Laundry rant

I live in a house with a few other people.  All of us have different and often changing schedules for both school and work.  This makes doing laundry a rather challenging endeavor especially when others have to do laundry on the same day.  As my luck would have it, there is always someone doing laundry at the time I  need to do it (much like how there is always someone in the bathroom when I need to go).   This fact has forced me to let out this particular rant.

For those who would suggest a laundry schedule, that is not practical considering that no one ever has a guaranteed day off every week.  Working in the service industry means that I personally have a varied schedule depending on the week.  This means that I have to do laundry whenever I have to and the machine is free.  If someone else is currently doing laundry I'll patiently wait until hey are done before starting to do my own washing.  However, if they leave the house for work and leave their laundry in the dryer I get very irritated.  I can stand waiting for a couple of hours for their laundry to be complete, but I refuse to wait for 8 or more hours simply because they're forgetful.

This leads me to the dreadful deed of moving others laundry.  In order for me to complete my laundry I have to use the dryer so I have to move other people's clothes out of it when they forget them there.  It is very unpleasant for me to touch other people's clothes partly because I don't want to touch anyone's underwear and partly because I have no where to put it except on top of the machine which makes setting the machine more difficult.  To make matters worse there are a few people I have lived with who complain when I move their clothes so I can dry my own.  Most often they argue that I could have waited, to which my response is that they could have move their clothes before going to work.  As much as my actions may be seen as impolite, I find it even more impolite to leave stuff lying around in a shared space.

Even though a necessity the laundry room is a shared space, and so should be kept clean when not in use.  If the machines aren't actually running then the room is not actually being put to use and therefore should be cleaned of any clothes.  It is only the polite thing to do when you live with others who need to use it.  I get annoyed by people leaving clothes in the washer or dryer in the same way I get annoyed when someone leaves their toiletries all over the rim of the bathtub/sink in the bathroom.  It's fine if you're the only one using the room, but when you know others have to use it too you should be polite and keep your stuff to your space.  If you don't do that you can't be surprised if someone moves your stuff in order to make use of the room.

I understand that sometimes you get busy and have to do laundry along with a million other things, but that is not an excuse for forgetting your laundry in the machine.  Everyone has cell phones (at least everyone I've lived with) and there are timer apps for all types of phones, so you can easily set the timer to remind you to get your laundry.  I've been guilty of leaving my laundry in for too long as well, but I also left my laundry basket on top of the machine so the next person just had to put my laundry in the basket and place the basket out of the way on the floor.  That's how it's done in a number of communal living settings.

For example, when I lived on campus there was a sign on the laundry room door stating that if you left your laundry in the machine someone else could and most likely would move it so they could use the machine.  They also suggested the basket rule, where you always leave your laundry basket on or by the machine you were using so that if someone needed the machine right away they could just move the laundry into your basket and not on the floor.

It basically all comes down to planning.  If you're going to do laundry plan to do it at a time when you'll be able to be home to take it out of the machine at a reasonable time.  If you're laundry is in the dryer for an hour then you have time to go out and do some errands for an hour, if it's only in for a half hour then you have to be home to take it out in a half hour.   If you know you wont be able to be home when it finishes then leave a basket there so there's somewhere to put the clothes.  If you do none of this then don't be surprised to find your clothes in a pile on the floor and/or discover that your roommates have been stewing about laundry issues for a while.

I think that's all I have to say on this matter.  It's been one of those weeks so there may be more rants on the way....