A Series of Unfortunate Events; or The Inconsiderate People I Live With.

[ArcticChicken]

There are two basic ways laundry can function in a multi-person household.

1: Everybody moves their laundry along as soon as it's done in the washer or dryer

2: Everybody moves the load along, no matter who it belongs to.

In my house we always seem to need to do laundry at the same time, and we're pretty busy. It can be hard to find time to do laundry when I know I'll be able to move it along when the cycle is over. Our solution is to simply move whatever is in the washer to the dryer, and put whatever's in the dryer on top of it, or in an empty basket. We all wind up doing the about the same amount of work, and there's no resentment because we know the person after us is just as willing to move the load along.

I'd be willing to bet good money that the OP's sibs neither move other peoples stuff along, nor are prompt about retrieving their own laundry.

[Lindsey]

If this was a laundromat with pay machines I would agree with you, but we're talking the laundry room in their own house. If I go to do laundry and there's stuff in the washer, and the dryer is empty, I toss the stuff in the dryer. It's not that hard. (If the dryer is full but dry I'll either hang stuff up or put it in a basket, depending on the items and my mood.) It's kind of a jackass thing to leave wet clothes laying around when you could toss them in the dryer with minimal extra effort. And if the owner is home, how hard is it to yell upstairs to and say "Hey, come get your laundry out!"

Exactly, thank you. If I'm doing a load, I put the previous person's laundry in the dryer before starting my own. The previous person always has laundry sitting, and I'm okay with that, because you know what? If you're already removing the laundry from the dryer, how hard is it to drop it in the dryer instead of on top of it? There is no additional effort involved.

In my house we always seem to need to do laundry at the same time, and we're pretty busy. It can be hard to find time to do laundry when I know I'll be able to move it along when the cycle is over. Our solution is to simply move whatever is in the washer to the dryer, and put whatever's in the dryer on top of it, or in an empty basket. We all wind up doing the about the same amount of work, and there's no resentment because we know the person after us is just as willing to move the load along.

I'd be willing to bet good money that the OP's sibs neither move other peoples stuff along, nor are prompt about retrieving their own laundry.

That's how laundry used to function in this house when my parents and I were the only ones doing laundry. My brother and sister are old enough to do their own laundry now, and no matter how many times I ask them to put my wet laundry in the dryer instead of throwing it somewhere, they never bother to actually do it. You're right about that, they leave their own laundry lying there until I encounter it, which I don't mind because it's no extra work to put it in the dryer, but when they don't bother doing the same for anyone else, it gets irritating fast.

[BookstoreEscapee]

As to the hour/hours, according to the original post:

It also includes this:

I go upstairs to pass the time, and come back an hour later to find my laundry in a soggy pile on top of the dryer and someone else's clothes in the washing machine.

So I suppose we're both right.

I'd be willing to bet good money that the OP's sibs neither move other peoples stuff along, nor are prompt about retrieving their own laundry.

Considering the part about finding her brother's stuff in the dryer after apparently having rewashed her stuff with his then only drying his, I'm gonna guess you're right.

[ArcticChicken]

You're right about that, they leave their own laundry lying there until I encounter it, which I don't mind because it's no extra work to put it in the dryer, but when they don't bother doing the same for anyone else, it gets irritating fast.

OK, you need to stop doing that. You should also stop lending them things. They're never going to become courteous human beings unless they learn that their discourtesy has consequences.

[Andara Bledin]

You're right about that, they leave their own laundry lying there until I encounter it, which I don't mind because it's no extra work to put it in the dryer, but when they don't bother doing the same for anyone else, it gets irritating fast.

OK, you need to stop doing that. You should also stop lending them things. They're never going to become courteous human beings unless they learn that their discourtesy has consequences.

Listen to the Chicken.

As it stands, based on what you've said, you're a doormat, and everybody's taking advantage.

^-.-^

[telecom_goddess]

I get the same thing at my house...not with the laundry so much but other things. The garbage for example....rather than take out the full bag and put in a clean one they will let it pile up till it falls all over the place...no matter how many times I've yelled at the kids to NOT do that and left notes taped up in the kitchen to NOT do that. Or they leave un rinsed dishes in the sink when the dishwasher is just inches away. Or leave crumbs and grimy crap on the counters when they could take a few seconds to wipe them down. By the time I get home with all this piled up jobs that would take a few seconds end up taking half an hour cause there is so much to do by that point.

No one knows how to do simple maintenance tasks. And I am getting tired of coming home to do a bunch of housework when I've already worked all day and want to relax...eat dinner...chat with friends or whatever.

[protege]

Padlock your bedroom door. Don't loan them anything.

Unfortunately, some people have parents who say "We don't lock doors in this house..." and will refuse to do anything. Mine were like that. In my case, it involved my computer. Every damn day, I'd come home after work...and find my room trashed. I'm talking crumbs, the occasional empty pop can, dishes, and other crap that was left behind. When confronted, I got the "Mom said I could" crap from my brothers. Uh, let me get this shit straight--you asked *her* if you could use *my* computer? How the hell does that work?

At least I got even after one of those idiots left a huge mess, involving spilled pop all over my desk...and I'd had enough. Seems one of them had been doing his homework, and for whatever reason, left not only a printed copy of his paper...but also the *disk* it was saved on. Needless to say, I destroyed that shit

[trailerparkmedic]

I want to reiterate the "stop being a doormat" advice others have given. It's hard when it's family (especially when parents don't treat siblings equally) but it is an invaluable life skill. Once I learned to stand up for myself it REALLY helped me personally and professionally. You don't need to be mean, just be firm. "No, you're not borrowing my stuff because you've repeatedly proven that you do not respect it and take forever to return it to me. Now take off the shirt/belt/etc that you are wearing and give it back to me."

I would also ask your sister to buy you a new belt, since she broke yours. Maybe that will make her think twice about "borrowing" your stuff.

[AccountingDrone]

When I was growing up, my mom did household laundry during the week, I had saturdays and my brother had sundays. We didn't run into laundry problems.

[Chromatix]

As a data point, my machine takes 2-3 hours to wash a load, depending on whether it's a full or half load. But that is for a modern front-loader set to the most thorough washing settings it has, including pre-wash. Modern machines tend to take longer in the interests of saving energy.

Now if I were sharing that machine with someone, I'd be satisfied if they emptied the machine into a basket before using it. It doesn't have to be set up to dry. (I don't have a dryer.)

[telecom_goddess]

How does a washing machine taking longer to wash save energy?

[Kheldarson]

I think the process is using a little less water and lots of breaks. At least that's how it seems on my washer.

[Chromatix]

That's about it. They let soaking and detergent do most of the work, and only move the clothes around occasionally.

For some reason they also seem to think that saving water for rinsing is a good idea. Not if it leaves half the detergent still in the clothes, it isn't - lots of people get irritated skin from that and don't know why. Fortunately mine has a "use lots of water for thorough rinsing" button, even if I have to remember to press it every time. Water is cheap here anyway.

[Jangles the Moon Monkey]

Might be worth investing in the Eco balls then. You stick them in the drum instead of using powder or liquids and fabric softener. I just got some for my machine and the washing's actually coming out cleaner than it was with powder. Much cheaper than traditional detergents too.

[telecom_goddess]

Might be worth investing in the Eco balls then. You stick them in the drum instead of using powder or liquids and fabric softener. I just got some for my machine and the washing's actually coming out cleaner than it was with powder. Much cheaper than traditional detergents too.

say what....I'm not familiar with those. Although I get my detergent from the dollar store here and it works pretty well