If you live in an apartment building, you may be familiar with your communal laundry room. While not every building even has a laundry room, yours might and it is important to know how it works and things to avoid, especially if it is new for you. There are things you should and should not do in your apartment building’s laundry room to help you stay on good terms with fellow renters.
Do know how to pay
Some apartment buildings have free laundry, but you have to pay to use most laundry rooms. Knowing how to pay and how much can help save you the hassle of going back and forth between your apartment and the laundry room. You will also need to know if you can pay with a credit card or if you will need to have quarters on hand. This information will help you be prepared so you can do your laundry.
Don’t settle for the laundry room
While having a laundry room on the premises may seem convenient, if you find a cheaper apartment elsewhere, you should explore that option before settling just for a laundry room. There is likely at least one laundromat near your apartment, so you will be able to do laundry, even if you do not have a laundry room right in your building. The laundromat likely has more machines than the apartment building’s laundry room. Saving money on rent may be worth the inconvenience of having to look for a place outside of your apartment to do laundry.
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Do time your clothes
If you decide to leave while your clothes are in the washer and dryer, you should set an alarm on your phone so you know how much longer you have. Your apartment’s laundry room may be small so space is limited. You need to be mindful of other tenants who also need to do their laundry. This also ensures that no one touches your laundry if they are trying to do laundry if you are not around. Your things may end up on the dirty floor, wasting the time and money you just spent cleaning your clothes.
Don’t touch other’s things
Speaking of touching other people’s stuff, do not do it. It can be tempting to take people’s things out of the laundry if they are not around and there are no more machines. However, this is frowned upon. You do not want people touching your things, so extend this courtesy to others as well. If you do need to remove someone’s laundry for whatever reason, avoid putting their items on the floor. As mentioned above, the floor is dirty, and putting stuff on the floor will only make the items dirty again after the time spent cleaning them.
Do clean out leftover detergent
There is nothing worse than putting your clothes in a machine and finding there is leftover detergent from previous machine users still in the machine. This is especially true if the detergent is clumped up, which typically occurs if someone uses a powder detergent. Not cleaning out old detergent can make the next person’s laundry load so soapy that they have to do another rinse cycle, costing them time and money. Be mindful of this and be sure to clean out old detergent before moving onto the dryer machines.
Don’t use powder detergent
As mentioned above, powdered detergent has a tendency to clump up easier than liquid detergent, making it potentially clogged or super soapy for the next person who uses the machine. Many laundry rooms and laundromats have rules against using powdered detergents for this reason. Using liquid detergent is easier to clean the old detergent out and prevents clumping.
Do bring your own supplies
On top of having to pay to use the machines, you have to bring your own detergent and dryer sheets. Many people assume these are provided for you, but they are not. Check with your landlord or property manager to see if there are any rules about what can and cannot be used. It is likely that you are only allowed to use liquid detergent to aid in easy cleaning of the washing machines and to avoid clumping. Check to see if any specific kind of detergent or dryer sheets is recommended for the particular machines on the premises.
Don’t forget to leave a note
You will likely encounter a faulty machine at least once, if not more, throughout your tenure as a resident in your apartment building. If a washer or dryer is broken, be courteous and leave a note. Even if you contact your property manager, it is still nice to leave a note so others know to not use the machine and the property manager can see which machine needs to be fixed. This helps to save others the hassle of spending time and potentially money trying a machine that does not work.
Knowing the proper laundry room etiquette is crucial to ensure that you and your fellow tenants can do laundry successfully and not annoy each other.
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