Communal laundry: Do you move someone else's clothes?

[Nava]

@JerseyMarine2092

In my building it’s customary to leave your basket on top of the washer or dryer you’re using. If some needs your machine and your load is done, you just throw it in the basket.

That’s how it was in pretty much every place where I’ve had shared facilities… if you don’t leave a basket, don’t complain that your folded clothes are sitting on the table.

My rental has the clotheslines on the terrace: they are assigned to each apartment, but the numbers have faded. Taking my laundry up after several rainy weeks during which I’d done my drying by strewing small washer loads around the apartment, I found my line partially occupied. Since I didn’t need it all, I simply used the still-unused part and marked the numbers again.

That night when I went to take my clothes down, the other person’s clothes were still there.

The following day, they were still there, wet because it had rained, and I needed the whole line (linens load). I moved them over to the next line. If (s)he didn’t want me touching the clothes… well, whichever apartment (s)he lives in has a line assigned!

[Vihaga]

After just 15 minutes, they’re probably still warm, so no. I won’t generally move clothes until they’re cold, indicating that the person actually wasn’t paying attention to the timer and didn’t just mis-time by a few minutes. Moving them after half an hour seems like a good rule.