Blow Dryer Question
 

I'm trying to get whatever I need to do my hair during a 2-week trip to Europe. I visited the Franzus web site, and it said that I shouldn't bring a U.S. blow dryer with a circuit breaker thingie as part of the plug. You know, the safety device most such appliances in the U.S. have if they are the type that might be dropped into water.

I'd like to bring my regular blow dryer, but it does have one of those big square circuit breakers on the end. Can I use this thing with a converter and be OK?

If not, I'll buy a dual voltage blow dryer, but I hate to buy yet another blow dryer when I already have two . . .

Many thanks!!!!

Are you staying in hotels? Most hotels now have blow dryers so I never bother bringing one. You can either email your hotel and ask them or check their list of amenities on their website.

Or unless you really feel you need your current hairdryer, you can always buy a small cheapie fold-up kind once you're there and just use it for European travel in the future.

One a trip to Europe last year, I brought my regular blow dryer with the square thing and used the outlet adapter. I ended up blowing a fuse in our Florence hotel room turning all the lights off--oops! It was easily fixed, though, and I had no other problems on the trip. I don't think I would spend the $$ on a new blowdryer. Most hotel rooms had blow dryers, but they were pretty useless.

The ones in our hotels were fine, except for a strange one in Auxerre -- a sort of hose and nozzle thing. Otherwise all our hotels (three star) had quite nice, new ones -- certainly nicer than my years-old one at home.

If I were you, I'd buy a travel dual voltage one. If you travel and require one, you will surely use it again. You can buy one at CVS, Target, etc. for only about $10-15, that isn't very much. Not only will you know it is meant for that purpose, but they are a lot smaller than regular ones, also. That alone would be a good reason for me to take a travel one rather than regular one.

If you travel to Europe often, you could buy one when you get there. I bought one about 10 years ago and I'm still using it. The same deal with a curling iron, although I had to replace it last year because I loaned it to a friend and she left it in a hotel. They last forever since you don't use them year round.

I should have mentioned that we are staying in apartments, not hotels.

I guess I can just pop for a dual voltage one.

Thanks!!!

I have both a curling iron and a hair dryer that I bought in Germany and have used all over Europe. I make sure I have the appropriate plug, since they're different from one country to another.

I have often found the hair dryers in hotels to be hard for me to manage, as I have to hold the dryer in my left hand as I manipulate a round brush in my right. My own hair dryer is just much more convenient.

My hair is fine and limp and looks really bad if I don't do it a certain way and then finish up with the curling iron.

I had the same problem as sessa on our Florence trip. I brought a hairdryer from home and blew the fuse not once but twice. I finally threw it out because I was too embarrassed to risk trying it again.

I never bring one anymore and have never stayed at a hotel in Europe that didn't have a hairdryer for me to use if I asked for one.

Tracy

If you do "pop" for another hair dryer, do it in Europe, and try to get one with a "wired-on" two round pin plug. I believe you can find those in Europe. They have to be double insulated to use only the two pin plug, otherwise they have to have a grounded plug. Grounded plugs should be the same (modified Schuko) in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Germany, but Italy and Switzerland have different, incompatible, grounded plug configurations.

I have never heard of an American hair dryer being confiscated by customs, but legally, over there, you can only use one with a CE symbol.

The "Europlug" adapters that we take with us to Europe are only rated for 2-1/2 amps (550W) and therefore not suitable for hair dryers.

i wouldn't bring a hairdryer. i would just email your contact, ask if a hairdryer is available in the apartment.

All the apartments we stayed in Italy had quite good hairdryers