Are there quiet hair dryers?

November 28, 2005 3:59 PM

I've quieted my PC by getting rid of loud fans. As my s.o. wakes me up with an old, loud hair dryer every morning, I wonder if a company has done the same with that appliance. Are there any quiet hair dryers available that still do the job? Money is no object if there's something out there that puts out heat, dries hair in a couple minutes, and is say, under 60db.
posted by mathowie to home & garden (14 comments total)

The range is called Silencio, think they are made by Braun. Google is your friend.
posted by snowgoon at 4:14 PM on November 28, 2005

This one is good. My wife uses it. Caveat, I'd never buy hair products or anything remotely dealing with beauty stuff for my wife because she is THE RULER of that domain and I'd only get laughed at for my choices. Not only that, she might take it the wrong way. Geez...
posted by alteredcarbon at 4:22 PM on November 28, 2005

pauli got one (can't remmeber the make), but it didn't blow/dry as well as expected for the power rating, so she took it back.
posted by andrew cooke at 4:33 PM on November 28, 2005

I don't know about any particular models, but in general fan noise varies with the inverse of size. Bigger fans don't need to turn as fast to move the same amount of air, so their blades disturb the air less. Look for the biggest dryer in the store.

On the other hand, I read an article not too long ago about the design of washroom hand dryers which suggested that most of the water is removed by "blowing off" the drips, rather than evaporating them. So a slow dryer may not be very effective.

What about a towel?
posted by Popular Ethics at 4:37 PM on November 28, 2005

I have an earlier model of this Conair dryer, which claims to be quiet, but really sounds no different to me from any other dryer I've ever had. So, I'm not recommending it (although it's possible that it's been improved, I suppose).
posted by amro at 5:11 PM on November 28, 2005

My girlfriend just bought a new dryer this weekend, incidentally, with an eye to the same thing. She settled on this model. It's not silent, but definitely a huge improvement over her old one; the biggest thing is that it cuts down on those really loud higher frequencies, giving a smoother and moderately less quiet sound. You can probably do better, but hey, here's some information.
posted by The Michael The at 5:17 PM on November 28, 2005

I have the Conair to which amro links, and I *do* find it to be much quieter than any other dryer I've owned.

I have very thick hair that can take forever to dry, but this is a pretty efficient dryer.
posted by padraigin at 5:54 PM on November 28, 2005

order a professional dryer
solano and elchim are brands that have reputations
for quiet operation,and it will last a lot longer than consumer models.I had a solis skyline for years until a client bought it from me, impressed by the low sound.
posted by hortense at 6:02 PM on November 28, 2005

As Popular Ethics says, a towel may be a [partial] solution. I have thick hair about two feet long ("nipple length") and I use a microfiber towel in the mornings. I wrap my hair in it and it squeezes out a surprising amount of water, so I have little drying to do. The one I use is like this one. I leave it on while doing the rest of my morning routine, 20 to 40 minutes.

For wrapping, I put a fold along a long edge and place that at the back of my head, bending forward at the neck. I follow my hairline with the folded edge of the towel, and when the halves meet over my forehead, I twist that together over my head and tuck the end into the folded edge. I try to squeeze the bulk of the hair pretty tight and leave the parts closer to my scalp loose. I sometimes swap the twist after some time to let other parts of my hair get dried. I love this method and it makes my long hair more manageable. I almost never use a blow-dryer since I began using this towel.
posted by olecranon at 7:37 PM on November 28, 2005

Seriously, the ionic hair dryers work much better, and are faster, and are definitely quieter too. I'm not sure what the ceramic technology is that's floating around these days (distributes heat better, maybe?) but these ionic ones really do work wonders. This Conair one says it's no quieter than an office hum - which is loud when you're trying to sleep, but more of a bearable sound than the old whining dryers.
posted by fionab at 9:39 PM on November 28, 2005

I use this "quiet ceramic" hair dryer from Revlon. Pros: It's much quieter than the ionic hair dryer I had (which claimed to be quieter, but wasn't at all). It's not completely silent, but like The Michael The said earlier, it gives a smoother, more moderate sound. It is also hotter than the ionic dryer I had, so it dries my hair more evenly and quickly (5-10 mins for my thick, shoulder-length mane). It has a flat back, so it lays real nice on the vanity, and the hair trap is extremely easy to remove, clean, and replace. Also, it was cheap. Cons: If I want to close the bathroom door to mute the sound even further, it gets real hot, real fast. Luckily the bathroom is outside the bedroom, so I can close the bedroom door so as not to disturb my gorgeous sleeping boyfriend in the mornings. But you might not have that option. The wattage is the same as other hair dryers (1875), so you're not saving anything there.

Or you could go a completely different route and get this one and her hair will smell like BANANAS!!
posted by sarahnade at 11:09 AM on November 29, 2005

Ditto on starting out with an Aquis towel. Then get a Turbo Chi dryer. Quiet, hot and quick.
posted by radioamy at 11:51 AM on November 29, 2005

Go to a professional barber/beauty supply company. They'll have all sorts of brands of hair dryers you've never heard of, which will last forever and some of which are pretty darn quiet. My dad still uses a Dubl Duck dryer that must be fifty years old now and it's a lot quieter than just about any other dryer I've ever used.
posted by kindall at 12:10 PM on November 29, 2005

Here's a better link for the Aquis microfiber towels recommended by olecranon
posted by jacobsee at 3:21 PM on December 10, 2005