Fiqh-us-Sunnah - 1.43

Hadith 1.43.1

Notes of Importance

It is permissible to speak while performing ablution. There is nothing reported from the sunnah that prohibits it.
Making supplications while washing the extremities is based on false hadith. It is best for the person to use only the supplications mentioned under the Sunnah Acts of Ablution.
If the person who is making ablution has a doubt concerning how many times he has washed a particular part of the body, he should go by the number he is certain about.
If any barrier or substance with weight, such as wax, is found on the body, it would invalidate one's ablution unless it is removed and the ablution is performed again.
Coloring, like henna, is permissible, as it does not affect the ablution's correctness.
People with unusual circumstances (i.e. women with "prolonged flows of blood"), people who cannot control their urine, people with flatulence, and so on, should perform one ablution for each prayer whether their problem exists all or part of the time. Their prayers will be acceptable even while their problems are occuring.
One may be assisted by others in performing ablution.
One may use a towel to dry himself during any time of the year.