14. When the thirty days of mourning [during which a mourner may not cut his hair or shave] are concluded on the eighteenth of Tammuz or afterward until Rosh Chodesh Av, the mourner may cut his hair (and shave) (1). From Rosh Chodesh Av onward, a person is forbidden to wash his clothes or cut his hair (or shave), even under such circumstances (2).

FOOTNOTES:

(1) Although our custom is to refrain from haircuts from the 17th of Tammuz onwards, since this person has been mourning for thirty days already, he is granted this leniency.

(2) In a case of necessity, if the thirty day mourning period ended between Rosh Chodesh Av and the week in which Tish'ah B'av occurs, the mourner may take a haircut or shave, but not during the week that Tish'ah B'av occurs (see Mishna Berura 551:87 and Sha'ar Hatziyun 93).

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