f lee ce ▁card ing ▁tools ▁particularly ▁useful ▁for ▁det ang ling ▁their ▁hair . ▁They ▁suffered ▁from ▁scal p ▁dise ases ▁and ▁inf est ations ▁due ▁to ▁their ▁living ▁conditions . ▁Ens la ved ▁people ▁used ▁varying ▁rem ed ies ▁for ▁dis in fect ing ▁and ▁cle ans ing ▁their ▁scal ps , ▁such ▁as ▁applying ▁k eros ene ▁or ▁corn me al ▁directly ▁on ▁the ▁scal p ▁with ▁a ▁cloth ▁as ▁they ▁carefully ▁part ed ▁the ▁hair . ▁Ens la ved ▁field ▁hands ▁often ▁sh aved ▁their ▁hair ▁and ▁wore ▁h ats ▁to ▁protect ▁their ▁scal ps ▁against ▁the ▁sun . ▁House ▁slaves ▁had ▁to ▁appear ▁tid y ▁and ▁well - g room ed . ▁The ▁men ▁sometimes ▁wore ▁w igs ▁m im ick ing ▁their ▁master s ', ▁or ▁similar ▁ha irst yles , ▁while ▁the ▁women ▁typically ▁pla ited ▁or ▁bra ided ▁their ▁hair . ▁During ▁the ▁ 1 9 th ▁century , ▁hair ▁sty ling , ▁especially ▁among ▁women , ▁became ▁more ▁popular . ▁Cook ing ▁gre ase ▁such ▁as ▁l ard , ▁but ter ▁and ▁go ose ▁gre ase , ▁were ▁used ▁to ▁mo ist ur ize ▁the ▁hair . ▁Women ▁sometimes ▁used ▁hot ▁but ter kn ives ▁to ▁curl ▁their ▁hair . ▁ ▁Because ▁of ▁the ▁then - pre val ent ▁notion ▁that ▁straight ▁hair ▁was ▁more ▁acceptable ▁than ▁k ink y ▁hair , ▁many ▁black ▁people ▁began ▁expl oring ▁solutions ▁for ▁straight ening , ▁or ▁relax ing , ▁their ▁tr esses . ▁One ▁post -