Hi there! I am travelling to the Dom Rep in October and was wondering the same thing! I have quite frizzy hair and the thought of not being able to straighten it for 2 weeks is quite scary!! So, if anyone knows if it's worth taking straighteners away with them (and if they work) would be a BIG Help!!
Thanks!

They do take a while to heat up and it's so humid over there your hair just goes frizzy again a few minutes later. I stopped taking mine with me because they took too long and I either got my hairbraided in the end or just slicked it back on an evening. Some people seem to have no problem with them so maybe it's just me having no patience to wait for them to work.
sam

They heat up eventually but GHDs will not be as hot as they are meant to be. I stayed at Bahia Principe.

Thanks for the useful info ladies!! I think i'll take them but will just have to accept i'll probably end up with an afro for most of my stay!! *lol*

Hi there.

There is an item available on ebay called a "step up adapter" which converts the local electric supply (110v) to the same as the UK (230v).This will enable your straighteners to heat up as they do at home.
It costs about £8 inc. P&P.
I myself have a holiday booked for the Dom. Rep. , so I will be buying one for my "other half" to use.
I hope this helps and you have a good time.

David

thanks Dave, but does this have 3 pins or 2 pins as i am sure the DR only runs on 2 pins not 3 pins like USA? I am now toying with the idea of buying a pair of worldwide voltage straighteners, we have been advised by an electrician not to try and use anything with a 200v+ in the DR as it will burn it out trying to reach the voltage.

Hi there.

The part that plugs into the wall has two pins (as does the USA) and there is a bit in the front for a 3 pin plug to go into.It's a bit like an ordinary travel adapter except this type converts the voltage.Have a look on ebay and you could always ask the seller for any further information.
What hotel are you staying in? If it's the Iberostar Costa Dorada, I know that they hire out straighteners for around £15 for two weeks and they are supposed to be as good as GHD's.

David

we have been advised by an electrician not to try and use anything with a 200v+ in the DR as it will burn it out trying to reach the voltage.

Trying to run something designed for 110v on a 220 supply will burn it out but this is unlikely to happen the other way round. Anything like kettles, hairdryers, straighteners etc are extremely unlikely to be damaged by running it on a lower voltage but as others have noticed, it will take longer for the element to heat-up. This is because a heating element is really little more than a wiring circuit that has been designed with enough 'resistance' in it it so that it gets hot ie 'overheats' in a controlled way rather than just allowing the passage of the electricity through the circuit. Running it on a lower voltage means that there will be less 'resistance' and so the circuit doesn't 'overheat'.

However, running a 110v appliance on a 220v supply means that the electricity will encounter the equivalent of greater resistance in the circuit and it will burn the element and/or wiring out very quickly. When I worked in a Community Centre in Liverpool some years back, the people who stole our US-made electric typewriter but didn't steal the 'step-down' transmitter that went with it, not only blew the machine up but plunged their whole street into darkness as a result of the consecutive tripping of safety switches right back to the junction from the electricity sub-station!

SM

Hi SMa.

So what do you reckon about using a "step up" adapter to power UK appliances in the Dominican Republic? The charger that I use for the batteries in my camera etc takes long enought to charge normally!

David

I was also wondering if a power up adapter was any good for my battery charger. I've never taken one before but I've used a travel kettle and straighteners in the Dominican and they both took ages to heat up. My battery charger takes hours in this country so I didn't know if it was worth taking away with me.
sam

Hi Sam

As I said earlier in the post.These adapters are available on Ebay for around £8 inc. P&P. These seem like a good idea if you take loads of electrical stuff on holiday, as with a lot of electrical items (Ipods, camera's etc) they seem to have a built in battery and each one requires a different charger.

David

Thanks David I'll go have a look on ebay.........
sam

So what do you reckon about using a "step up" adapter to power UK appliances in the Dominican Republic?

Yes, if you want a UK appliance/charger to work most effectively in a country with a 110v supply then a combined step-up transformer/adaptor is the best option. Things like hairdryers and kettles will work without one but as others have discovered, they take a lot longer to do the job. Similarly a lot of chargers will work but will take longer but not all chargers will. For example in Cuba, I find that the charger for the batteries for my Canon digital camera will work as long as I leave it on overnight - it takes much longer to fully charge than it does at home. In the past I never had any trouble with charging my old Siemans mobile phone either but the Nokia I now use refuses to charge unless I can find a 220v supply. Luckily, every casa I've stayed in so far has had one socket that does have a 220v socket (there's probably a step-up transformer hidden in that dodgy looking junction box alongside it!) for the air conditioning unit. It does mean I can't have the air-c o n on at the same time so I usually charge it up whilst out at the dance class!

SM

I have purchased one, and no its not suitable to plug in my battery charger so I have decided to leave that at home and just purchase a few packs of batteries at gatwick. thanks for all the help dave.

In all my trips to the DR I have never had a problem charging my phone or camera.

I don't bother with straighteners because my very curly, frizzy hair would only stay straight for about 5 minutes in the humidity.

To protect my hair from the sun I put it up or tie it back with lots of wax which helps to stop the frizz, I might blow dry it for the evening but its pretty much a waste of time as its still humid even then.

To be honest, after a couple of days of being on Caribbean time, I really don't care much about my curly hair, I'm much too chilled.

Hi Beanie.

Sorry to hear that.What was the problem with it?

David

Hi

I was thinking i might just take cordless hair straighteners plus the gas cartridges... does anyone know if there are any flight security reulations in place which would not allow me to do this?? Flying from Manchester in October to the Dom Rep x

You are only allowed to take one cartridge with gas appliances, not a spare, but I can't remember if they go in hand or hold luggage. Check the airline and airport websites as it shoud tell you there.

luci

Dave the charger wont fit as it has a ridge on the step up adapter but its not a hardship i can still use my kettle straighteners and mobile charger