Don’t do laundry New Year’s Day, and other superstitions (2024)

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Don’t do laundry New Year’s Day, and other superstitions? ›

Another superstition, this is American folklore: don't wash clothes on New Year's Day. If you clean clothes on Jan. 1, you may wash away a member of your family in the coming year — meaning someone will die. Not to mention sending a year of good fortune down the drain.

Don't wash those clothes

This is an odd one. According to folklore, if you wash clothes on New Year's Day, you'll be “washing for the dead” or washing a loved one away -- meaning someone in your household will die in the coming year. Get your laundry washed, dried, folded and put away by New Year's Eve.

People believe that if you do clean on January 1, you end up sweeping away all of the good luck that's stored away in your home for that coming year, so you wait until January 2 to complete your household chores like laundry, dishes and tidying up instead.

Don't Clean the House on New Year's Day - You will wash away any good luck coming your way.

Washing laundry over the holiday can also mean washing good luck down the drain with the wash water. For similar reasons, many cultures believe washing your hair on New Year's is also bad luck, so you may want to skip washing anything on the holiday to be safe.

If you want to keep with Southern tradition, eating black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year's Day will supposedly bring good luck and prosperity, respectively, in the months ahead.

Put that soap down!

You could be washing your luck away…at least according to a Korean superstition that says you shouldn't bathe or shower on New Year's day.

Chicken. Some people believe that consuming winged fowl like chicken around the new year will bring you bad luck. Their reasoning is that because poultry has wings, they will “fly away” with whatever good fortune you had in store.

Even emptying your bins and taking out the rubbish is also a big no-no on New Year's Day, as superstition says that removing things from the house could encourage prosperity to disappear.

at night. The tradition has been passed down through generations, with many people following it without knowing the reason for the superstition. The general idea is that cleaning at night brings bad luck to the person who does it.

What not to cook on New Year's day? ›

Chicken, Squab, or Anything with Wings

If it has wings, it can fly away - and that's what legend says about chicken on New Years. Eating chicken can cause your good luck to fly away, and well - we definitely don't want that. Make that Roasted Chicken later in January, just to be safe.

White is worn on New Year's Eve to invite good luck and peace into people's lives. If you're feeling extra lucky, it is also common for people to run into the ocean and jump over waves.

I didn't want to go out and honestly wanted to be sitting right there on the couch. But it also felt very isolating and lonely. There is truly nothing wrong with doing nothing for NYE.

Another superstition, this is American folklore: don't wash clothes on New Year's Day. If you clean clothes on Jan. 1, you may wash away a member of your family in the coming year — meaning someone will die. Not to mention sending a year of good fortune down the drain.

Save sweeping for Jan.

If you have dust on your floor on New Year's Day, leave it there. The idea is that you sweep out luck if you sweep on New Year's Day.

According to Vastu Shastra, Brihaspati rules the northeast portion of the house. It also influences the children and the younger members of the family. Additionally, the direction also controls religion and education. Thus, it is forbidden to wash clothes on Thursday and discard garbage.

Age-old wisdom suggests you shouldn't do your laundry on New Year's Day. The superstition says that if you choose this — the first day of the year — to do your washing, you will be washing away good luck or washing away a loved one. Either way, it's something that you might want to avoid.

Lobster, cows, and chicken are all considered unlucky animals to eat on New Year's because of how they move. Read on for more foods superstitious people try to avoid on the holiday.