tristanTo many salon owners, hooded bonnet hair dryers are one of the Holy Grails of salon equipment, and for two very good reasons.
- One, they dry hair a whole lot faster than conventional hair dryers. This is a huge blessing for clients with long, thick hair.
- Two, clients want their hair to have that gorgeous, shiny salon finish appearance? A hooded hair dryer is one of the crucial keys to achieving that highly yearned look.
These are the primary reasons, but there other solid ones as well such as the ability to create volume (with the aid of clips of course) for those with curly hair, for achieving sublime deep conditioning results, and also for stretching curls.
Let’s put it this way, no serious salon operator should run her business without hooded hair dryers. Now, there are 3 different types of hooded hair dryers:
Stationary & Fixed
Typically stationed in a dedicated section of your hair salon, a stationary / fixed hooded hair dryer let’s stylists finish clients to perfection.
Hooded dryers on wheels
If your salon is a little tight for space, or your are a mobile salon looking for a portable hooded dryer, one on wheels could be perfect. Take a look at our review of the the Gold’n’Elite and Anslef stand up bonnet dryers.
Space saving wall mounted dryer
If you have a salon with a little more space and a looking for a professional dry every time, take a look at a wall mounted hooded bonnet hair dryer. Here at Furnish&Style we’ll take a look at two of the best.
It should be noted that some fixed models can actually be customized with wheels so you can move them around easily. These wheels are often easy to attach and are typically sold separately.
So which bonnet or hooded hair dryer is the best?
Well, to aid you in your selection process, we have put together this list right here which contains a total of 6 hooded or bonnet hair dryers—2 different models from each type.
So, what are you waiting for? The battle for hooded dryer supremacy has begun. You best grab a cup of coffee and let’s bring it on!
Consumer Rating: 
(4 / 5)
If you are searching for a hooded hair dryer that’s primarily aimed at salon owners who require a dryer that can substantially decrease drying times, then this particular model is a solid pick. With its ability to heat up to 140 Fahrenheit (980 watt), fast cool down mode, and top notch steel build, the Venus Plus hair dryer offers elements of quality that are absent from many hooded dryers in its price point.
Hair drying time
With this dryer in your salon, you should be able to dry most hair length in less than an hour. It’s a tremendous time saver compared to air drying which typically takes hours to complete, and your clients will be very pleased that they don’t have to remain under the heat for an awfully long time. The Venus Plus comes with a timer that runs up to one hour.
Your clients will also be pleased with the fact that this dryer is able to give their hair that much coveted soft and shiny smooth finish. And those with curls will be delighted with the ‘bouncy’ perm effect that can be attained with the Venus Plus.
The heating speed is satisfyingly quick and you’ll be happy to know that it can cool down just as fast too. You can select from 4 different temperature settings including Low, Medium, High, and Perm. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a temperature display.
Spacious hooded bonnet dryer
Thanks to the hood’s spacious inside which is about 12 inches in diameter, along with its adjustable neck, your client’s entire head can easily be covered. This is perfect for clients with very lengthy hair since they need to put on hair rollers that are extra-large.
A little assembly is required before you’re able to get the Venus Plus up and running, but don’t worry—it’s a total breeze! We reckon it shouldn’t take you no longer than 10 minutes to put the parts together. Once you’ve put it together, you can plug it into the back of a salon chair such as the “BLACK EDISON dryer chair which you can purchase off Amazon.com.
One thing you’ll want to know about the Venus Plus is that it works great with a wheel stand, but the manufacturer did not include this important piece of accessory! It is sold separately, which is a shame as we believe that it should’ve been included as a set. The wheel stand makes it easy for you to roll the dryer around your salon.
Apparently, a number of customers have remarked that the dryer’s heat tend to decline after a year or two, so that’s something you’ll want to know about too. Our very own Venus Plus unit is almost 2 years old and the heating element is running fine so far. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
(4.5 / 5)Consumer Rating: 
(5 / 5)
Salon professionals should thank their lucky stars if they get a hold of this made in America hooded hair dryer. Appearance-wise, the Belvedere B900C looks similar to the Venus Plus dryer but make no mistake, the former is more powerful as it runs hotter at an impressive 1030 watt.
Quick, quality bonnet hair drying
Honestly, this thing gets real hot, really fast. Naturally, it dries hair quickly too. The quick drying time is especially noticeable when you use this on clients with naturally thick hair. There was a lady with exceptionally thick flowing locks who came to our salon recently, so we used the B900C which got the drying job done in about 45 minutes.
She was genuinely AMAZED at how quickly it was able to dry her hair. The end result gave her already pretty locks that attractive bouncy smooth look, and she was extremely happy with that. So if you tend to receive a lot of clients with thick locks, then the Belvedere B900C will be a huge time-saver for your business. They don’t call this a “Mega Dryer” for nothing!
Another positive aspect of this dryer that salon owners will find highly appealing is its ability to distribute heat in an even fashion throughout the client’s head. Other inferior models tend to produce heat exclusively from the top portion of the hood resulting in uneven heat distribution pattern.
Design, style & functionality
The dryer’s hood is large and very flexible allowing you to adjust its position in three separate ways. The height for instance, can be shifted either down or up. You can also move it forwards and backwards, plus the tilt is adjustable as well. Coming in at a weight of approximately 30 pounds, the Belvedere B900C is pretty hefty and that’s a good thing because the construction is very solid and strong.
What’s not so good here is that like the Venus Plus, it also doesn’t come with a wheel kit which should’ve been included as a standard accessory. You’ll want to purchase the kit separately if you want to make this dryer portable.
You’ll need to install the hood properly before you can use the dryer and the process is ridiculously simple. Installing it into a dryer chair is also easy enough.
Our verdict
So far, with the exception of the lack of wheel kit, we haven’t found any downsides to this dryer. It works like a champ and the price vs. performance is just great. In addition, the Belvedere B900C is covered by a warranty that lasts for 5 years. Clearly, this is Belvedere ‘s way of standing behind what they manufacture and as customers, we can’t help but be overjoyed with such generous warranty.
(5 / 5)Consumer Rating: 
(3.5 / 5)
The first two salon quality hooded hair dryers that we talked about in this feature were money well spent thanks to their terrific overall quality, but with this model, we just didn’t get that “good for the money” feel. We thought we should lay it out here and offer our honest feedback since this dryer is surprisingly popular and has been reviewed by numerous users, plus we do own a unit as well.
Heat drying power
Heat drying powerNow the heat it generates is quite good, but definitely does not compare to the other two fixed hooded hair dryers. It does have an ionic setting and if you’re in hurry to dry your hair, you’d want to use that. The Gold ‘N Hot Elite dryer tries to offer an element of flexibility by allowing you to adjust the pole’s height, but you end up feeling disappointed because that’s about the only thing you can fine-tune as far as positional adjustments are concerned.
You can’t lower or raise the entire bonnet hood (just the plastic encasing which resembles the visor of a biker’s helmet), you can’t push it to the front or pull it back (although it can be moved side to side), and you can’t even the lock it in place on the pole.
Yes, the bonnet hood is placed directly on the pole without some kind of lock-in feature, which means it can fall off the pole easily and heaven forbid if it crashes on your customers! We do love the portability, however, as the wheels seem to glide across the floor smoothly. Its user-friendly assembly deserves thumbs up too.
Our Verdict
About a year and a half after purchasing it, our unit’s heating level has dwindled substantially and the hood’s plastic cover is already loose. All in all, the Gold ‘N Hot Elite dryer might be all right for ‘once-in-a-while’ personal use at home, but for a salon bustling with customers on a daily basis, you’re better off with the Belvedere B900C model.
Bump up the overall rating below by 0.5 if you plan on using this standing bonnet dryer at home for just once per week max.
(3 / 5)Consumer Rating: (4 / 5)
Oh sure—another model that’s meant for home use but advertised as “professional salon” bonnet hood hair dryer. If you’re looking for a pretty okay model that you can use in the comfort of your own home and costs under $100, the 900 watt Giantex Professional dryer probably won’t let you down.
Problem is it takes its own sweet time to heat up which is a major disadvantage if you’re operating a busy salon that sees an average of 30 customers per day. For a salon owner time is of the essence, so you absolutely need quality bonnet hair dryers that can get hot as quickly as possible.
Professional Salon Hair Dryer, or better as a portable / home unit?
Put yourself in the shoes of a customer, would you want to frequent a salon that’s equipped with dryers that take a little too long to get going? Obviously the answer is NO, right? So the next time you want to get a protein treatment or perhaps, a warm up for color processing your hair, you’ll want to take your money to another salon that actually has quick heating dryers.
For the average home user though, the slight delay in heating isn’t a big deal. Like all bonnet dryers, Giantex Professional dryer has a temperature control function and it works like it’s supposed to. Using this control, you can easily adjust the temperature and it goes up to a maximum of 75 Celsius. The heating power is not bad but takes quite a bit of time to completely dry really thick hair. Still, it beats air drying any day!
Perm, hair care or just a dry?
There’s even a few nifty functions including hair caring, hair drying, and hot perm. We seriously didn’t expect these functions to be present in a cheap bonnet hood dryer. The swiveling hood is nice and it actually covers the whole head. The wheels however tend to be a bit stiff.
Our Verdict
As mentioned, the Giantex Professional dryer isn’t intended for salon professionals, but for home use it represents a much better value compared to the Gold ‘N Hot Elite dryer. You might want to add another 0.5 to the overall score if this is to be used occasionally at home.
(4 / 5)Consumer Rating: (4 / 5)
You have to love wall mounted hooded hair dryers! It’s all that massive drying power while at the same time saving ample floor space. This well-constructed dryer by DIR offers a number of features that are not available on other dryers such as temperature display and even the ability to adjust wind levels.
Customary features such temperature control and timer are of course available, and these are all accessible via the machine’s user-friendly control panel.
Temperature Settings
To increase the temperature for instance, all you have to do is press the UP button once and that multiplies the temperature by a single Celsius, or press DOWN to reduce it. Both buttons are handily located under the temperature display. You can also change the wind level circularly by simply hitting the WIND SET button.
Drying Functions
You can use this machine to blow wind or make it heat up in a close mode. It gets hot very fast and the drying speed is excellent. This is a rather durable piece of machinery and the installation process isn’t hard. But be aware that the machine head as well as the arm assembly are on the heavy side. Installing it all by yourself isn’t advisable so do get someone to help you out.
Also due to the heftiness of those two parts, the machine can only be mounted on a salon wall that’s sufficiently sturdy. Finally, in order to ensure the arm assembly holds up for years and years, you should refrain from removing its cover. In addition, the adjusting nut should not be rotated at all.
Now, what’s not to like about this wall mounted hooded dryer?
Well, like many wall mounted models, it has a price tag that can burn a gaping hole in your pocket. But if you can afford it and you’ve always wanted to get a hooded dryer that’s powerful and reliable, yet doesn’t clutter your salon, DIR’s offering is a good pick.
(4 / 5)Consumer Rating: (4.5 / 5)
Yes, we are simply suckers for hooded hair dryers that can be mounted on a wall, but compared to DIR’s version,Ridgeyard Wall Mounted dryer looks and feels cheap. There are dials on the top portion of the hood and they’re for setting the temperature and the one hour timer, with a LOW/HIGH switch smack right in in the middle of those dials.
The dryer’s articulating arm can be moved either to the left or right and the range is about 3 inches from the center of the wall mounting bracket. The range is pretty respectable but there’s a bit of stiffness to the arm, so adjusting it doesn’t feel as smooth as it should be.
Installation
Installing the darned dryer was headache-inducing and the equally confusing instructions did not help matters. The idgeyard Wall Mounted dryer has a decent drying capability at 75 Degrees Celsius max, and heats up about as fast as DIR’s hair dryer.
Our Verdict
Look, if you’re looking for a space-saving wall mounted hooded hair dryer that works okay, this will do. It terms of price, the Ridgeyard Wall Mounted is cheaper than DIR’s dryer, but we would gladly pay full price for the latter.
(4.5 / 5)So which Salon Hood Hair Dryer’s the Best?
- So the hooded dryer battle has ended and the one that has emerged triumphant in first place is the Belvedere B900C Professional Salon Mega Dryer.
- Second place goes to the Venus Plus dryer, while the third spot is accorded to Wall Mount Multi-Level Adjustment hooded dryer by DIR.
For salon use, forget the ones by Gold ‘N Hot Elite as well as Anself Professional. These are all right for home usage. The JEFFCO HD-38H isn’t worth it if you have the cash to splash on DIR’s wall mounted wonder.