Description

Combs can be made out of a number of materials, most commonly wood or plastic. Ivory and tortoiseshell were once common but concerns for the animals that produce them have reduced their usage. When made from wood, combs are largely made of boxwood, cherry wood or other fine-grained wood. Good quality wooden combs are usually handmade and polished.

Combs can vary in shape according to function. Hairdressing combs may have a thin, tapered handle for parting hair and close teeth. Common hair combs usually have wider teeth half way and finer teeth for the rest of the comb. A little known fact is that the spaces between the teeth on a comb are called combdrums.

A hairbrush, which is larger than a comb, is also commonly used for shaping, styling and cleaning the hair.

Uses

Indian metal comb for keeping hair in place, adorned with a pair of birds. After removing the central stopper perfume can be poured into the opening in order to moisten the teeth of the comb and the hair of the wearer. Combs can be used for many purposes including: securing long hair in place; decorating the hair; matting sections of hair for dreadlocking; or keeping a kippah or skullcap in place. In Spain, a Peineta is a large decorative comb to keep a mantilla in place.

In industry and craft, combs are used in separating cotton fibers from seeds and other debris (the cotton gin, a mechanized version of the comb, is one of the machines that ushered the Industrial Revolution). A comb is used to distribute colours in paper marbling to make the swirling colour patterns in comb-marbled paper.

Combs are also a favorite spot for police investigators to collect hair and dandruff samples that can be used in ascertaining dead or living people's identities, as well as their state of health, toxicological profiles, and so forth.

Making music

Stringing a plant's leaf or a piece of paper over one side of the comb and humming with cropped lips on the opposite side dramatically increases the high-frequency harmonic content of the hum produced by the human voice box, and the resulting spread sound spectrum can be modulated by changing the resonating frequency of the oral cavity.

This was the inspiration for the kazoo. Moreover, the comb is also a lamellophone. Comb teeth have harmonic qualities of their own, determined by their shape, length, and material. A comb with teeth of unequal length, capable of producing different notes when picked, eventually evolved into the thumb piano and musical box.

Hygiene

Sharing combs is a common source of parasitic infections, as one user can leave a comb with plenty of eggs or even live parasites, facilitating the transmission of lice, fleas, crabs, mites, fungi, and other undesirables.

Nit comb

Specialized combs such as "flea combs" or "nit combs" can be used to remove macroscopic parasites and causing them damage by combing. A comb with teeth fine enough to remove nits is sometimes called a "fine-toothed comb", sometimes misrendered as "fine toothcomb" or merely "toothcomb", including in the metaphoric usage "go over it with a fine toothcomb" meaning a close detailed search of something.