Laundry Room Etiquette

Don’t use all of the machines at once.
If there are plenty of open washers or dryers, you may use two or three at once, otherwise do the polite thing, and stick to the one person, one machine rule.

Check your clothes at the door.
Remove any objects that could harm your clothes or the machines—tubes of lipstick, sharp objects, globs of grease, live animals, etc. You’re responsible for what goes into machines and for any damage that results.

Unscented makes more sense.
And err on the side of the unscented. Scented liquid fabric softener leaves its odor and residue behind. If you must perfume your clothes, go with a dryer sheet.

No laundry left behind.
If you don’t want your laundry manhandled, be ready to transfer your load when the cycle is finished.

Leave your basket.
If you have to leave, place your basket on your washer or dryer in case others need to use the machine.

Clean the lint screen.
Leave the world better than you found it and take your lint out of the screen and toss it in the laundry room trash can.

Don’t dump to conclusions.
If someone else is tardy to the party, give them time to catch up with their laundry. Allow the tardy party person 15 minutes and then carefully place their items in their laundry basket or on top of a machine or folding surface. Don’t leave their laundry on the floor or assume that it needs to go into the dryer.

Open Door policy.
To prevent mildewing, leave the washer door open when not in use. This is particularly true on front load washers.