My mother always kept her "combings" and used them in pin cushions. She had a special box with a hole in the lid to put them through. Also, I have seen her rub other things on her hair to get them to work. I think the most often was the back of a spoon when she was rubbing it across a paper for the embossing of the underlying object to show. Before printers and copymachines, this was a way to get your pattern.