How to straighten your hair at home? Natural ways of hair straightening

Mar 25, 2025

Authored by: Ruchika Chaurasia

Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Personally, I had always used straighteners or gone to a salon to get my hair straight until I met Mira, one of my college classmates. She has had curly hair since she was a child, something I have only seen in images and magazines. I'd like to offer an excerpt from my talk with her, which prompted me to reflect on why people should seek natural ways to straighten their hair themselves.

It was during the afternoon when our class got cancelled, and I was at the cafeteria waiting for my friend; there I saw Mira coming to me to ask about some project. It was my first time meeting her, so we talked a lot.

Table of Content:

Why is Hair Straightening Required?
Why Avoid Heat and Chemical Straightening?
Natural Ways to Straighten Hair at Home
Lifestyle Tips to Maintain Naturally Straight Hair
Myths About Natural Hair Straightening
Summary

Mira: Wow, you have such beautiful hair; I wonder how you take care of it.

Me: Thank you, Mira. I don't really put much effort into them, but your hair left me in awe.

Mira: Well, this is nothing. I used to have even thicker and stronger hairs before, but now they are just being repaired.

Me: Oh! Then what happened to them?

Mira: I have naturally curly hair so I really wanted to try straightening it at least once, so I got so obsessed with straightening that I used to get it done each week for around 6-7 months. That's when my hair became weak; hair fall started because I put too much heat and chemicals on my hair.

A lady is holding her hair while showcasing her sleek, straight black hair from the back.

Me: That must have taken a toll on you considering how your natural hair got ruined.

Mira: Well, yes, I was obsessed for nothing. But now that my hair is better than before, I use natural ways to straighten it.

Me: Wait, is that even possible?

Mira: Yes, thanks to people who made natural ways to straighten hair, I am literally so happy and would recommend it to you too.

Me: Tell me about it, Mira.

Mira starts by revealing how straight hair became her desire once upon a time.

Straight Hair - A Desire

Hair straightening depends on person to person, as some might not like to change their natural hair or some might want to try it for experience. For me, I wanted to try new hairstyle options.

There are many reasons why some people choose hair straightening:

1. Easy to manage—Straight hairs don't cause much hassle, whether it is washing, combing, or styling them, as compared to curly, wavy, or frizzy hairs.

2. Appearance—Some people like to keep changing their appearance according to the occasion or their moods, and hairstyle comes as the first thing that people like to experiment with.

3. Control over hair—Straight hair is relatively easier to manage and take care of. Straight hair also gives volume to hair and has fewer hair fall problems.

4. Styling options—Straight hair opens a variety of styling options such as braids, ponytails, buns, and sleek updos.

A lady holds her hair in one hand, looking worried at her split ends, while holding a straightener in the other hand.

“Well, in the obsession with straight hair, some people don't pay attention to their hair health. Just like I did,” says Mira while realizing.

“Then how are we supposed to take care of our hair?” I asked.

Be Careful - Heat and chemicals are damaging your hair

“You need to make sure that your hair doesn't suffer; by this, I mean that you don't expose it to heat and chemicals more than required. There's this one YouTuber you must watch; this video ofher, where she shares her experience of how her hair got damaged because of regularly and pointlessly heating her hair. Let me tell you a little bit of what was in that video,” says Mira.

Elizabeth started by advising us to use less heat on our hair, as she used to straighten her hair every week by going to the salon, and on top of that, she even colored her hair, got it highlighted, and whatnot. All this contributed to her downfall, which made her hair lifeless.

She mentioned some of the common mistakes made by people and also how we can revive our healthy hair. :-

1. Regular Heat—This is the most common mistake people make. Using regular heat on hair will cause damage to it in the long term, leaving it lifeless. Don't heat your hair regularly, but doing it once or twice a month is fine. All you have to do is maintain the time gap in between for hair to regain its strength.

2. Not moisturizing the hair properly—Moisturizing the scalp becomes so important when you are using heat or chemicals on your hair to prevent it from damage and to keep it healthy and strong. She mentioned Shea moisturizer to be her favorite hair product.

3. Deep Conditioning—It prevents your hair from being dry, and she mentioned coconut oil to be the best for deep conditioning that helped her.

4. Protective hairstyles—If your hair is damaged, then make sure to keep your hairstyle as simple as possible and don't tighten them too much into braids, ponytails, buns, etc.

A hair oil bottle and a comb are placed on the table, surrounded by pink flowers.

“I am eagerly waiting for you to open up about natural ways, tell na mira” I appealed to her.

“Don’t look at me with those puppy eyes, I am coming onto that only” says Mira smiling.

Natural Ways to straighten your hair

We have come across how chemicals and heat are damaging our hair, but then how do we straighten our hair?

We are going to dive into some methods of straightening hair at home without damaging them.

A). DIY Hair Mask

Dr. Hansaji Yogendra from The Yoga Institute shared 3 natural and easy-to-make hair masks, which will help to nourish your hair without harsh chemicals. I am sharing 2 of these hair masks.

1. Avocado and Olive Oil Hair Mask—Avocado is packed with vitamins and healthy fat that can help hydrate and maintain your hair. Olive oil is a natural moisturizer that can protect your hair from damage. Together they make an impactful hair mask that can help restore shine and manageability to dry or damaged hair.

You will need one ripe avocado and two tablespoons of olive oil. Mix them well and apply this to your hair, making sure to cover the ends. Leave it for 20-30 minutes and rinse with cool water, and then use mild shampoo.

avocado fruit and olive oil bowl is on white table

2. Rice Water and Coconut Milk Hair Mask—You must have seen those korean skincare secret tips where they used ricewater, and that's because it has useful ingredients like amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Coconut oil is also a natural moisturizer that can help restore shine and soften your hair. This mixture of both these ingredient will surely help in growing healthy hair.

You will need ½ cup of rice water and ¼ cup of coconut milk. Mix them well and apply this to your hair, making sure to cover the ends. Leave it for 30 minutes to an hour and rinse with cool water and then use mild shampoo.

B) Natural Hair Rinses

Sarah from Holistic Habits shows two ways to make your own herbal hair rinses at home. She has been using her homemade hair rinses for years now, which made her hair long and strong.

1. Firstly, you will need to choose the herbs you want to use. There are so many advantages that herbs give to the hair. Rosemary, for Sarah, is her personal favorite since it improves scalp circulation, supporting good hair progress. There are other herbs as well, such as lavender, sage, horsetail, calendula, parsley, thyme, peppermint, etc.

2. Second, organize your selected herb in a jar or container, then pour it with raw organic apple cider vinegar such that the herbs are completely covered.

3. When it's ready to use, take some tablespoons of this and dilute it with water.

4. Wash your hair with shampoo first and then rinse your hair with herbal and then with cool water. Be careful, as it contains vinegar also.

She even mentioned the amount of herbal vinegar concentration, which can be used for:-

Short hair—2-3 Tbsp

Medium Hair—3-4 Tbsp

Long Hair—4-5 Tbsp

C) Overnight Techniques

“You know how bad I looked when I first tried it because of the way I had to wrap my hair, but it truly did magic overnight,” says Mira.

The Algerian technique is one of the most popular and trendy techniques used to straighten hair overnight. In this, people use Algerian Kardoune, which is a ribbon/wrap kind of cloth that is used in Algeria to straighten hair and protect hair without heat. All you have to do is make two partitions of your hair and then wrap the cloth on both sides tightly so it doesn't come out as you sleep and leave it for the night. The next day it should be straight.

blue nectar rosemary keratin shampoo for hairs

D) Natural oils and serums for straightening hair

Soybean oil is considered to be one of the best natural methods to straighten hair. Applying it on the scalp will help nourish the natural straight look of the hair.

You will need one tablespoon of soybean oil and two tablespoons of castor oil, and you will mix them. Heat it after mixing and apply it to the scalp and massage properly, and rinse with water, followed by mild shampoo.

“Well, you don't really need to use any technique because you have naturally beautiful straight hair, so I can suggest some tips to maintain that straight hair naturally,” said Mira to me.

“Yes, go on,” I replied.

Tips to maintain naturally straight hair

In order to maintain naturally straight hair, you need to consider your environment, routine, diet, and much more. We are going to assess some of the tips, which can be proven effective if done consistently.

1. Wash your hair 2-3 times a week—it's necessary to moisturize your hair so oiling can be done, which will provide nourishment. Wash hair properly in order to remove the dirt and bring back its shine.

2. Avoid heavy hairstyles—make sure not to pressurize your hair by making braids and tight ponytails regularly; it will make your hair weak and wavy as well.

3. Avoid heat and chemical use—try to use natural ways for keeping them straight and don't put too much heat on your hair, as heat will damage your hair in the long run.

“I came around many myths once I got into the hair straightening obsession, so I do have a lot to tell you, want to hear some? ” Mira asked me.

“Obviously, Go on!! ”’ I replied.

Common Myths about Natural Hair Straightening

1. Natural hair straightening ways are safe—People believe that natural hair straightening is completely safe just because they claim to be natural, but it is necessary to check the ingredients and do a patch test beforehand.

The lady is happy with her straight hair, gently resting

2. It doesn’t require maintenance—Just because it is natural doesn't mean it won't require a proper hair routine; regular care is necessary to maintain healthy hair.