Apartment dwellers often talk about how convenient it is to have a laundry room at their apartment community. It makes it easy to find the time to get your laundry done because it’s right on-site, provides a way to meet and socialize with your neighbors and saves you time by not forcing you to drive to and wait at a laundromat.
There are common sense laundry room courtesies that folks should follow to make everyone’s experience a great one in the laundry room. The most important rule to remember is to always be mindful of others. In order to make your laundry day experience more pleasurable here are our Top 5 Apartment Laundry Room Tips. These will keep you sane and help you to avoid problems when doing the laundry in your apartment building.
1. Always Remove Your Clothes from the Washer and/or Dryer in a Timely Manner
This is just common courtesy. Remember that others may not be so tolerant if they have to do laundry and a machine is not available. You probably don’t want someone removing your clothes from the machine and moving them to a place that you can’t find quickly or even worse piling them on the floor. Clothes left for an extended time can become moldy if they are wet. Our advice is to always do laundry when you have a time slot long enough to do both the washing and drying of your clothes. Try doing laundry later in the day or on Sunday evenings when it is not too busy. It can be easy to forget you have clothes in the dryer. Why not set a timer to remind yourself? An egg timer, the oven timer, or even your iPhone timer are great ways to get alerted when it’s time to switch your laundry. Another way of avoiding forgetting your laundry is to leave your laundry detergent bottle next to your apartment door. This makes a great visual reminder that you have laundry in the laundry room. If your building has quiet hours be sure to keep your use of the laundry room within the designated time frame.
2. Be Respectful of Other’s Property
This notion goes along with our first tip. An even easier tip to think about is to just not touch other’s belongings. This means you do not remove their clothes from the washer/dryer and don’t use their laundry detergent or dryer sheets if they happen to leave them out. Do not use their laundry basket even if it is just for a minute to transfer your clothes to a dryer. A kind note for someone who seems to leave their clothes in a machine for over an hour can go a long way to helping them see that they can be respectful of you and your time.
3. Be Prepared When You Arrive in the Laundry Room
This means you have your laundry in a basket or bag when you get to the laundry room. Be sure to have your laundry detergent, fabric softener, stain sticks and bleach with you. Most importantly, have your quarters ready. There is nothing more annoying to others than asking to borrow quarters for your load of wash. A good idea is to head to the bank and buy a few rolls of quarters at a time. This will ensure that you have enough quarters for several washes. Some apartment communities utilize electronic laundry cards that residents can load money on in order to do laundry. Be sure that you keep track of your balance so that you can reload before the next time you do laundry. Check with your property manager to see if your building has reloadable laundry cards available and how they work. It’s always a good idea to check the pockets of your clothes before you do your laundry. You don’t want to have important things end up in the washer or dryer for others to get a hold of.
4. Plan Ahead for Laundry Day
Let’s talk about your laundry hamper or basket. If you think you may not be back to move your wet clothes from the washing machine, why not leave your hamper on the machine with a note that gives the next user permission to put your wet clothes in there until you get to them. The next person will appreciate this. You should never use other people’s laundry baskets.
It is also a good idea to plan to do full loads of laundry when using a machine. This will save you money, hot water and time. Have you ever seen a washing machine running for a full cycle with just a few pairs of socks and a towel from the gym? This can be frustrating if you know you have a full load to do. It all comes down to consideration for others.
5. Respect the Laundry Room Space
Laundry rooms are usually not super large spaces. Be mindful of this when using them. Do not spread out and use every table in the room when folding your laundry. Do not leave laundry in the laundry room while you are waiting for a machine and do not use the laundry room trash cans for household trash. Be sure to throw any laundry related trash into the trash baskets. This means others will not have to throw away your dryer sheets, empty laundry detergent bottles or empty plastic bags.
As with most things in life, if you treat others as you want to be treated all will work out fine.
Find a Great Apartment Home
Red Oak has been New Hampshire’s Apartment Rental Leader since 1984. With over 1900 apartments in seven NH towns and cities you can find just what you need. The owners are hands-on and on-site every day! Our locations in Manchester, Milford, Merrimack, Derry, Laconia, Boscawen and Hooksett are ready for you. Most of our properties have an in building or on-site laundry room for your use. We even have some apartment buildings that have a washer/dryer in each apartment. Check out our NH apartment availability here and contact our office for more information about getting started with the Red Oak Life! It’s a wonderful place!