This past week a lady told my wife that it is forbidden to wash a Shaitel - Wig during the three weeks. To the best of my knowledge I have never seen such a prohibition. Is there a source that prohibits washing a wig during the three weeks?
asked Jul 17, 2017 at 19:12
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Cutting it for the first time is probably assur in 9 days as tikun begadim. If in fact it was never cut, there is a strong possibility she never made a shehechiyanu on it which is a bracha to be avoided in the three weeks. That's probably the most stringent you'll get. There is no reason to think a wig is actual hair (which would only preclude it being washed during the 9 days). I mean she's not running out of an ir hanidachas, right?– user6591Commented Jul 17, 2017 at 19:26
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Check out this article yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/735559/rabbi-aryeh-lebowitz/… especially 5c– Ploni AlmoniCommented Jul 18, 2017 at 1:38
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1 Answer
I could not find a single instance of a Posek forbidding washing or laundering anything during the (first 2 weeks of the) 3 weeks.
I searched the Shulchan Aruch, Kitzur SA, Kitzur Yalkut Yosef and Aruch HaShulchan
Even during the 9 days (or the week during which Tish'a B'Av falls, as per the Sefardim) when most laundering is forbidden, clothes that get soiled often and one has a finite supply - like cloth diapers - may be washed.
Similarly, anything a woman needs for her 7-clean days may be laundered, as a Mitzvah trumps the custom of not washing.
I would venture to say that if a woman is in the habit of washing her wig every few days because it gets very sweaty, for example, then she may be allowed to do so even during the 9 days since she can't be expected to have a wig collection.
וְאִשָּׁה שֶׁצְּרִיכָה לִלְבּוֹשׁ לְבָנִים לִסְפֹּר ז' נְקִיִּים, מֻתֶּרֶת לְכַבֵּס וְלִלְבּוֹשׁ
וְכֵן הַמִּטְפָּחוֹת שֶׁמְלַפְּפִין בָּהֶן אֶת הַתִּינוֹקוֹת [חִתּוּלִים], שֶׁמְלַכְלְכִין אוֹתָן תָּדִיר, מֻתָּר לְכַבְּסָ
- Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 122:9
answered Jul 18, 2017 at 14:20
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Your logic sounds reasonable, except that underwear and diapers don't have substitutes to do the same job. A woman, OTOH, can cover her hair with a tichel, snood (Are you trying to ruin my sister-in-law's sub-business? She sells snoods, and I think the 9 Days brings in some increased business!) , or hat. There's nothing that says that she must wear a shaitel.– DanFCommented Jul 18, 2017 at 14:45