My Laundry Room Suck

[Kogarashi]

One in particular went off on my other neighbor for touching his "pantaloons".

Did he honestly call them pantaloons? ::giggle::

And for the love of Guinness, would it kill y'all to take 2 lousy, freakin' seconds to clean the damn lint trap out when you get your clothes out?

I...actually don't clean the lint trap after I run a load. But that's because it's been my habit since way back when my mom taught me how to do my own laundry that I empty the lint trap right before I dry my clothes, to make sure it's empty right from the start. I don't really think about emptying it afterward. Plus on the machines in our basement laundry room here, the lint traps say to check them before drying clothes, not after.

Now when I empty it and can see obvious strata of lint from several previous loads, I have to wonder.

My campus laundry room isn't too bad when I go to use it. But the few times I do go there I have to sit and watch my laundry because I have had people come in and try to steal the washer/dryer right after I've put my stuff in.

I think that's why the new machines they put in our basement have doors that lock once you start the cycle, and don't unlock until the cycle's complete. I haven't heard issues with people stealing laundry time from each other here, but I guess it doesn't hurt to preempt it. It's mostly annoying when a load gets unbalanced, which makes the washing time take an extra twenty minutes beyond what the timer says, and becaues of the locked door you can't try to rebalance the load.

We've had issues with people hogging the machines here too, leaving their laundry down there for hours upon hours. It makes no sense to me, because our machines have timers on them as well so you know exactly when they're going to end. How hard is it to set your kitchen timer or phone alarm to let you know when to go down there? Luckily the housing office put a notice in the laundry room warning tenants that if you don't claim your clothes promptly, your neighbors might move them out of the way, so that seems to keep people from leaving the angry notes.

[Ironclad Alibi]

If I'm using a laundromat, I'm bringing a book and sitting there right by the machine until it's done. Not taking chances.

I always did the same.

My wife (pre-me) had her clothes destroyed in her apartment laundry room when some kids came through and turned up the heat on all the gas dryers. This was the main reason she bought her own house with its own washer and dryer.

[Flying Grype]

If I'm using a laundromat, I'm bringing a book and sitting there right by the machine until it's done. Not taking chances. I doubt if any of my clothes are theft-worthy, but I wouldn't put it past someone to take my stuff out of a just-started dryer, put it in a basket, and replace it in the dryer with their own (thereby avoiding paying for a dryer run).

My real problem with laundromats is that whenever I see a person come in with a bottle of detergent AND a bottle of bleach, even if they have several loads of laundry to do and will likely not use both together, I get paranoid.

[Primer]

Honestly, I can see why it would be jarring to realize someone had touched your clothes (could be a pervert, you never know), but if you're THAT worried about it, stick around and watch your clothes. How is that a hard concept to understand for those people?

Back when I lived in an apartment, any/all unattended clothes had a tendency of disappearing. I actually SAW a women going through the machines one day. When she saw me, she changed her mind about actually taking anything, but it was obvious that the clothes she was poking through were not hers--especially since she poked through MINE just once, though.

I had no clue who she was or where she lived, and I could not give a great description to the management, so I don't think anything was ever done about her. *I* ended up buying a portable washer and dryer, and doing my laundry in my kitchen.

[Pagan]

At another place the lint was thrown all over the floor instead of in the garbage cans RIGHT FUCKING THERE. People are lazy.

I don't know what it is in mine, but for some reason, people can't be assed enough to take the 2 freaking seconds it takes to swipe out the lint trap and walk 2 steps to the damned trash can to throw it!

[dalesys]

I was forever closing the lid...

My inner 4-year-old says: "The lid's up! Whiz in it!"

[Indigo]

My campus laundry room isn't too bad when I go to use it. But the few times I do go there I have to sit and watch my laundry because I have had people come in and try to steal the washer/dryer right after I've put my stuff in.

Most of the time I go home and use my parent's washer and dryer - they're bigger and I have enough stuff to last the two-three weeks in between visits.

[Andara Bledin]

Right before I moved, they renovated the laundry room for our building. They removed the trash can at some point and never put it back.

^-.-^

[telecom_goddess]

Geeze I'm glad I have my own washer and dryer now. I have dealt with plenty of laundry rooms though. One place I lived at...one of the neighbors insisted on leaving the washer open so her clothes could soak for hours on end. I was forever closing the lid so they would freakin' get done already.

At another place the lint was thrown all over the floor instead of in the garbage cans RIGHT FUCKING THERE. People are lazy.

[TruthHurts]

Reminded me of an incident in my old apartment building. Our upstairs neighbor had three kids and was constantly using all the washers in the building's laundry center. She had an annoying habit of leaving her clothes in the washer and dryer and going off somewhere. Once her clothes sat in a washer for nearly 8 hours.

Another neighbor of mine was a close friend of hers and got fed up when she once again couldn't do her laundry. She dried her friend's clothes and used a copy of a key they gave her to put it back in her apartment and left a note explaining what happened.

Upstairs neighbor went ballistic threatening to call the landlord on her friend. She told her to never touch her clothes again. A few weeks later another resident left their clothes in the dryer for a couple of hours. She proceeded to throw all the clothes on the floor and left a nasty note to the clothes's owner.

Luckily for us they moved out soon after finally letting us do our laundry with no drama.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I've had people leave entire loads of laundry in the washer and/or dryer at the 'mat, and walk out, never to return again. How can you not miss an ENTIRE load of your laundry??

I don't get it either. Then my imagination takes over. Were they drunk? Did they die? Abducted by aliens? What??

Based on other postings* in this forum, the SCs obviously returned to a different laundromat and pitched a screaming and yelling fit about their clothes being stolen.

*Other postings about SCs going to the wrong restaurant or store to pick up their order.

[Pagan]

But our machines are timed, and as I HATE anyone but me touching my stuff, I make sure I go down a few minutes before its done, so when it is, I take it out, put it in the dryer, and repeat when that’s done.

That's what I do! Even so, one time I went to get my stuff out of the dryer and heard the dryer going off as I walked in. For some reason, I glanced over at the folding table (which I never use, it's right in front of the window and always has a little layer of dust on it) and saw....two pairs of my undies. They happened to be the grey and brown leopard print ones I had. All my others are black or white. Which means that someone opened up the dryer, poked around in my clothes, fished only those two out, closed and restarted the dryer, and put those on the table. I've never been able to figure out why.

[Moogles]

When we lived in a complex, there was one person who would hog the machines (2 washers and 2 dryers) for 3 days at a time (not taking it out of the machines even long after the load was done). It got to the point that the building maintenance guy was taking the laundry out and piling it in a corner so we could get ours done. He was a sweetie. He knew I worked nights (often 6 a week), my husband was in school and we had a well-behaved toddler, so he understood we had limited time to do our laundry. My husband always timed our loads, and went downstairs 5-10 minutes early so no one would be waiting on us.

When they finally found out who was hogging the machines, she got evicted. Apparently she had nearly destroyed her apartment too.

[Catwoman2965]

I hate doing laundry in my complex. I would kill for a w/d in my apt, but that isn't happening, so I have to just suck it up. That being said, there is one laundry for every 6 buildings in my complex. Mine happens to be in my courtyard, and also one of the larger ones, having 8 washers and 8 dryers. I tend to do mine right after work during the week as its usually pretty empty then. Every now and then its busy, or I have to do it on a weekend. But our machines are timed, and as I HATE anyone but me touching my stuff, I make sure I go down a few minutes before its done, so when it is, I take it out, put it in the dryer, and repeat when that’s done. I hate people who leave their stuff. I’ll usually wait a bit, but if its really been a while, I have no problem taking it out to use a machine. Most people are pretty polite when there are only a few machines, and many who want to use them, but I don’t get how you can leave your stuff for hours on end, esp. on a busy weekend.

[Laund-o-rama Mama]

Sometimes people honestly do forget. But after reading freeatlast's story ... a WEEK?! How could you not notice an entire machineful of clothing, linens, etc. was nowhere to be found for a week?!?

I've had people leave entire loads of laundry in the washer and/or dryer at the 'mat, and walk out, never to return again. How can you not miss an ENTIRE load of your laundry??

I don't get it either. Then my imagination takes over. Were they drunk? Did they die? Abducted by aliens? What??