# What are combs made from

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-combs-made-from/696643>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 27, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-combs-made-from/696643 "2014-08-27T16:08:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sara20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@sara20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sara20)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-combs-made-from/696643/1 "2014-08-27T16:08:01Z")

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What type of plastic are combs made from? Particularly those black plastic Conair ones.

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**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-combs-made-from/696643/2 "2014-08-27T17:14:58Z")

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I believe most combs are made of nylon. I can’t speak to Conair, specifically

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**Author:** ![sara20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@sara20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sara20)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-combs-made-from/696643/3 "2014-08-27T19:03:16Z")

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> [@August\_West](#):
>
> I believe most combs are made of nylon. I can’t speak to Conair, specifically

I though nylon is too bendable, they make clothes out of it. Do they add something to make it more rigid?

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-combs-made-from/696643/4 "2014-08-27T19:08:14Z")

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> [@sara20](#):
>
> I though nylon is too bendable, they make clothes out of it. Do they add something to make it more rigid?

Nylon is actually quite strong for a plastic. It’s only bendable in clothes because the fibers are so tiny.  
Glass-filled nylon is an “engineering plastic” - it’s strong enough to make machine parts out of, but I doubt anyone is using that to make combs.

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**Author:** ![Construct](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Construct](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Construct)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-combs-made-from/696643/5 "2014-08-27T19:25:48Z")

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some combs are made out of acetate, in addition to the aforementioned nylon.

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**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-combs-made-from/696643/6 "2014-08-27T19:29:09Z")

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I’d assume they’re made of [Hard Rubber](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebonite), like this [Ace](http://www.amazon.com/Ace-Classic-Pocket-Fine-Tooth/dp/B005IMH9PO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409167711&sr=8-1&keywords=ace+combs+hard+rubber) comb.  
Upon further reading, those Ace combs are plastic, not hard rubber, which appears to be more scarce than I thought.