling process does take slightly longer, as you have to straighten more slowly than usual, but this is to help reduce damage – and is a fair trade for fewer split ends. However, my hair did retain some volume rather than being poker straight, which won’t be for everyone. Whether or not that puts you off will depend on if (like me) you’re trying to disguise that you have very thick hair.
Another thing worth mentioning here is that if you clamp these straighteners onto your hair – for example, when adding a wave or curl – then they will leave an imprint behind. While this can easily be straightened out, it is something to bear in mind if you like to use straighteners to style your hair in a variety of ways.
The best hair straighteners for thick hair to boost shine
Reviewed by: Lucy Abbersteen
One of the newer addition to the brand's straightener line-up, the ghd Chronos Max, pairs the tech of the Chronos with the larger plates of the above Max Styler – which the brand calls out as being particularly good for long, curly and/or thick hair. Everything about this tool feels as sleek and smooth as its results; at first glance, the only noticeable difference we spotted was the rounded tops of the plates and slightly different-looking controls. But we soon found it really levels up the straightening experience.
The special feature here is HD motion-responsive™ technology, which continuously adapts to both your styling and the size and thickness of the section of hair. But it's also designed to achieve long-lasting results even more quickly, with curved edges that we found make it that bit easier to fit the tool into the roots of our hair. Our contributing beauty editor Lucy Abbersteen's curly hair is medium thickness, but she has a lot of it, and felt the Chronos Max definitely straightened more quickly than other models she's tried. The shine and smoothness of these results also can't be denied – so if you have the extra budget and want to supercharge your large plates, this is the ghd tool to go for. We are impressed.
Read our full ghd Chronox Max review for more on this tool
The best hair straighteners for dry thick hair
Reviewed by: Jess Beech
In a way, the Steampod sits in its own unique category. Thanks to patented steam technology, this tool works completely differently to other straighteners. Moisture is often lost while using a traditional flat iron (you may see steam escaping from the tool), which can leave our hair feeling dry and slightly crispy. But this tool utilises steam to replace that lost moisture, the idea being that hair is less likely to break and snap as a result.
Now, I barely need look at rain and my hair develops frizz, so you can imagine my initial scepticism: surely steam would make my hair more frizzy? But, impressively it didn’t – probably as the steam is dry, not wet. I did find that my hair felt a little tacky afterwards compared with other stylers (though I do tend to use quite a lot of product, which could have also contributed). However, it was still smooth to the touch with no fluffy "halo" to contend with.
While the Steampod 4.0 is the best version yet, following on from the Steampod 3.0, it’s still not a totally seamless tool. The tank has to be filled with demineralised water, never regular tap water; it has to be held a certain way for the comb attachment to pass through hair; and it makes a rather loud humming noise while you use it. But all that said, it's lighter than its predecessors, reaches closer to the roots and has curved, heated outer plates to assist styling, making it a worthy inclusion here.
The best hair straighteners for frizzy thick hair
Reviewed by: Jess Beech
As with the Supersonic Hair Dryer before it, the Dyson Corrale really was a hairstyling innovation when it hit the market. Perhaps the most impressive is the cordless design and, unlike other wire-free stylers, that it doesn’t need a huge amount of charging beforehand; 70 minutes gives you 30 minutes of cordless use, but if you've forgotten to power the battery in advance you can just use it with the wire, too – something that many cordless straightener models don't allow.
Another strong feature is the plates. They’re very flexible, meaning they move with your hair, holding tight where needed and loosely where it isn’t. They seem to make a slight crunching noise as you style – down to the "corraling" – but you quickly get used to it. There's also a flight-ready feature that’s perfect for travel, plus built-in sensors that maintain the optimum temperature across the plates.
All this makes the Corrale pretty brilliant and certainly one of the best cordless options – but I personally didn’t fully love the results. The tool did smooth my hair, knocking out curls and kinks, but it didn’t leave my hair as sleek and straight as I’m used to. It also still had a fair amount of body, with the finish looking more like a smooth blow dry than poker straight. But while this was a downside for me, I know it will be a plus for many – if you love your thick hair's natural volume, the Corrale will leave it far from flat and lifeless.
Read our full Dyson Corrale review for more on this tool
How we tested the best straighteners for thick hair
Each candidate for the best straighteners for thick hair was used on my incredibly thick and curly hair, while some were tested by fellow woman&home contributors to give me a broader range of insights to work with alongside my own firsthand insights. The range of tools tested also included both premium and more affordable brands to ensure the final selection catered to various budget levels.
Some background about me and my hair: not only do I have a lot of it, each individual strand is thick, too, making my hair thick in more ways than one. Straightening is sometimes as strenuous as a 45-minute gym workout; both leave me feeling like a sweaty mess, while only one of them does much for my fitness levels. In other words, a pair of straighteners must be well equipped to avoid an already time-consuming styling process being even longer than necessary.
When testing each one of these tools, I used the same shampoo and conditioner and blow-dried my hair in the same way, with my best hair dryer, throughout the testing process. This ensured that each tool that made it into the final guide had undergone as fair test as possible. All of the following factors were taken into account for the final selection.
- Price: Needed to perform well in line with this to offer good value for money as a tool for thick hair.
- Design & materials: Including the plate size, was it clear that thicker hair been considered and catered to in the overall design?
- Cable length: Though we aren't working in a salon, the cable needed to be long enough that it didn't restrict us too much when styling at home.
- Heat settings and functions: Were there enough heat styling options for customisable styling, cordless functionality, and/or tech that helped preserve hair health or boost results?
- How well they glided over hair: Was styling an easy, smooth and snag-free experience?
- Added extras: Accessories travel case are both handy and can add to a tool's value for money.
How to choose the best hair straighteners for thick hair
Though we've broken down many of the key factors for you in our detailed reviews above, some consideration and research is still required on your part to make sure any new tool is the bet fit for you and your hair. Here are a few things to consider before finalising your purchase...
- Price: Consider how often you'll use these straighteners before buying a more expensive pair. Most good straighteners for thick hair are often pricier than their narrow-plated counterparts, but we recommend the Revlon or mdlondon models featured here for smaller budgets.
- Plates: Tools designed for thick hair tend to have wider and or longer plates than average – also ideal for longer hair. Meanwhile narrower plates tend to work better with shorter hair, where wide ones can't always reach the roots easily.
- Temperature: Thick hair needs straighteners that heat to an effective temperature, fast. Depending on what you find works best for your hair while styling, you might prefer adjustable heat settings and the option to style at a specific temperature.
- Extras: If you often travel with your straighteners, added features like a heat mat, travel case or cordless functionality are always useful – plus, they boost your new tool's value for money.
Our expert panel
Jess Beech is an experienced fashion and beauty editor with more than 10 years of experience in the publishing industry. She has written for woman&home, GoodtoKnow, Now, Woman, Woman’s Weekly, Woman’s Own and Chat, and was formerly deputy fashion & beauty editor at Future plc. Having tested dozens of hair tools over the years and with super thick hair herself, she was an excellent main tester and reviewer for this guide.
Lucy Abbersteen is a freelance beauty editor and one of woman&home's contributing beauty editors. With a decade of experience in the industry – and haircare one of her specialisms – she's tested a lot of hair tools on her curly hair during her career. Though she has medium thickness strands, she has a lot of hair, meaning she's well-placed to advise on tools that can style large sections of hair at once.
Tyler Moore is an experienced hair stylist working for Live True's salons in London, who has contributed his expertise to this guide to choosing and using the very best straighteners for thick hair.
Belle is a renowned hairstylist with more than three decades of experience in the industry. She is also the founder of London's Salon Sloane and has shared some of her expertise in straightening thicker hair for this guide.