Laundry Room Etiquette - what's your opinion?

[Nomilynn]

I live in a building where it's a shared, paid laundry. There are 2 washers and 2 dryers. The washers take about 30mins, and the dryers 60mins. We have assigned laundry times Mon-Fri, and Sat-Sun are first come, first serve. The hours of the laundry room are 8am-10pm (the door isn't locked, it's just a courtesy for people who live in the hallway where the laundry is).

I went down to put laundry in tonight about 7:30pm. I put loads in both washers. The dryers were both on as well. One doesn't have a timer clock, but the other one had about 20mins left. I came back at 8pm and the dryer with no clock was still going, and the one that had said 20mins now said 50mins, so I figured that whomever was using it was running their clothes through twice, as I was using both washers so it wouldn't have been a fresh wet load unless it had come from somewhere else. I had a third load of laundry so I put that one in while I waited for the dryers.

The person using the other dryer came in and took her stuff out. I put in my stuff to be dried. The other dryer had about 15mins left on it by this time. I decided to stay in the room and put both dryers on at the same time so I wouldn't have to come back and forth.

At about 8:40pm the dryer stopped. I waited 5mins, no one showed up. I finally started the one dryer at about 8:45pm. I continued to wait, thinking that the person would be coming soon to take out their stuff. Finally at 9pm, no one had come, and I knew that the dryer would take an hour, and I needed to be done as close to 10pm as possible, so I took their stuff out of the dryer and put it on top (there was no basket) of the dryer. It wasn't totally dry; but I figured I had waited long enough and it appeared that the stuff had been through the dryer twice.

So, what would you have done?
Is it ok to remove someone elses' stuff from a machine if they don't?
How long is an appropriate time to wait?

[krazyaboutkatz]

Yes, I think you did the right thing. I live in a condo complex and there are 4 large buildings. Each building has it's own laundry room with 6 washers and 6 dryers. We also have certain hours that we can use it but the door is never locked. There's a table in each laundry room for people to use if they need to.

In the past, I've also waited for people to take their clothes out of the dryer. If they don't come to take it out within 10 minutes, I have taken it out and I put it on the table. People have also done this to me before but I was only about 5 mintues late. I always try to time everything so this won't happen. I've seen some people leave their clothes in the dryer for hours. In our laundry room it even states that if no one comes back within 5 minutes then we should carefully put their laundry on the table so others can use the dryers.

I'm sure that if your clothes were left in the dryer for a while, that someone would've removed them as well. People need to remember that it's a shared laundry room and others need to use it too.

[Cataholic]

Its been a while since I have used the LM regurlary, but, I think you were way more than fair. I would probably take it out the moment it stops drying, and get started on mine. LOL.

As an aside, I LOVE our laundry mat. Those super huge washers and dryers can accomodate our comforters without problem. But, they are super expensive- $5/wash, and .25 cents to dry. The dry part isn't expensive, LOL.

I wish I had a super sized washer and dryer in my house.

[moosmom]

We don't have washers and dryers in my building. There is a laudromat right up the street that has free drying.

When I did live where there were appliances, I'd give the other tenants time to remove their stuff once it's dry. If I go down again, and the dryer is stopped with clothes in it, I'd take them out of the dryer and put mine in (if there was no one else ahead of me), leaving the other tenant's clothes for them to pick up.

It's common courtesy. If other tenants can't be respectful and take their stuff out in a timely manner, that's not my problem.

Can you possibly ask the management company to send a notice around about it? That's what I do whenever I have a problem. That's whay I pay them the big bucks in rent for (not really, only $535/month).

Good luck. I hope you find a peaceful resolution. Apartment living is NOT fun. Tempers flare, doors slam, people yell. I only WISH I could afford a house of my own with a big yard I can enclose for my cats!!

[Freedom]

The 3 apartments I lived in, we generally waited 10 minutes and then removed other people's stuff to keep the line moving.

I didn't see that anyone complained to you or anything, so just keep going!

[Nomilynn]

The very first time I did laundry there, I waited 10mins for a washer and I was in the process of putting stuff on the machine when the woman came in. She certainly ripped me a new one! I basically said to her, I've been waiting 10 minutes, you need to be here when your machine stops. So I was a bit nervous when it happened again last night.

However, when I came back down an hour later to take my stuff out of the dryers, the clothes were still sitting on top where I had put them - it obviously wasn't a priority for that person to have their clothes! Good thing I did take the stuff out of the dryer, as they never showed up at all, even later on.

[cassiesmom]

My rule is five minutes. The washers and dryers in my building have timers. The washer is a 31 minute cycle and the dryer is 42 minutes. If the previous user isn't back and I need the dryer, I pull their stuff out and pile it on the dryer. There are 4 washers and 4 dryers for 48 apartments.

My pet peeve is people who arbitrarily take over the laundry room by putting their hamper in front of the washing machine and their detergent, bleach and quarters on top of it, doing load after load. I've ticked some people off by taking their clean wet clothes out of the washing machine, putting them on top of the dryer and starting my wash. Sorry... it's a common laundry room. You left your wet load in there after it finished and I need to get in there, so I moved yours. There's a clock over the dryer so I keep track of my times and I expect my neighbors to do the same. But I've had the same thing happen as Nomilynn- I've taken another person's stuff out and found it still in the laundry room hours later.

Edited to add: This thread made me think of this post about Freedom's laundry room supervisors:

Since the cat litter boxes are down cellar, I go down each night to scoop. Tasha comes down with me, to "supervise." This is the scene at the top of the stairs:
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q57/sfsamm/2010/Sept%2024%20Scene%20Nightly%20n%20Farm%20Walk%20Fa ll/IMG_3288Small.jpg

That's Darlin' Marlin on the left, and foster Willy on the right.
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q57/sfsamm/2010/Sept%2024%20Scene%20Nightly%20n%20Farm%20Walk%20Fa ll/IMG_3287Small.jpg

Marlin is whining the whole time I am down there. :rolleyes:
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q57/sfsamm/2010/Sept%2024%20Scene%20Nightly%20n%20Farm%20Walk%20Fa ll/IMG_3289Small.jpg

This also happens when I am doing laundry, as the washing machine and dryer are down there too. Marlin HAS been down there, he KNOWS there is no way for me to get out! Doesn't matter. I had to stop him coming down, though. He has such bad hips, and the stairs are open back. Last time he was going up, his hips gave out and he was slipping through the stair; lucky for him I was right behind him and was able to grab him.

[Nomilynn]

I certainly wish my laundry room counterparts were as cute as that!! ;)

I wish people did time their loads. I always try to be there a minute or two before the machines stop so I can be sure to remove my items as quickly as possible.

On a positive note, my landlord called me today to see if I was home because she wanted to drop something off. I went to the door and she delivered a box of chocolates! So sweet.. maybe they do it for new tenants. Either way, I was very touched. Kind of makes the laundry thing seem trivial :)

[catnapper]

I would have done the same thing. Maybe nexttime they'll be more alert to the time. Personally, I wouldn't leave my stuff alone in a public wash area. I'd sit there with a good book and leave when my stuff was done.

As far as I'm concerned, leaving the washroom for a couple hours is akin to abandoning your clothes :p

[cassiesmom]

The shoe was on the other foot last night. I put clothes in the wash, forgot to set my timer. When I went back for them (about 15 minutes late) someone had taken them out, put them in the open dryer and put theirs in the washer. I don't mind, but I'm glad it was darks (mostly work clothes) rather than undies and towels and whites... I'd be embarrassed to have my neighbors see those!

[Nomilynn]

I never did go back to see if ther person came and took the items from the top of the dryer.. I thought about checking the next morning but decided against it.. ;)

[krazyaboutkatz]

Since I go to work late and get home late, I've been doing my laundry on Tues. mornings. I'm usually the only one down there because most people have already left for work. Well yesterday, someone was already using 3 of the 6 washing machines. We have 4 frontload washers and 2 topload washers. I prefer the frontload. I had to use one topload and it doesn't give you as much time as the frontload washer does.

I waited until they were both finished before I went down there again. I noticed the other person was using all but one of the 6 dryers. I need at least 2 of them. One of the dryers had stopped and it had a comforter and a few sweaters in it. Even though it was still slightly damp, I took it out and put it on the table. I kept hoping the person wouldn't get mad and then stop my dryer but they didn't. Everything was fine.