Why We Don't Do Laundry On New Year's Day - It's A Southern Thing

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x Why we don't do laundry on New Year's Day Haley LaurenceDecember 31 | 2021White laundry basket with clothes overflowing (Shutterstock)

Every New Year's Day, my mom sends me a text to tell me not to do laundry that day.

Why? Well, apparently it's bad luck.

While I definitely love having an excuse to avoid laundry, I've always wondered where the superstition came from.

According to several sources, if you wash clothes on the first day of the year you'll be, "washing for the dead." That means, according to legend, a loved one will die in the new year.

Read more: Why you should eat these foods for New Year's -- and avoid these others

But what's the origin of the old wives' tale? As far as I can tell, no one is sure. It looks like there is a similar tradition for the Chinese New Year as well. According to several websites, it's discouraged to do laundry on the first and second day of the Chinese New Year.

No matter the reason, we'll continue to not wash clothes on New Year's Day -- and eat our greens as well.

Read more: Here's why walking under a ladder brings misfortune

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