Comb

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Toothed device used for styling, cleaning and managing hair and scalp

title: "Comb" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["comb-lamellophones", "domestic-implements", "early-musical-instruments", "hairdressing", "toiletry", "articles-containing-video-clips"] description: "Toothed device used for styling, cleaning and managing hair and scalp" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comb" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Toothed device used for styling, cleaning and managing hair and scalp ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Plastic_comb,_2015-06-07.jpg" caption="A typical plastic comb"] ::

A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating back to 5,000 years ago in Persia.

Weaving combs made of whalebone dating to the middle and late Iron Age have been found on archaeological digs in Orkney and Somerset.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Local_artisan_cutting_and_filing_animal_horn_to_make_combs.webm" caption="Local artisan cutting and filing animal horn to make combs in [[Alappuzha]], Kerala"] ::

Combs are made of a shaft and teeth that are placed at a perpendicular angle to the shaft. Combs can be made out of a number of materials, most commonly plastic, metal, or wood. In antiquity, horn and whalebone was sometimes used. Combs made from ivory and tortoiseshell were once common but concerns for the animals that produce them have reduced their usage. Wooden combs are largely made of boxwood, cherry wood, or other fine-grained wood. Good quality wooden combs are usually handmade and polished.

Combs come in various shapes and sizes depending on what they are used for. A hairdressing comb may have a thin, tapered handle for parting hair and close teeth. Common hair combs usually have wider teeth halfway and finer teeth for the rest of the comb. Hot combs were used solely for straightening hair during the colonial era in North America.

A hairbrush comes in both manual and electric models. It is larger than a comb, and is also commonly used for shaping, styling, and cleaning hair. A combination comb and hairbrush was patented in the 19th century.

Uses

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti_-Woman_Combing_Her_Hair(1865).jpg" caption="[[Dante Gabriel Rossetti]] – Woman Combing Her Hair (1865)"] ::

Combs can be used for many purposes. Historically, their main purpose was securing long hair in place, decorating the hair, matting sections of hair for dreadlocks, or keeping a kippah or skullcap in place. In Spain, a peineta is a large decorative comb used to keep a mantilla in place.

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

Combs are also a tool used by police investigators to collect hair and dandruff samples that can be used in ascertaining dead or living persons' identities, as well as their state of health and toxicological profiles.

Hygiene

Sharing combs is a common cause of parasitic infections much like sharing a hat, as one user can leave a comb with eggs or live parasites, facilitating the transmission of lice, fleas, mites, fungi, and other undesirables. Siblings are also more likely to pass on nits to each other if they share a comb.

Making music

Main article: Comb and paper

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, a membranophone.

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 music box.

Types

Chinese combs

Main article: Shubi (comb)

In China, combs are referred to by the generic term zh () or zh () and originated about 6000 years ago during the late Neolithic period. Chinese combs are referred as zh () when referring to thick-tooth combs and zh () when referred to thin-tooth combs. A form of zh produced in Changzhou is the Changzhou comb; the Palace Comb Factory, also called Changzhou combs Factory, found in the city of Changzhou started to operate since the 5th century and continues to produce handmade wooden combs up to this day.zh were also introduced in Japan during the Nara period where they were referred by the generic name ja. File:Shang Jade Comb.jpg|zh, Shang dynasty comb File:Chinese Shoubo (Subak), Qin Dynasty archaeological picture on a comb.jpg|Qin dynasty comb File:Western Han Jade Comb (9910182985).jpg|Western Han jade comb File:Comb, China, Tang dynasty, 618-907, silver, gilt - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC04145.JPG|Tang dynasty comb File:Changzhou Double-edged Fine-toothed Comb 01 2015-04.jpg|Changzhou comb, double-edged fine-toothed comb

Japanese combs

In Japan, combs are referred to as ja. Indigenous Japanese ja started to be used by Japanese people about 6000 years ago in the Jōmon era. In the Nara period, Chinese combs from the Tang dynasty were introduced in Japan. Another form of comb in Japan is the Satsuma comb, which started to appear around the 17th century and was produced by the samurai warriors of the Satsuma clan as a side job. File:Ornamental Japanese comb, tortoiseshell with lacquer, Edo or Taisho, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG|ja made of tortoiseshell with lacquer, Japan, Edo or Taiso period File:Hana kushi.jpg|ja

Liturgical comb

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Kamm_mit_Verkündigung_KGM_F1625.jpg" caption="A [[liturgical comb]], possibly made in Italy, 15th century"] ::

A liturgical comb is a decorated comb with used ceremonially in both Catholic and Orthodox Christianity during the Middle Ages, and in Byzantine Rite up to this day.

Nit comb

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/HMB_Läusekamm_Jungsteinzeit.jpg" caption="Nit]] comb, made of bent twigs, [[Sutz-Lattrigen]], around 2700 BC"] ::

Specialized combs such as "flea combs" or "nit combs" can be used to remove macroscopic parasites and cause them damage by combing. A comb with teeth fine enough to remove nits is sometimes called a "fine-toothed comb", as in the metaphoric usage "go over [something] with a fine-toothed comb", meaning to search closely and in detail. Sometimes in this meaning, "fine-toothed comb" has been reanalysed as "fine toothcomb" and then shortened to "toothcomb", or changed into forms such as "the finest of toothcombs".

Afro pick

An Afro pick is a type of comb having long, thick teeth which is usually used on kinky or Afro-textured hair. It is longer and thinner than the typical comb, and it is sometimes worn in the hair.[[File:Handmade African 'Afro' Combs.png|thumb|Afro picks]] The history of the Afro pick dates back at least 5,000 years, as a practical tool that may also have cultural and political meaning.

Unbreakable plastic comb

An unbreakable plastic comb is a comb that, despite being made of plastic rather than (more expensive) metal, does not shatter into multiple pieces if dropped on a hard surface such as bathroom tiles, a hardwood floor, or pavement. Such combs were introduced in the mid-twentieth century. Today, most plastic combs are unbreakable, as advancements in plastic manufacturing have continuously improved the durability of the material.

Modern artisan combs

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Modern_artisan_metal_combs.jpg" caption="Modern artisan metal combs crafted from brass, stainless steel, titanium and sterling silver"] ::

Modern artisan combs crafted from a wide variety of new and recycled materials have become popular over recent years. Used skateboard decks, vinyl records, brass, titanium alloy, acrylic, sterling silver, and exotic wood are a few of the materials being used.

French side combs

Some hair combs are designed to be used similarly to hairpins, to hold hair away from the face, or in updos. Shorter ones may be worn in hair on the side of the head, or to accessorize a bun. Longer ones may be purpose-made to hold up specific hairstyles, such as the French twist.

Gallery

File:Egyptian - Wooden Comb - Walters 61306.jpg|Ancient Egyptian comb, fifteenth century BC File:Etruscan - Comb with Lions and Geometric Designs - Walters 71495.jpg|Etruscan comb, seventh century BC File:Scythian comb.jpg|Scythian comb, 400 BC File:KB Knochenkamm.jpg|Ancient Roman comb, 4th or 5th century AD File:Kam-med-runer-fra-Vimose DO-4148 2000.jpg|The world's oldest runic inscription (160 AD) on the Vimose comb, Denmark File:MaryRose-combs.jpg|A set of combs found on the 16th-century ship Mary Rose File:Sculptured Comb in Ivory of the Sixteenth Century Sauvageot Collection.png|Ivory sculptured comb, 16th century File:Indian antique comb.jpg|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. File:Punjabi Comb.JPG|A Punjabi wooden comb File:Nissenkamm-01.jpg|Head louse comb File:Modern metal comb from Chicago Comb .jpg|Artisan hand-finished metal comb File:MHNT ETH.AC.NC.203 (black background).jpg|Bamboo comb of the Kanak people File:Wooden comb1.jpg|Wooden comb in Nepal.

References

References

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  20. (2012). "The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture". Oxford University Press.
  21. Copeland, Lennie. (2001). "The Lice-Buster Book: What to Do When Your Child Comes Home with Head Lice". Grand Central.
  22. "fine toothcomb/fine-tooth comb". WSU.edu.
  23. Morewitz, H.. (2008). "A Brief History of Lice Combs".
  24. Moore, Jennifer Grayer. (2015). "Fashion Fads Through American History: Fitting Clothes into Context". ABC-CLIO.
  25. (1972). "Jet". Johnson.
  26. "Origins of the Afro Comb". cam.ac.uk.
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  28. Division, Great Britain Central Office of Information Reference. (1951). "Home Affairs Survey".
  29. (2003). "Characterization and Failure Analysis of Plastics". ASM International.
  30. "Tame your hipster beard with a comb made from what?".
  31. "French Side Combs Are the Chicest Hair Accessory of the Moment".
  32. (2015-01-09). "How To Use Side Combs in Your Hair".
  33. Arendoski, Emma. (2015-07-11). "How to Beautifully Wear a Hair Comb the Right Way".
  34. Metcalfe, Brooke. (2024-10-25). "How To Use French Combs {{!}} Hairstyle Inspiration".

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