# How do those people who's religion won't let them remove their hats wash their hair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-people-whos-religion-wont-let-them-remove-their-hats-wash-their-hair/202987 "2003-09-21T16:20:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gjorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@Gjorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gjorp)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-people-whos-religion-wont-let-them-remove-their-hats-wash-their-hair/202987/1 "2003-09-21T16:20:07Z")
And what are those people called? I thought that was the Sikhs, but I seem to recall a group of Muslims with the same belief. Anyway, I guess the real answer is just “they don’t really have to have their hat on all the time, that’s just a common myth”. Like the [Monk’s vow of silence.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=212640) Hmm… on further inspection, it seems like my above wording of “those people” and other things might sound a little offensive. Believe me, I don’t mean to offend. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-people-whos-religion-wont-let-them-remove-their-hats-wash-their-hair/202987/2 "2003-09-21T16:33:02Z")
There are MANY religious denominations or sects where you must have your head covered whenever you are outdoors, or in public, or in the company of other people. There is no religion that I know of that requires you to have your headgear on 24/7. ---
**Author:** ![Gjorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@Gjorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gjorp)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-people-whos-religion-wont-let-them-remove-their-hats-wash-their-hair/202987/3 "2003-09-21T16:39:35Z")
> [@](#): > > There are MANY religious denominations or sects where you must have your head covered whenever you are outdoors, or in public, or in the company of other people. > > There is no religion that I know of that requires you to have your headgear on 24/7. Thanks, **JRDelirious** , I thought the answer would be something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Zenpea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Zenpea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenpea)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-people-whos-religion-wont-let-them-remove-their-hats-wash-their-hair/202987/4 "2003-09-21T18:19:50Z")
Actually, the real answer is that ‘those people’ don’t have any hair. It’s just a bit of fluff they poke out of the underside of the headgear. The turban itself is plastic laminated (and has been since they first came along, hundreds of years ago) so water just rolls right off it. In fact, Sikhs have been wearing these things for so long that they’ve become part of the evolutionary cycle: most children are now born with turbans as part of their heads. Logicians think the extra space this creates above the brain is used to store abstract concepts such as Planck’s constant and March the 21st. -James ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-people-whos-religion-wont-let-them-remove-their-hats-wash-their-hair/202987/5 "2003-09-22T07:27:30Z")
What JRDelirious said. I had a friend in college who was (I believe) a Sikh. He wore his turban all the time except for showering. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-people-whos-religion-wont-let-them-remove-their-hats-wash-their-hair/202987/6 "2003-09-22T08:14:04Z")
I went on a school trip a few years back, and one of the guys wore a turban. The subject came up during the 6 hour drive, and he said it’s kindof like wearing a tie, and yes he takes it off at night, bath, etc. In fact, he reveiled that (like some ppl with ties), if he’s only gotta go to school tomorrow, and he’ll probably get up late, he’ll take it off carefully and put it someplace so he won’t have to spend time wrapping it the next day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-people-whos-religion-wont-let-them-remove-their-hats-wash-their-hair/202987/7 "2003-09-22T14:34:19Z")
Actually, the Sikh turban is _not_ a _requirement_ of their religion. Sikh men and women are prohibited from cutting, trimming, or shaving any of the hair on their body. The Sikh turban has simply become a standard method for mean to deal with their long hair. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-people-whos-religion-wont-let-them-remove-their-hats-wash-their-hair/202987/8 "2003-09-22T14:54:36Z")
Same with orthodox Jews who keep their heads covered at all other times. They bare their heads to shower. They’re religious, not crazy or stupid.