Is washing or drying clothes at night necessarily bad on New Year’s Eve or during the seventh lunar month?

Washing and drying clothes at night today need not prompt fear of misfortune simply because it is New Year’s Eve or the seventh lunar month. Customs need their living context. Earlier lighting was dim, and clothes hanging at night resembled human figures and could frighten people. In faith terms, I also understand clothing as carrying human traces that may attract unseen beings still attached to human existence. This informed older advice against nighttime laundry.

Life is different now. Workers often have only evenings for laundry, and we wash late too. Some use dryers or brightly lit private balconies. Environments and schedules have changed, so this taboo can be adjusted without continual fear based on old accounts.

One explanation for avoiding laundry on the first two lunar days is the Water God’s birthday and fear of offense. I think of people formerly washing beside rivers and putting dirty water into them, which might have contributed to the taboo. However, deities are respected for compassion and care for beings, and ordinary cleaning should not make people afraid. Bathing and laundry are common today without any intention to offend. I do not think excessive pressure is necessary.

Households differ too. Dao Yue described bathing before the reunion dinner and waiting until after eleven on the first night to bathe again. I still bathe on New Year’s Eve. That recording was on the first day, and I said I would probably wash clothes on the second. Understand family habits without applying one timetable to everyone.