1. Do not wash clothes or dishes on New Year's Day as you'll be washing for the dead in the new year. Now, normally, I love a good excuse not to do laundry or dishes, but it seems like every year on New Year's Day I actually need to do laundry and dishes.
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.
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.
Leave your hair as it is on the first day of the New Year. The Chinese character for hair is the same first character in the word for prosper. This means washing or cutting it off is seen as washing your fortune away and dramatically reduces chances of prosperity in the year ahead.
Several traditions, superstitions, myths, and old wives' tales say you shouldn't do any type of cleaning at all on January 1. One says that doing laundry on the first day of the year will 'wash away a loved one' – meaning that a friend or family member will pass away in the following 364 days.
One common tradition is cleaning your house thoroughly on or before New Year's Eve. Out with the old, in with the new they say. Most people believe in the idea that cleaning your house before the first day of the New Year ensures that you don't carry in your old, somewhat soiled, life into the New Year.
Nitish, a lifestyle and fitness blogger and personal trainer from India, says sweeping at night can bring bad luck. “In ancient times, when there was no electricity, brooming at night with minimal lighting might also sweep away expensive items like rings, earrings, and chains out of the house,” he says.
* No Showering on Chinese New Year's Eve
It's bad luck to wash your hair and have a shower!
Don't clean on the first day of Lunar New Year
If you have a big Lunar New Year's Eve family dinner, be sure to clean up before the clock strikes midnight.
According to Catholic tradition, doing any housework, such as washing your clothes, on Good Friday is considered unlucky. Those who observe in the superstition believe that doing any housework on this day will bring bad luck to your family.
Can you dry clothes on new years day? No you cannot dry clothes on new years day, if you are superstitious. According to superstition you will be drying clothes for the rest of the year. Probably best to wait till the 2nd of January for drying your clothes.
During the summer, run your washer early in the morning – energy use peaks on hot afternoons. Winter weather drives demand for electricity earlier in the morning, so wash your clothes late at night.
But did you know that in preparation for the new lunar year, there are a number of superstitions that the Chinese follow? It is believed that if you wash your hair on New Year's day, you'd also be washing away all your luck. It's somewhat similar to if you cut your hair, you'd be cutting your life shorter!
Weekends are also helpful because older children can help with the cleaning process. That said, young children can also get in the way of cleaning. For most households, we recommend cleaning on Sundays. That way, you can start each week with a fresh and clean house.
[For a couple], the kiss at midnight is said to strengthen that bond, which is where the superstition comes in. If a couple doesn't kiss at midnight, people believe that their bond is not as strong and could fail in the year to come.”
It's also suggested you should not eat certain things on New Year's Eve, in order to prevent bad luck for the year ahead, such as lobster and chicken. Since lobsters can move backwards, eating them before the stroke of midnight may cause setbacks. For chickens, the idea is similar as they can scratch backwards.
Multiple cultures believe polka dots are auspicious.
The French, known for wearing stripes, also change things up by wearing polka dots on New Year's Day to bring them prosperity.
Greens, Black-Eyed Peas, Cornbread, and Ham | Photo by Meredith. You might say you're not superstitious, but why tempt fate? Dig into these traditional lucky foods on New Year's Day to attract abundance and prosperity in the year ahead.
Avoid chicken and any other winged fowl. Chicken and turkeys scratch backward in the dirt for food, signifying regression and inviting a hardscrabble year ahead. This includes chicken wings, as they might make all your good luck and prosperity fly away.
Round desserts, like bundts, donuts, layer cakes, cookies, and more are all believed to bring a full circle of luck in the New Year.