13 New Year’s Traditions and Superstitions with a Pittsburgh Twist | #LovePGH | Visit Pittsburgh (2024)

FAQs

Why shouldn't you wash laundry on new year's day? ›

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.

Don't Eat Lobster, Crab or Chicken - Lobsters walk backwards; crabs walk sideways; and because chickens have wings, your good luck could “fly away.” Thought: Stick with the pig because he always moves forward – plus, I have a delicious pork chop recipe!

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.

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.

Don't do laundry on New Year's Day, or a member of the family will be washed away (i.e., die) during the coming year.

According to Country Living, eating chicken around a new year can attract bad luck — it's said that, since chickens have wings, your good fortune could literally fly away.

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.

No washing or cutting your hair

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!

The idea behind this belief is that because people usually carry their money, credit cards, and other important items in their purse, placing their bag on the floor shows disrespect for the order of things, and disregard for your money and wealth.

What are the worst superstitions? ›

In Norse mythology, the god Loki was 13th to arrive at a feast in Valhalla, where he tricked another attendee into killing the god Baldur. In Christianity, Judas — the apostle who betrayed Jesus — was the 13th guest at the Last Supper. But the truth is, sociocultural processes can associate bad luck with any number.

Eating 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight comes from Spain. While most participants expected it to help them find love in the new year, the 12 grapes are supposed to bring you luck.

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.

So, no! Taking a shower at midnight on New Year's Day is not bad luck but a good manifestation of you intention to start the year cleanly! Is it bad luck to be sick on New Years Eve?

Don't Do Those Dishes

Or take out the trash, or wash your clothes, or sweep your house... as the superstition goes, if you do, you might accidentally wash good luck and loved ones out of your life. Other beliefs state that whatever you do on New Year's is what you'll be doing the rest of the year.

My partner says that, traditionally, it's bad luck to do your washing on New Years Day so I immediately stuck the machine on. I doubt it applies to cars. I avoided this bad luck by going to the local friendly EU migrant car wash.