Hair clippers are specialized implements used to cut human head hair. They work on the same principle as scissors, but are distinct from scissors themselves and razors. Similar but heavier-duty implements are used to shear sheep, but are called handpieces or machine shears.
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Remington Products, commonly known as simply Remington, is a worldwide personal care corporation which manufactures razors (shavers), epilators, and haircare products for both men and women. It is a subsidiary of Spectrum Brands.
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The origins of the "Remington" name date back to the formation of E. Remington and Sons, a firearms maker founded in 1816. E. Remington & Sons made occasional forays into products other than firearms, such as sewing machines and farm implements — but its most significant side venture was when inventor Christopher Sholes persuaded the firearms company to help him develop the typewriter with the QWERTY keyboard, which is still the standard today. In 1886, E. Remington & Sons sold the typewriter company, which became Remington Typewriter Company. This in turn merged with the Rand Kardex Corporation in 1927 to become Remington Rand. Remington Rand branched out into making adding machines, filing cabinets, punched card tabulating machines, and other office equipment to become a leading office equipment company.
The origin of Remington personal care products dates back to 1937 when Remington Rand began to branch out to electric shavers, starting with the Remington Model E.
In 1950, Remington Rand bought the pioneering Eckert-Mauchly Computer Company. In 1955, it merged with Sperry Corporation, developer of the automatic pilot, amongst other devices. The combined company became the Sperry Rand Corporation and continued to market shavers under the Remington brand. In 1979, Sperry Rand sold off a number of its divisions, including the consumer products. Victor Kiam bought the electric shaver company in a leveraged buyout.
Victor Kiam's Remington Products Company became very profitable, branching out into other personal care small appliances, buying Clairol's personal care appliance business in 1994. Kiam sold controlling interest in Remington to Ike Perlmutter prior to the Clairol acquisition that same year. Remington changed hands again on June 1996 when Perlmutter and Kiam sold controlling interest in the company to Vestar Capital Partners. Victor Kiam died in 2001. In 2003, the Kiam family and Vestar sold Remington to the battery company Rayovac. Rayovac changed its name to Spectrum Brands and markets Remington brand men's and women's electric shavers, hair clippers, beard and moustache trimmers, nose and ear hair trimmers, foot massagers, make-up mirrors, heated hair rollers, blow dryers, and curling irons. Remington also sells flat irons| | This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. See the talk page for details. WikiProject Chemistry or the Chemistry Portal may be able to help recruit an expert. (November 2008) |
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Hair spray (also hair lacquer, spritz, or sticky water) is a common cosmetic product that is sprayed onto hair to keep it stiff or in a certain style. The spray can be dispensed from a pump or aerosol spray nozzle.
Hair spray was first developed and manufactured in the 1940s by Chase Products Company, based in Broadview, Illinois[citation needed].
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One of the polymers used is polyvinylpyrrolidone, which is also used to glue the layers of wood in plywood together. A non-water soluble polymer called polydimethylsiloxane is added to make the hold last a bit longer (the polyvinylpyrrolidine is water soluble). Pytocalcious chemicals are another family of ingredients in hair spray, which increase the amount of minerals in the hair's root causing the hair to become stiff.
Other polymers used in plastic-based hairsprays are copolymers with vinyl acetate and copolymers with maleic anhydride.
Some hair sprays use natural polymers and solvents like vegetable gums dissolved in alcohol. One popular ingredient is gum arabic is made from the sap of certain trees that grow in the Sudan. Gum tragacanth is another herbal gum that is used to stiffen calico and crepe, as well as hair.
The solvent used was once a compound of carbon, fluorine, and chlorine (a chlorofluorocarbon, or CFC).CFCs are nontoxic, nonflammable, and make almost ideal aerosol propellants. However, when it was learned that they cause destruction of stratospheric ozone, they were replaced with other solvents, like alcohols and hydrocarbons.
Japanese scientists have recently found strains of bacteria, Microbacterium hatanonis, that have evolved to live in hair spray.[1]
Some hair sprays are scented or have color.
Straightening irons, straighteners, or flat irons, not to be confused with clothing irons, work by breaking down the hair's hydrogen bonds found in the hair's cortex, which cause hair to bend and become curly. Once the bonds are broken, hair is prevented from holding its original, natural form, though the hydrogen bonds can re-form if exposed to moisture.[4]
High-end modern hair straighteners have ceramic heating elements and are more effective due to their constant heat, with a very fast heat-up time (less than 10 seconds). A higher quality plate is the most desirable asset of any flat iron. Better plates straighten the hair more easily and cause much less damage. Very hard ceramic coatings that are sprayed in layers and baked on tend to perform best. Less expensive units usually do not have ceramic heating elements and some may have a paint-like coating that gives the appearance of ceramic plating. These cheaper coatings wear off very quickly and cause more damage to the hair.[citation needed]
Flat irons can cause heat damage and mechanical damage. Heat damage is unavoidable, since the hotter a flat iron, the better it works (up to 450 °F (232 °C)). Mechanical damage can be reduced by using smoother plates. Most plates are aluminum with a coating of something such as a hard ceramic. If the coating is of an inexpensive type that wears off, continued use of the iron causes mechanical damage. Some flat irons can give your hair shine and cause a lot of damage to the roots.
The user can reduce damage to hair by not heating the hair tips.
Simon Monroe patented a hair straightener in 1906 that comprised 7 metallic teeth that are combed through the hair,[1] while in 1909 Isaac K. Shero patented a hair straightener composed of two flat irons that are heated and pressed together.[2]
Curling irons, also known as curling tongs, create waves or curls in the hair. There are many different types of modern curling irons, which can vary by diameter, material, and shape of barrel and the type of handle. The barrel's diameter can be anywhere from .5 inches (1.3 cm) to 2 inches (5.1 cm). Smaller barrels are typically used to create spiral curls, and the largest barrels are used to give shape and volume to a hairstyle.[3]
Curling irons are typically made of Teflon, ceramic, tourmaline, metal, or titanium, each of which has its pros and cons. The barrel's shape can either be a cylinder, cone, or reverse cone, and the iron can have brush attachments or double and triple barrels.[3]
The curling iron can also have either a spring-loaded, Marcel, or clipless handle. Spring loaded handles are the most popular and use a spring to work the barrel's clamp. When using a Marcel handle, named after Marcel Grateau, one applies his or her own pressure to the clamp. Clipless wands have no clamp, and the user simply wraps hair around a rod. Most clipless curling irons come with a Kevlar glove to avoid burns.[3]
A hair iron or hair tong is a tool used to change the structure of the hair using heat. There are three general kinds: curling irons, used to make the hair curly, straightening irons, commonly called straighteners or flat irons, used to straighten the hair, and crimping irons, used to create crimps of the desired size in the hair. Some models have electric heating.
This type of comb has loose teeth and is primarily used on very curly hair. In the 1970s, it was sometimes worn in the hair.
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", as in the metaphoric usage "go over [something] with a fine-toothed comb", meaning 'search [something] closely and in detail'. Sometimes in this meaning, "fine-toothed comb" has been reanalysed as "fine toothcomb" and then shortened to
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.
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 fibres 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.
