Doing laundry on New Year's Day
Doing laundry on January 1 was frowned on in several old traditions; in Devon, people said you might wash someone out of your life. The rule also gave a hardworking household one day of real rest.
What it may mean
Many New Year customs share one idea: the first day sets the pattern for the rest. So chores that remove things (washing, sweeping, emptying) were treated with suspicion. In Devon, washing clothes on the first of January was said to wash someone you love out of existence; in Japan, sweeping was said to sweep good fortune away. Whatever you think of the warnings, the effect was a day when the heaviest housework stopped, no small gift in the age of washtubs and mangles. The custom also works as a test of your own habits. Can you leave the basket full for one day without guilt? What would the day hold if the to-do list were off-limits? Households keep the rule in different ways, and some ignore it entirely, but a year that begins at rest says something about what you hope it will hold.
Depending on how you saw it
Running the washing machine anyway
Modern machines make laundry a two-minute task, so the old rule can feel silly. Yet plenty of households still skip it, just in case, and enjoy the excuse. Which small rest do you allow yourself only when tradition gives you permission?
Washing left hanging as the year turns
Some households made sure no washing hung outside as the old year ended. Bringing it in was the last chore before the new year arrived. What do you like to finish, or take in, before a new beginning?
Washing the dishes after the New Year's meal
The Devon rule covered dishes as well as clothes, which leaves a stack of plates from the celebration. Leaving them overnight is a small act of rebellion. Which mess can you let wait a day for the sake of the company around the table?
Sweeping or vacuuming on January 1
In Japan, sweeping on January 1 was said to sweep out good fortune, and many families clean thoroughly in the days before instead. Preparing ahead lets the day itself stay light. What could you finish this week so that a coming day is easier?
Why it happens in nature
Before washing machines, laundry was among the heaviest household jobs, often taking a whole day of hauling water, scrubbing and wringing. Holidays were among the few days when such work could stop. Rules that tie the first day of the year to the rest of it appear in many calendars, which helps explain why removal chores like washing and sweeping were singled out.
What folk beliefs say
Devon, England
In Devonshire it was unlucky to wash clothes, or even dishes, on January 1, because you might wash someone you liked out of existence.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 517. View the page
Japan
In Japan, someone who swept on the first of January was thought to sweep out all of their good fortune.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 501. View the page
Prussia
In Prussia, clotheslines were not to be hung up on Christmas Day or on the first of January, on pain of misfortune.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1503. View the page
To reflect on
If one day this year were free of every chore, what would you want it to hold?