Going cone-free, but wondering about thermal protectants

Hello All,

I've been reading and reading and reading in the forums.  I'd really like to thank you all for the wealth of info here! 

I'm making the decision to go cone-free and going to do CO washes only (mostly do this now already, as I only shampoo once per week and the other times I CO wash).  I am wondering, however, about the times I do still occasionally curl my hair with my flat iron (as in my profile pic).  I usually only do this two or three times per month, as it lasts for days!  All of my thermal protectants contain cones, as I'm sure that's probably the nature of them as a protectant.  If I only use the thermal protectants when I'm going to heat-style my hair, and that's the only product I use that contains cones, would it be sufficient to only clarify once a month before I refresh my color?  Would you double clarify before applying fresh color?  I don't bleach.  I use a high-lift product to bring my roots up (like Majicontrast) and then do an all-over application of SFX, so my hair is in decent condition.

Thanks in advance for your time... I'm trying really hard not to ask duplicate questions so I apologize if this has been asked already.

Cheers!