RE: combing the warp. I agree it's not a good idea. Really good warping techniques make it unnecessary.
HOWEVER, there's a time and place for almost anything :) *If* the warp is under tension, the occasional small tangle can be dislodged with a comb very readily--I keep an old rat-tailed comb (the kind with a short tooth section then a long handle) on my loom for the purpose. I then do a quick 'combing' of the rest of the threads across the warp, to even out whatever tension changes might have occurred at the tangled spot. And, sometimes combing is necessary if a whole warp is messed up. I've done that a number of times. If I make a point of combing the whole thing as evenly as possible, not just the areas that are tangled at a given moment, then it works out fine. There's been a good few warps in my life where for one reason or another they would have been attacked with scissors and destroyed, if not for a comb :) Holly glad to see DH got the truck unstuck from a snow bank in this, so far, record-setting winter :)
