What are hair dryers made of?
Hair dryers take 7 things directly, among them plastic, nichrome, mica, electric motor, printed circuit board and power cable. Trace them back and you pass 61 made things on the way to 28 raw materials.
How hair dryers are made See it on the map
What goes straight in
From the ground: 28 raw materials
- Mica goes straight in
- Natural gas through plastic
- Crude oil through plastic, propylene
- Water through plastic, ethylene
- Nickel ore through nichrome, nickel
- Chromite through nichrome, chromium
- Limestone through nichrome, chromium
- Air through nichrome, chromium
- Copper ore through printed circuit board, copper
- Silica sand through printed circuit board, fiberglass
- Zinc ore through screw, zinc
- Sulfur through nichrome, nickel, sulfuric acid
- Coal through nichrome, chromium, aluminum
- Rock salt through printed circuit board, epoxy, chlorine
- Trona through nichrome, chromium, soda ash
- Iron ore through power cable, PVC, pigment
- Dolomite through electric motor, steel, magnesium
- Manganese ore through electric motor, steel, manganese
- Tin ore through printed circuit board, solder, tin
- Lead ore through printed circuit board, solder, silver
- Silver ore through printed circuit board, solder, silver
- Corn through nichrome, chromium, soda ash, carbon dioxide
- Bauxite through nichrome, chromium, aluminum, alumina
- Quartz through electric motor, steel, magnesium, metallurgical silicon
- Timber through electric motor, steel, magnesium, metallurgical silicon
- Titanium ore through power cable, PVC, pigment, titanium dioxide
- Sugarcane through nichrome, chromium, soda ash, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
- Sugar beet through nichrome, chromium, soda ash, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
Made along the way: 55 things
Metals 19
NickelChromiumSheet steelCopper wireSteelCopperSolderSteel wireZincCokeAluminumPig ironMagnesiumSteel scrapManganeseTinLeadSilverAlumina
Metal goods 1
Chemicals and fuels 26
NaphthaEthylenePropyleneHydrogenSulfuric acidSoda ashPhenolAcetoneChlorineCaustic sodaOxygen gasQuicklimeArgonPigmentPlasticizerAmmoniaCarbon dioxidePetroleum cokeBenzenePropaneFormaldehydeTitanium dioxideCarbon blackTolueneCharcoalMethanol
Plastics and fibers 5
Electronics 2
Food 2
What it is packed in
On the line, but left out of everything above, because it holds the finished thing rather than goes into it.