Ladies: Dual-voltage hair dryers. Help!
 

Okay, so I'm tired of blowing mine up. Yes, I have all the converters/adapters, etc., but still I burn them out usually in the swap-the-converter-to-this-and-that-appliance drill. <BR><BR>And yes, I'd love to use the ones provided by the hotels, but they aren't powerful enough. I have very long, thick hair and anything less than 1875 watts won't do.<BR><BR>I even bought a new one while in Spain for a month, but it wasn't powerful enough either.<BR><BR>So here's what I need -- a dual voltage, heavy duty hair dryer. I've seen curling irons that are dual voltage at the big box stores, but no hair dryers. Any thoughts/sources/suggestions? Thanks in advance!

I blew my up too, and even had an adapter and converter. Best to just use the ones in the hotels, that or buy one while your there. <BR>

I think that a lot of the "travel" blow dryers are dual voltage at least the last two that we bought were. These are the ones with the foldig handles. We bought them at a regular drug store, like Walgreens. We haven't tried them in Europe yet, though but my dughter is going to bring hers to Belgium next week.<BR>I saw that the converters came in high and low wattage. Did you use the correct connverter for the appliance that you blew up?

Another vote for buying one there. I agree that the hotel ones usually aren't of high enough voltage to do the job, but you can purchase any wattage you need in the store.

Chris,<BR><BR>My first European trip is not until November, however, 1/3 of my hair decided to fall out the end of last year so it is no longer THICK--and drying time is now 2/3rds less--go figure!<BR><BR>Here's something to help the drying. Buy this product and bring it along. "ACQUIS ESSENTIALS SUPER ABSORBENT MICROFIBER TOWEL" and rub your hair it it (after washing) until it is soaking wet. It really cuts the drying time. The towel is small and light weight and will dry fast. That is just what it is designed for. You can find it in large linen stores like BED, BATH and BEYOND, LINENS N'THINGS. <BR><BR>Try it, you've got nothing to lose, and maybe even save a little grief.<BR><BR>Good Luck!

Just buy a small travel hair dryer in the country you are traveling to. You can find them in department stores, all over Europe, for ?6 and up. Very cheap. That's what I did.

Well, travelsmith.com has a 1500-watt travel hairdryer for $30. You might want to try Walgreen's or Wal-Mart also but I think it might be difficult to find one that's 1875 watts. Maybe do a search on google.com for travel hairdryers and see what comes up. Good luck!

The last time I answered this I was slammed. Men aren't supposed to use hair dryers apparently. But I have bought two at Kmart or WalMart -- both 1800 watt dual voltage types with brush attachment, what I need to quickly dry my rather thick hair, and both I think were Vidal Sassoon. I think they run about $20 to $25.

OK, I don't know anything about this company, but on the following website there are at last 3 different models of 1875 watt dual voltage hair dryers (Conair, Revlon and Vidal Sasson) for like $18, so maybe you should check them out.<BR><BR>http://www.bluelight.com/family/inde...egoryId=791113

If you look at WalMart, KMart, Target, or what ever you have locally, you should be able to find a dual voltage 1875 watt hair dryer. I have a Conair which is 1875 dual voltage. I've also seen Vidal Sasoon. <BR><BR>But one thing to consider, most of the dual voltage hair dryers end up with only one speed when you switch them to the 220 Volt setting. Instead of high and low, you will only have one (I think it will say low) but that will probably be very hot. The biggest problem is if you have the type of hair which really needs the cooler setting to dry properly. As long as blast furnace mode works for you, you'll be fine.

And by the way -- the Conair I have is not a travel model but a full sized one. No folding handle so it would be fairly bulky to travel with. Most travel models will not be more than 1200-1500.

I bought the one that Lois mentioned at Walgreens, with the folding handle. It has a little blue dial on it that needs to be rotated with a coin. It's also very lightweight, I think it is a 1500. Worked very well in Budapest.

I just used my new dual voltage Vidal Sasoon folding travel dryer in Prague and it worked very well. My friend who was with me has long hair and she was really surprised at how powerful it was. I bought it in Maui on my last trip and even there it was only $20 at a drug store.

I've just been looking at travel hair dryers to replace my old one and all of the ones I've seen have been around 1800 watts. In fact, you can't buy one less than that nowadays, it appears, where I live--not the major brands, anyway. I have long thick hair, also, so know what you mean and I have no problem with my old 1200 watt travel dryer because it's stronger in Europe. Hotel ones are hopeless for me, and my travel dryer takes up so little space, I would never travel without it (would not deal with converters though). I also buy a dual voltage rather than get one in Europe because I travel to other places, like around the US, where I need the lower voltage. Every place I've looked has had them -- every little drug store, Kmart, Walmart, Target, you name it--Conair and Vidal Sassoon are common brands. I live on the East Coast and we have a chain called CVS which has its own brand of travel hair dryer which I actually prefer to Conair as it's smaller and I like the color, so I'm waiting for that to go on sale.

I actually prefer the hairdryer that I bought in England to the one I have here in the U.S. It dries my hair (definitely thick, but not long) much faster than my U.S. one. You just need to buy a good hairdryer next time you go to Europe. It's cheaper than blowing them up over and over.

I just thought, that's another source -- CVS is online at www.cvs.com If you put "travel hair dryer" in the search box, you get the 1875W Vidal Sassoon for $20. That one's pretty nice, the regular 1875 CVS one at $18 is really dual-voltage, I think, that's the one I've been eyeing, although the web site doesn't mention the dual voltage feature. I probably wouldn't buy it online without being sure of that in case they have a regular and dual-voltage model. I think many hair dryers are dual-voltage now but they just aren't called "travel" hair dryers, anymore, maybe that's the issue.

Chris, just remember that something that powerful is going to draw alot of electricity. In environment conscious Europe do not be surprised if you receive a hotel charge for the extra. I have been to places on tours where that has happened.

Thanks for all the great info, folks. I have been to two Targets and one WalMart and not a single (identified) dual-voltage hair dryer in the bunch. It confused me because the same manufacturers tout "dual voltage!" on their curling irons. I will follow up on the specific suggestions y'all have provided here. Again, thanks!