The Unbreakable Rules of Laundry Etiquette
You honor the social contract every day by not piling your bags on the seat next to you on a crowded bus or getting annoyed at someone giving you a little attention at the grocery store. But there are still places where even the most obediently polite citizens risk violating the unspoken rules of etiquette. The main one is the laundry room, where we wash our dirty clothes under the watchful eyes of strangers. It’s all so undignified, but there are ways to make it a little better: here’s how to behave in the laundry room, for the benefit of everyone.
Respect rolling carts
“When I first used the laundromat, one rule stuck in my head: the spinning baskets are only for washed, clean clothes,” says New Yorker Katie Dickinson. “I got called out for it.”
When you enter the laundry room with your dirty clothes, don’t throw them into the sorting cart. After you leave, someone else can use the same cart to store their clean clothes (that’s what baskets are for ), and it’s not fair for their freshly laundered laundry to touch the same wiring your dirty laundry was just placed on.
To avoid this, pre-sort your laundry before heading to the laundromat. Try putting delicates, colored items, whites, or items that require special attention in separate bags, whether multiple laundry bags or trash bags that keep them separate in one large laundry bag.
Be mindful of your space
The thing about laundromats is that they are public places, so even if you are doing something private, you have to remember that this is not your home.
Rick Rome, CEO and founder of WashClub , an on-demand laundry service based in New York City, says it’s important to be mindful of how much space you take up. For example, not only will you keep your carts from getting dirty, but you’ll also be cluttering them—or your counter, for that matter. Don’t leave clothes scattered all over the place while you’re sorting and folding them. If you do this, the person next to you might make off with your lucky game day sweatshirt if it gets too close to their pile—and you’ll kind of earn it.
Avoid overgrowth by doing light work and having the right tools with you. A laundry bag with dividers is essential and costs under $10 on Amazon . Keeping separate personal spaces for each load will do wonders for reducing the amount of space you’ll need to take up when sorting and folding. Another way to save space is to avoid carrying large containers of detergent and fabric softener. Get six travel-size containers that you can fill at home for $9.79.
Clean up after yourself
In some ways , a laundry room is similar to a home laundry: you have to clean up after yourself. This is not the job of the attendant, and the person using the machine after you is not responsible for your mess. Rome says, “Make sure you remove lint and debris from your dryer’s lint trap, wipe down the machine after use, and throw away any debris.”
Bring along a microfiber cloth for quick and effective wiping, and think about how you can stay clean while doing laundry. For example, using mesh bags (here are two for $5.99 ) for socks and delicates will keep all your miniature items safe and you won’t leave them behind.
Don’t get angry if someone moves your things
By going to the laundry, you are committing to doing your job completely and responsibly. Rome recommends staying close to the laundromat when it’s running so you can keep an eye on the work progress and make sure your clothes aren’t left unattended for too long, but if you do have to move away, don’t get mad if someone snatches your clothes from the laundry. machine so they can use it. If you have too much to do on a particular day and don’t think you’ll be able to give laundry your full attention, consider waiting until an off-peak time instead. In Rome they say weekend mornings are the busiest, so aim for weekday evenings. If you really don’t have time and don’t want someone to move your items, opt for a drop-off center or curbside pickup service. It’s a little more expensive, but you won’t have to deal with time issues or worry about someone putting your dry laundry in the cart while you’re not around.
The length of time you should wait to move someone else’s belongings if they are unable to do it themselves varies. This is one of those cultural debates that keeps popping up on Reddit. Some people suggest waiting just five minutes, but most people say 10 is the sweet spot.