# How do Sikhs wind their turbans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848 "2016-12-29T16:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/1 "2016-12-29T16:15:40Z")
I was going to ask this in GQ, but I found a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZYhxdeTPts). Every turban I’ve seen a Sikh wearing has been very nicely wound. I’ve always wondered how they do it. Now I know. ETA: Reported for typo in the title. . ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/2 "2016-12-29T17:49:07Z")
Canadian military regulations have a detailed explanation as to how a Canadian soldier wearing a turban must have it wound, and I’m talking down to the precise angle of the peak in the front and all that. I’ve always wondered what you’d do if you got to that point and it wasn’t quite right. “Aw, shit.” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/3 "2016-12-29T18:53:39Z")
I wonder if anybody makes pre-wound turbans, kinda like clip-on ties. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/4 "2016-12-29T19:04:44Z")
I’m ignorant. I just always assumed they kept them wound all the time, and just plopped them on their head in the morning. As much as I thought about it at all, anyway. And no, I don’t meet or see Sikhs very often around here. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/5 "2016-12-29T20:14:16Z")
But then they’d fall off. Toronto car dealer Nav “Superfan” Bhatia has a selection of turbans specially ordered to ensure he always has one to precisely match the Toronto Raptors’ home uniform color. Bhatia has never missed a home game. (He also wears Blue Jays blue to their games, but isn’t as obsessive about it.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/6 "2016-12-29T20:20:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ETA: Reported for typo in the title. Fixed ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/7 "2016-12-29T20:27:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Fixed Thank you, **Colibri**. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/8 "2016-12-29T21:00:23Z")
Was that a cap the Sikh in the video was wearing, or was his hair bound up somehow? But thanks for the video - another one of those things I would be afraid to ask about, and I used to work for a Sikh manager. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/9 "2016-12-29T21:05:40Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Was that a cap the Sikh in the video was wearing, or was his hair bound up somehow? > > But thanks for the video - another one of those things I would be afraid to ask about, and I used to work for a Sikh manager. It’s a cap. One of the things I wondered was whether they wrapped their hair in the turban. In the video, I see it’s a cap, and it occurs to me that I’ve seen small edges of the cap under turbans IRL. :smack: I’ve never been afraid of asking. I’ve just never found anyone who spoke English well enough to explain it to me. The closest I got was one kid who said, ‘We just wrap it around.’ ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/10 "2016-12-29T21:12:27Z")
[And then there’s just getting totally carried away with it](http://cdn.acidcow.com/pics/20091021/sikh_turbans_04.jpg) 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/11 "2016-12-29T21:12:55Z")
I’m not Sikh but was in a Sikh wedding party one time. That included wearing a turban. I had no idea how to wind a turban but the groom’s father basically did it for me. he wound it into my hair. It was at no time in danger of falling off. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/12 "2017-01-04T21:21:57Z")
There’s an internet-famous Sikh man from Canada who goes by the name JusReign, and he’s got an internet-famous video on [How to Tie a Turban (Pagh)](https://youtu.be/i6gBwv4fjDU?t=2m) – check it out! It’s pretty comprehensive, and includes even an intro on how to wash the fabric before you use it. He also has a related video, on how he was [forced to remove his turban at a US airport](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1wHBx9ErSM) (relevant part of the story starts at 02:50). ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/13 "2017-01-05T01:36:03Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It’s a cap. One of the things I wondered was whether they wrapped their hair in the turban. In the video, I see it’s a cap, and it occurs to me that I’ve seen small edges of the cap under turbans IRL. :smack: > > I’ve never been afraid of asking. I’ve just never found anyone who spoke English well enough to explain it to me. The closest I got was one kid who said, ‘We just wrap it around.’ I was wondering about the cap too. I guess I always just assumed the bulk came from winding the hair into the turban (my understanding is that Sikhs don’t cut their hair, so I figured there was a lot of hair wound up on top of their heads.) The guy in the cubicle next to me at work is a Sikh, and is always well-dressed with color-coordinated turbans. I’m sure he’d be happy to explain how it’s wound, but yeah I’d just be too embarrassed to ask in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/14 "2017-01-05T03:38:44Z")
Yo, watch the video I linked to! He demonstrates how he wraps his hair and puts on the pre-turban headwrap (patka) at 5:16. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/15 "2017-01-05T05:23:47Z")
You’d think some enterprising person would invent a mechanical turban-winder that people could just stick their heads into. I’m picturing something like a bowling ball cleaner. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/16 "2017-01-05T18:54:42Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > The guy in the cubicle next to me at work is a Sikh, and is always well-dressed with color-coordinated turbans. I’m sure he’d be happy to explain how it’s wound, but yeah I’d just be too embarrassed to ask in the first place. Meh, I bet a respectful question about the mechanics of a turban would be welcomed. May help break any ice around your guys’ different clothing cultures. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/17 "2017-01-05T19:50:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It’s a cap. One of the things I wondered was whether they wrapped their hair in the turban. In the video, I see it’s a cap, and it occurs to me that I’ve seen small edges of the cap under turbans IRL. :smack: > [@Shoeless](#): > > I was wondering about the cap too. I guess I always just assumed the bulk came from winding the hair into the turban (my understanding is that Sikhs don’t cut their hair, so I figured there was a lot of hair wound up on top of their heads.) The fez was originally a core around which the Turks wrapped their turbans. They took things a little further: > **[Suleiman the Magnificent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleiman_the_Magnificent#/media/File:EmperorSuleiman.jpg)** > > Suleiman I (Ottoman Turkish: سليمان اول, romanized: Süleyman-ı Evvel; Turkish: I. Süleyman, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}pronounced \[syleiˈman\]; 6 November 1494 – 6 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in Western Europe and Suleiman the Lawgiver (Ottoman Turkish: قانونى سلطان سليمان, romanized: Ḳānūnī Sul... Although **Chimera** ’s link demonstrates that Sikhs can certainly give Turks a run for their money. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-sikhs-wind-their-turbans/775848/18 "2017-01-05T20:38:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It’s a cap. One of the things I wondered was whether they wrapped their hair in the turban. In the video, I see it’s a cap, Would it be cheating to have Velcro on the hat and turban?