Okay. I’ve lived in several places over the years where I’ve used laundrymats. I live in a complex now and the laundrymat is the next building over. Very close and convienient.
In the last few weeks there’s been several people who don’t come get their clothes
when they’re done and they just sit in the dryer while others are waiting to use them. I’d really rather not touch some strangers laundry but when I need a dryer and their clothers are done I have moved them to the folding table.
A couple of weeks ago someone left a nasty note after I did that even though the laundrymat was going to close and a couple of people were waiting. A few times since then with people leaving clothes in the dryer for an hour or so after it stopped.
Am I crazy or or is this incredibly inconsiderate of your neighbors? My understanding of the unwritten rules of laundrymats is that if you’re not there when the dryer stops it’s your own dam fault and whoever is waiting has every right to take them out.
What say Dopers? Are there any unwritten laundrymat rules?
I think if there’s an attendant, you should try to get them to take the clothes out. Failing that, remove them yourself. I’d be slightly peeved if someone touched my stuff 5 minutes after the dry cycle ended and I happened to be out having a smoke or something, and there would be some words exchanged, but much beyond 15 minutes, or so, just to be courteous, only a filthy dog is going to complain about the fact that someone else needs to have their clothes dry and free from mildew within the next century.
There’s no reason other people should have to sit around nose-picking while waiting for others to finish their smokes, especially when the offender should know when the cycle will finish and should be prepared to remove the clothes immediately after the cycle is complete.
You are correct. Watch your damn laundry!! Also, don’t take your items out of the dryer one by one to fold them while people are waiting. That’s what baskets are for.
Scarlett, sooooooo glad that we finally have our own private washer & dryer
Okay, here’s one for you. You’re using a laundry also used by another tenant you’re on friendly terms with. Not super friendly or anything.
You’re late getting back to the dryer one day and this friendly other tenant takes your clothes out, and I guess because you’re all friendly and stuff - folds them for you.
On another day this tenant is late getting back to the dryer. Do you take the clothes out and toss them on the folding table, or are you now obligated to fold this person’s clothes?
Or do you just say “screw it, I’ll just wait as long as I have to, cause I ain’t folding someone else’s clothes.” (which is what I did.)
I agree. I try to wait because I’d really rather not handle a strangers undergarments. In fact if I have a couple of stopped dryers to pick from I’ll look for Jeans or towels rather than socks and unmentionables. {Does that mean I’m a pussy?}
I learned in the past that if you’re not there when it stops turning and people are waiting, it’s you’re own dam fault and not to get annoyed at people who are waiting in line. That was a while ago so I thought there may have been a rule change.
I got the nasty note when it was appraoaching closing time and the doors would be locked. I really couldn’t wait. One lady complained about someone taking her clothes out before it had stopped. {In a nice way} Turns out it was me so I assured her that I wouldn’t do that and her dryer had indeed stopped.
I’ve wondered a little about someone doing something to my clothes to “get even” I think the lady that left me the note opened the door and turned my dryer off, but I can’t be 100% on that.
Well done. funny.
I’m not sure what I’d do. I’d probably fold that one time to repay {not underwear} but I wouldn’t want a routine to develop. I barely dold my own. Hangers a must.
Regarding the folding, I’d rather not fold somone else’s clothes, and I’d rather not someone fold mine. That’s only because I like my clothes folded a certain way and they may not fold them that way. Likewise, they may have certain stadards regarding clothes folding that I may not adhere to, so I wouldn’t be inclined to fold someone elses clothes.
After a certain amount of time after coming out of the dryer and being folded, the clothes kinda get set in the way they’ve been folded. The same applies to wrinkles, but that’s their problem for not being there to take their clothes out.
I go to a public laundry where you pay for the machines. Sometimes a person will give me a dryer with some time left on it because their clothes are already dry. I’ve often wondered if I should reimburse them for their time that I used–since a quarter buys eight minutes of dryer time, if they give me their four minutes, should I offer them 15 cents or the complete quarter or nothing?
Annie: No. It’s a charitable act on their part. You detract from the warm-hearted impulsiveness of the gesture if you offer to anal-retentively pay for it.
I don’t understand why anybody would have a problem taking other people’s underwear out of a washer or dryer: they’re clean, aren’t they? It isn’t any worse than touching a piece of underwear at Wal-Mart. Just grab the whole bundle and heave it outta there.
To address the OP:
For me this is kinda a puzzling no-brainer: why would anybody spend more than 2 seconds thinking about this? People are supposed to stay with their clothes. People who go off and leave their clothes should be grateful that all that happens to them is that somebody took them out of the machine and put them on the counter; evil weird people do steal clothes from laundromats, not to mention simply dumping them on the floor.
Therefore, if you need to use a washer or dryer, and there aren’t any free, and there’s one there full of clothes that obviously have no owner in the building, you are perfectly entitled to unload it and put the stuff in a reasonably neat and polite pile on the table or counter. And you are not required to fold it. If their perma-press gets all wrinkled, that’s their lookout, and serve 'em right for going off and leaving their clothes.
And this is why you always–ALWAYS–leave your laundry basket either on top of , or in front of, your machine with your clothes in it, in case some impatient fellow launderer doesn’t bother canvassing the place to see whose clothes those are and just goes ahead and unloads them. If your laundry basket is there, then he can just put 'em in there.
And I speak as someone who did not own her own washing machine until after she’d been married for ten years. Spent plenty of time in laundromats, and trust me, them’s the rules.
No. Not unless you want to develop an ongoing social transaction/friendship with this person. Because if you do it once, then you’ll have to keep doing it, and then he’ll have to keep doing it–or not, which will then have its own ramifications.
Hey!! Are you calling me a pussy?? :mad: I kid… I agree. It occured to me how odd it was. It’s not exactly the same as wall mart. I don’t buy underwear out of a bin. I buy nice sealed packages that don’t have any stains on them. You’ve just developed tolerance from being a laundrymat veteran.
Right. That’s why the note surprised me. I thought everybody knew that. One time I went in and A guy was really mad because someone had stolen his exspensive sneakers from the dryer. He looked at me kinda suspicious and was trying to discern what size shoes I wore. Not me pal.
I may ask you to testify if anything goes to court.
If a laudrymat is so crowded that people are taking a number to use the machines, I won’t use that facility at that time. No way. I also don’t stand/sit around while my laundry is being washed or dried.
I time how long the wash cycle, time the dry cycle needed and set my watch alarm and go. I was never more than 5 minutes late and no one has ever touched my laundry. Again, I think the key is to not go during peak hours.
One laundry rule I learned at the old place I used is, people do not speak to one another. I thought it was weird. I’d say, “hi”, and people would just drop their jaw and stare. I’m glad I have one washer and one drier shared by 6 people now.
As a courtesy, if my laundry was dry before the time ran out, I would tell whomever was taking their laundry out of the washer that this particular drier had about 5 mins of free time on it.
I’ve developed tolerance from being a veteran of 31 years of washing BVDs with skid marks on 'em.
Also, ladies’ underwear frequently comes on individual hangers.
But sheesh, guy, if it’s got stains on it, they’re still clean stains, eh? The nature of a “stain” is that it’s inert, non-functional. That’s what makes it a “stain” and not “dirt”. All the active skid mark molecules have been washed out of it–all that remains is the memory of the skid mark that once was.
No, I’m not callin’ ya a pussy, but…sheesh… Just turn any suspicious bits into the middle of the bundle so ya don’t haveta actually, like, touch them or anything, and sling the whole thing out onto the table. Conquer your fears, my son, and claim your rightful place at the washing machine.
“Unwritten rule”? Every laundromat I’ve ever used has had it written in black and white that if you leave stuff unattended in the dryer, it might be removed.
The word is Laundromat: “A service mark used for a commercial establishment equipped with washing machines and dryers, usually coin-operated and self-service.”
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Well done. funny.
The nature of a “stain” is that it’s inert, non-functional. That’s what makes it a “stain” and not “dirt”. All the active skid mark molecules have been washed out of it–all that remains is the memory of the skid mark that once was.
Just turn any suspicious bits into the middle of the bundle so ya don’t haveta actually, like, touch them or anything, and sling the whole thing out onto the table. Conquer your fears, my son, and claim your rightful place at the washing machine.