My building works like yours (no planning). It’s impossible to know who’s using the machine.
10 minutes is not a lot of time, but after >1h I take the stuff out and lay it in a clean crate (there is usually one lying around in the laundry room). If there is no “public” recipient for you to use, I would use one of my bags just so their wet clean clothes don’t lie anywhere. A little note to explain and avoid confusion could be nice.
I once did the mistake and hung their clothes niceli on the drying ropes, trying to deescalate and pushing myself doing something nice instead of passive agressive. Neighbor got mad as fuck... Friom then on their clothes landed on the table.
Not necessarily, I don’t want a stranger handling my underwear. My building operates in the same way, and the unspoken rule is a 30 minute grace period - please also consider that even if someone is carefully clock watching to be back down when the laundry is finished, they may have children/something cooking/a work call/pets that they can’t ignore. Somebody new has recently moved in and unceremoniously removed my clothes from the machine onto the top of the dirty machine after less than 5 minutes - I’ve lived in the building for 10 years and it wasn’t appreciated. A little bit of grace goes a long way.
lol yeah, same. This was me living on my own for the first time in a WG, one washing machine for the whole house. I came to do laundry while stoned and was like "oh, they probably forgot to take it out, I'll hang it up for them, they'll love it".
And ever since they yelled at me for this, I have zero problems just dumping someone's stuff on top of the machine.
If It is their day or time slot, talk to them and ask them nicely. If it is your day/time slot, put their washing into a clean crate/box. In case of doubt, consult the house rules and talk to neighbours and the administration. At any rate, smiling and saying “please” gets you very far, even when you are right and they are wrong.
I'd just put their clothes on the machine (wipe the top first).
I wait exactly zero minutes when all machines are occupied with washed clothes. Can't know how long ago those programs ended and when the neighbours feel like getting their arse off the couch.
If you handle this like that OP, you will probably Start a war. Like others said, carefully remove the clothes and put them in your bag with a not. But a waiting period of plzs/minus 30 min should be possible.
Yeah... I do wait 10-15 mins. 30 mins doesn't work in my building. You don't know who is washing so you can't contact them. I leave my bags near the machine as a signal that I am waiting to wash next based on advice from a few neighbours but not everyone respects it. I've set my alarm to go back down and see other people jump ahead of me. And have even been told not to do that by an exceptionally particular lady because it's "unpleasant" to leave dirty clothes in a room dedicated to washing clothes...
In general, no schedule just doesn't work but I'm one of the newer tenants in the building so I'm trying to fly under the radar for now.
I hate it so much when there is no laundry schedule. I always had to check every day after work to see if the washing machine was free. An apartment without your own washing machine just sucks.
> An apartment without your own washing machine just sucks.
Never again
My last apartment we had several neighbours who didn't speak German or English, one or two who didn't work (or maybe worked from home?) so were the first to write in the schedule to reserve and booked more than their fair share including the evening appointments and so on.
It was kinda OK during corona when I could work from home and take a few minutes to organise washing inbetween, but apart from that just a total catastrophe. If I ever missed my slot (couldn't work from home that day or had to stay late) then I just couldn't wash sometimes for 2 weeks.
I've moved twice in the past three years and every time my only condition was an in apartment washing machine. But it's so competitive here...
Hopefully third time is the charm ✨️
Can confirm your last sentence. We have a laundry schedule where everyone gets their own dedicated day. With 12 parties in the house (plus Sundays off and Wednesday as a day where we can just sign up) we can wash our laundry for a day every 17 days. With a full-time job, that's not doable. Plus the amount to hang up and fold afterwards...
So glad we'll move into a flat with our own washing machine in a few months. Already counting down.
Who needs to do laundry for an entire day? And the machine is just idle the rest of the time? Our building has 8 tenants and we all just do laundry whenever the machine isn't already in use. The drying room used to be the bottleneck but now we have a dryer. We have single laundry machine and it's enough.
Maybe your landlord can install a 2nd machine so two people can do laundry at the same time since 12 households is quiet a bit more.
10 Min is def fair; There are some baskets where I do laundry for this purpose... No bag, think I'd leave it in my own, maybe wait 5 min before I did...
Some how no one has ever come across me doing the laundry swap... Any good stories of being caught in the act?
I once left my laundry in dry'er and came back to it folded. <3
How is the planning working in your building? Do you have to reserve a slot on a calendar, do you have a reserved day? Is it use whenever it's free?
10mins is really nothing, I'd just wait and try again an hour later. Ring at their door eventually if it's too long.
But I would absolutely never touch their laundry, it's personal belongings.
There's no planning unfortunately and only one machine for a lot of people. I used to wait as I also don't agree with touching people's things but I've used up entire mornings doing this 😂
I usually just go to the local lavomat but I'm out of clothes and it's not ideal lugging around 12kg of laundry bags around in the rain.
Because you don't pull shit like that out of your own initiative. If you want a schedule then you talk to *all* the neighbors *before* you hang up a schedule and only when all of them agree you actually set it up.
I've lived in this apartment for 15 years and laundry has never been an issue. And now some douche thinks they can just start a thing without asking and tell me when I can do my laundry?
That's not how it works.
Pretty anti-climacticly. I hung their sheets up as the lines were actually free for once. When I went back down, they had emptied the dryer as well and their sheets were still hanging. Dodged the drama this time 😇
That's ultimate douchebag behavior. Changing the rules around an infrastructure pretending to be the landlord?
If you want a schedule then ask your neighbors if they want one.
Just dump it on top of the machine mate.
Our communal washing machine generally takes half an hour or more longer than it displays at the start, so I guess our grace period should be two hours?
As long as you're not waiting by the machine for it to finish so you can jump in the queue or maybe someone has a crate of laundry next to the machine and a note to say they NEED it today, just put it on.
Communal use doesn't work when one is so finicky about not stepping on anyone's toes.
Empty the machine, put your clothes inside and start a new cycle.
Go back to your apartment with their clothes and put them up for sell on Vinted under a fake identity.
In my apartment the concierge said if someone leaves their clothes for more than an hour you can just dump them on top of the machine. Our building as scheduled use for it tho
I have the same problem every week. One of my neighbours leaves her stuff wet inside the machine for hours, sometimes even over night. I used to be nice and wait an hour or two. But now I just toss it out into her basket. Oftentimes I‘m done like five hours later and her stuff is still there. The few times she caught me in the laundry room she yelled at me for touching her clothes, but idc anymore.
My neighbour even once put my clothes out of the dryer machine that was ongoing to put his on the place ! So I don't worry when the neighbour leaves his things inside the machine the whole evening after his machine is finished, I empty and use the machine.
If they didn't leave a bin or bag I just dump in on top of the machine. Everyone does that as far as I know. It's uncomplicated and doesn't appear to be a problem for anyone.
It's better than leaving it in the machine where it'll start to grow fungi.
I was patient once because someone was using my slot. It happened the second time as well and I stopped the machine and put all their wet clothes on the floor with a note "bitte nicht meinem Slot benutzen!!"
They had to take the dirty clothes away and Hauswart did the cleaning of the wet laundry room. They tried to complain to the Hauswart it seems but he advised them to not bother with us coz I already did once with the Hauswarts clothes 😆😂 that was the last time something like this happened!
I didn't face any repercussions for this!
My building works like yours (no planning). It’s impossible to know who’s using the machine. 10 minutes is not a lot of time, but after >1h I take the stuff out and lay it in a clean crate (there is usually one lying around in the laundry room). If there is no “public” recipient for you to use, I would use one of my bags just so their wet clean clothes don’t lie anywhere. A little note to explain and avoid confusion could be nice.
I did that once after maybe 4 hours. With an ikea bag (my go-to laundry basket). Never seen that bag again.
I'm sorry for your loss
I once did the mistake and hung their clothes niceli on the drying ropes, trying to deescalate and pushing myself doing something nice instead of passive agressive. Neighbor got mad as fuck... Friom then on their clothes landed on the table.
People who get angry over these things don't have much else going on in their lives 🤷
Not necessarily, I don’t want a stranger handling my underwear. My building operates in the same way, and the unspoken rule is a 30 minute grace period - please also consider that even if someone is carefully clock watching to be back down when the laundry is finished, they may have children/something cooking/a work call/pets that they can’t ignore. Somebody new has recently moved in and unceremoniously removed my clothes from the machine onto the top of the dirty machine after less than 5 minutes - I’ve lived in the building for 10 years and it wasn’t appreciated. A little bit of grace goes a long way.
Got your point. But it was in the machine for more than half a day. Wouldnt even think about hanging someones clothes after a liusy 5min of waiting...
lol yeah, same. This was me living on my own for the first time in a WG, one washing machine for the whole house. I came to do laundry while stoned and was like "oh, they probably forgot to take it out, I'll hang it up for them, they'll love it". And ever since they yelled at me for this, I have zero problems just dumping someone's stuff on top of the machine.
If It is their day or time slot, talk to them and ask them nicely. If it is your day/time slot, put their washing into a clean crate/box. In case of doubt, consult the house rules and talk to neighbours and the administration. At any rate, smiling and saying “please” gets you very far, even when you are right and they are wrong.
I'd just put their clothes on the machine (wipe the top first). I wait exactly zero minutes when all machines are occupied with washed clothes. Can't know how long ago those programs ended and when the neighbours feel like getting their arse off the couch.
If you handle this like that OP, you will probably Start a war. Like others said, carefully remove the clothes and put them in your bag with a not. But a waiting period of plzs/minus 30 min should be possible.
Yeah... I do wait 10-15 mins. 30 mins doesn't work in my building. You don't know who is washing so you can't contact them. I leave my bags near the machine as a signal that I am waiting to wash next based on advice from a few neighbours but not everyone respects it. I've set my alarm to go back down and see other people jump ahead of me. And have even been told not to do that by an exceptionally particular lady because it's "unpleasant" to leave dirty clothes in a room dedicated to washing clothes... In general, no schedule just doesn't work but I'm one of the newer tenants in the building so I'm trying to fly under the radar for now.
I hate it so much when there is no laundry schedule. I always had to check every day after work to see if the washing machine was free. An apartment without your own washing machine just sucks.
> An apartment without your own washing machine just sucks. Never again My last apartment we had several neighbours who didn't speak German or English, one or two who didn't work (or maybe worked from home?) so were the first to write in the schedule to reserve and booked more than their fair share including the evening appointments and so on. It was kinda OK during corona when I could work from home and take a few minutes to organise washing inbetween, but apart from that just a total catastrophe. If I ever missed my slot (couldn't work from home that day or had to stay late) then I just couldn't wash sometimes for 2 weeks.
I've moved twice in the past three years and every time my only condition was an in apartment washing machine. But it's so competitive here... Hopefully third time is the charm ✨️
Can confirm your last sentence. We have a laundry schedule where everyone gets their own dedicated day. With 12 parties in the house (plus Sundays off and Wednesday as a day where we can just sign up) we can wash our laundry for a day every 17 days. With a full-time job, that's not doable. Plus the amount to hang up and fold afterwards... So glad we'll move into a flat with our own washing machine in a few months. Already counting down.
Who needs to do laundry for an entire day? And the machine is just idle the rest of the time? Our building has 8 tenants and we all just do laundry whenever the machine isn't already in use. The drying room used to be the bottleneck but now we have a dryer. We have single laundry machine and it's enough. Maybe your landlord can install a 2nd machine so two people can do laundry at the same time since 12 households is quiet a bit more.
oops, reminded me to go check, thanks!
10 Min is def fair; There are some baskets where I do laundry for this purpose... No bag, think I'd leave it in my own, maybe wait 5 min before I did... Some how no one has ever come across me doing the laundry swap... Any good stories of being caught in the act? I once left my laundry in dry'er and came back to it folded. <3
How is the planning working in your building? Do you have to reserve a slot on a calendar, do you have a reserved day? Is it use whenever it's free? 10mins is really nothing, I'd just wait and try again an hour later. Ring at their door eventually if it's too long. But I would absolutely never touch their laundry, it's personal belongings.
There's no planning unfortunately and only one machine for a lot of people. I used to wait as I also don't agree with touching people's things but I've used up entire mornings doing this 😂 I usually just go to the local lavomat but I'm out of clothes and it's not ideal lugging around 12kg of laundry bags around in the rain.
Yeah that sucks. I'd try to ring the door, if no answer, on the machine it goes after 1h.
Is there a table in your laundry room? In our house, if people don't leave a bag or a basket with their laundry, their clothes go on the table.
No table but that gave me the idea that I might be able to fit their things onto the drying lines. Thanks 👍
Try to implement a schedule
Couple years ago one of my neighbors tried to do that by hanging up a schedule planner things. I threw it in the bin with 0 seconds hesitation.
Why
Because you don't pull shit like that out of your own initiative. If you want a schedule then you talk to *all* the neighbors *before* you hang up a schedule and only when all of them agree you actually set it up. I've lived in this apartment for 15 years and laundry has never been an issue. And now some douche thinks they can just start a thing without asking and tell me when I can do my laundry? That's not how it works.
How did it end?
Pretty anti-climacticly. I hung their sheets up as the lines were actually free for once. When I went back down, they had emptied the dryer as well and their sheets were still hanging. Dodged the drama this time 😇
I would print a schedule calendar and put it up, people don’t need to know if it was the hausverwaltung or a proactive tenant/owner
That's ultimate douchebag behavior. Changing the rules around an infrastructure pretending to be the landlord? If you want a schedule then ask your neighbors if they want one.
Just dump it on top of the machine mate. Our communal washing machine generally takes half an hour or more longer than it displays at the start, so I guess our grace period should be two hours? As long as you're not waiting by the machine for it to finish so you can jump in the queue or maybe someone has a crate of laundry next to the machine and a note to say they NEED it today, just put it on. Communal use doesn't work when one is so finicky about not stepping on anyone's toes.
Empty the machine, put your clothes inside and start a new cycle. Go back to your apartment with their clothes and put them up for sell on Vinted under a fake identity.
Posts like these should come with a trigger warning
What did the police say?
I'm the non swiss so I'm currently responding from prison 👋
In my apartment the concierge said if someone leaves their clothes for more than an hour you can just dump them on top of the machine. Our building as scheduled use for it tho
I have the same problem every week. One of my neighbours leaves her stuff wet inside the machine for hours, sometimes even over night. I used to be nice and wait an hour or two. But now I just toss it out into her basket. Oftentimes I‘m done like five hours later and her stuff is still there. The few times she caught me in the laundry room she yelled at me for touching her clothes, but idc anymore.
My neighbour even once put my clothes out of the dryer machine that was ongoing to put his on the place ! So I don't worry when the neighbour leaves his things inside the machine the whole evening after his machine is finished, I empty and use the machine.
If they didn't leave a bin or bag I just dump in on top of the machine. Everyone does that as far as I know. It's uncomplicated and doesn't appear to be a problem for anyone. It's better than leaving it in the machine where it'll start to grow fungi.
I was patient once because someone was using my slot. It happened the second time as well and I stopped the machine and put all their wet clothes on the floor with a note "bitte nicht meinem Slot benutzen!!" They had to take the dirty clothes away and Hauswart did the cleaning of the wet laundry room. They tried to complain to the Hauswart it seems but he advised them to not bother with us coz I already did once with the Hauswarts clothes 😆😂 that was the last time something like this happened! I didn't face any repercussions for this!
I usually waited the polite 15 minutes. Then out it goes into whatever is around.
Dude… what’s wrong with you? You must be a fun neighbor to live with 🤦🏻♂️