When Is It Bad Luck to Wash Clothes? (Explained)

Everyone has their least favorite chore. For some, it’s cleaning the bathroom. For others, it’s doing the dishes. If your least favorite chore is doing the laundry, you might be interested to know that certain suspicions dictate that it’s bad luck to wash your clothes on certain days.

8 Occasions When It’s Bad Luck to Do Laundry

When is it bad luck to wash clothes? You can use these occasions as an excuse to not do laundry. Keep reading to learn more about this built-in excuse to avoid laundry for an extra day of the year. 

1. Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year celebrates the start of the new year as determined by the lunisolar Chinese calendar. You may know a bit about this festival, such as using red lanterns and lots of lights, but did you know it’s considered bad luck to do laundry during this time?

Legend has it that washing your clothes on Chinese New Year washes away wealth and good fortune. It states that it’s best to have your home and possessions cleaned and taken care of before the festival begins. 

2. The Sabbath (Shabbat) 

In Jewish culture, the Sabbath falls on the 7th day of the week: Saturday. Also known as Shabbat, the Sabbath is a holy day of rest where members of the Jewish religion reflect on biblical teachings and refrain from work. 

Many traditions come along with recognizing the Sabbath and keeping it holy, but one of the most well-known traditions is ceasing all unnecessary work. Several rules allow for urgent tasks, but various chores, such as laundering clothes, are not allowed.

So, if you’re Jewish, you shouldn’t be washing your clothes on Saturdays. Even some Christian families and individuals recognize the Sabbath by avoiding chores like laundry. 

3. New Year’s Day

The first day of the year is a bad time to do laundry. Just like it’s bad luck in Chinese culture to do laundry on Chinese New Year, some people also claim it’s bad luck to do so on the first day of the new year. 

This superstition stems from Chinese tradition and borrows its reasoning. In essence, you shouldn’t wash your clothes on New Year’s Day because it will bring bad luck. Some people believe washing your clothes this day will wash away all your good luck for the year.

A more morbid saying that some cling to is: don’t do laundry on New Year’s Day, or a family member will be washed away (during the new year). If that’s not enough to keep you out of the laundry room on New Year’s, we’re not sure what is. That being said, it's best to enjoy your time with family on New Year's Day.

4. Good Friday

Good Friday is a day typically recognized by Christians and Catholics alike. Every family has different traditions, one of which is attending a solemn church service in the evening. 

But some traditional Catholics follow particular rules to prevent bad luck from entering their lives. One of these traditions is avoiding housework, including doing the laundry, on Good Friday.

Specifically, many Catholics believe that you shouldn’t wash your clothes on Good Friday. Doing so on such a holy day on the calendar can bring you and your family bad luck. So, make sure your Good Friday clothes are washed, ironed, and ready to go on Thursday. 

5. Easter Sunday

Some religious folks believe that if you’re avoiding doing chores and laundry on Good Friday, you may as well extend that to the rest of the Easter weekend celebration. 

Most Christians and Catholics recognize Friday and Sunday of this weekend as especially holy and sacred days - though some also include Holy Saturday. For the very devout or those steeped in superstition, laundry may be off-limits for the entire weekend. 

It may be important to avoid laundry and other unnecessary household chores until the Monday after the Easter holiday weekend. Instead of doing laundry, enjoy some Easter Sunday activities with your loved ones.

6. Tuesdays and Fridays

Good Friday may not be the only Friday you need to avoid when it comes to doing the laundry. In some parts of the world, washing clothes on Tuesday or Friday is considered bad luck.

In some places, such as Bosnia, it is believed that washing your clothes on these days may even cause a portal to Hell to open up. That’s about as bad as it gets. Even if you’re not typically superstitious, this one could be an extreme worth considering.

These days seem to have significance in Bosnian culture in more ways than one. Bosnian tradition also states that you should never loan money on a Monday, and you must never repay a debt on a Friday. 

7. Thursdays

It seems we’re quickly running out of days in the week where we can safely launder our clothing, so you better be keeping track. Apparently, there are several things you should avoid doing on Thursdays according to Veer Waar and Brihaspati Waar beliefs. 

This list includes washing your hair, taking out the garbage, and basic hygiene like cutting your nails. And, of course, the list also includes doing the laundry. Washing your clothes on a Thursday can bring bad karma to everyone in your household, so this tradition holds that you should avoid it and pick another day. 

8. Washing Baby Clothes on Labor Day

There’s not much merit in this one-- maybe there’s not much merit in any of these superstitions, but at least many are backed by tradition. Supposedly, people believe it’s bad luck to wash baby clothes on Labor Day. 

Thankfully, Labor Day is just one day of the year. Hopefully, your baby decides to be exceptionally clean on Labor Day with no major blowouts or messes. 

Final Thoughts

Traditions and superstitions run deep in many cultures and individuals. Even the wildest of superstitions can capture someone’s mind and make them do silly and seemingly unnecessary things. 

Most of us don’t give a second thought to the day we do our laundry unless we run a strict chore schedule. But the days listed above have us avoiding Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and a few holidays. 

Are you feeling superstitious? Have you had quite a hefty run-in with bad luck lately? Perhaps it’s time for you to switch up your laundry schedule. Maybe it will turn your luck around.

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