Let’s be honest: Perfect blowouts typically only happen at a salon. If you want super-straight hair at home, a flat iron is the way to go. Once you find a hot tool that you like, avoid these big mistakes to protect your hair and perfect your straight style.

1. DIAL DOWN

You might be thinking that it’s best to keep your flat iron on the lowest heat setting possible but counterintuitive as it may seem, a medium to high temperature—lower if your hair is fine, higher if your hair is thick—is better. Why? On a low heat setting, you’ll have to go over your hair multiple times to smooth it out. A higher temperature means a better chance that a single pass can do the trick. Generally, 140 degrees work for every hair type

2. DON’T BE RISKY

If you’re not putting a heat-protectant spray on your hair before you use your flat iron, it’s like asking for damage. (This goes for any heat-styling tool.) On clean, damp hair, spray on a heat protectant to shield your hair from hot-tool harm.

3. STOP PULLING

This technique can make your hair fall flat. Instead, get as close to your root as possible, and flat iron each section of hair, pulling the hair up as you go (instead of pulling it straight down). This will give you a boost of volume at the crown, so you’ll have straight hair with body.

4. BRUSH IT

Before you hit it each section with heat, brush out the hair to get any knots out of the way. This will make the straightening process go much more smoothly, so you won’t need to go back over certain areas multiple times.

5. KEEP IT COOL

While heat styles hair, cool air sets the style. So instead of immediately putting straightened hair into a ponytail or clip, allow your hair to cool after you iron it.

6. CLEAN UP

Heat-protectant spray and other styling products you apply to your hair can—and will—build up on your flat iron. To prevent the residue from snagging your hair, clean your flat iron regularly.