Chapter 15 501 Diaz advocated the use of the maximum force encountered during the experiment (which they termed “the peak combing load”) and also the average height of the plateau (or “average combing load”). Another potentially useful measure is the combing energy (or work) represented by the area beneath each curve. Dry combing experiments are seen to produce very differently shaped curves. Here, grooming forces are low for the majority of the experiment, until an end-spike is produced during detangling Figure 3. Typical wet combing results Figure 4. Typical dry combing results