When we lived in an apartment when we were first married I used to bring a book a snack and water and just sit there for the 1 hour or how ever it took to get our laundry done. When we had our daughter I would sit with her in my lap on the lawn outside the laundry room and have a mommy daughter moment. I did this not because I was worried someone steal our clothes but because the place was always busy so I knew best way to make sure my clothes get fully done was to wait.
Now we go to a local laundry mat and we do the same thing but now we wait in the car in full view but only because clothes were stolen from other people there. There is a old woman not allowed there because she was caught trying to take clothes. She sells it at her 2nd hand store.
I get the frustration if someone’s clothes are left in there for hours and hours beyond the time that the load finished, but they do not deserve to be dumped/sold/whatever. Not your items, not your right. If you need to take their clothes out and put them on top of the washer/dryer, fine. If they have a basket there, it isn’t rocket science to take the clothes out of the washer/dryer once finished and put them in whatever basket they might have. Honest to goodness, relax.
I’ve got mixed feelings on that one. You never know why the clothes are left there. Let’s say they set a timer and then before it went off they had a personal emergency- someone in the house got hurt, or maybe a sudden case of the poos? It’s certainly messed up to remove their stuff the second it’s done- most etiquette gurus recommend giving it at least 15 minutes after the timer has expired (or after you are aware it has expired.) however it is also rude and irresponsible to not set a timer and get your laundry out in a timely matter. While we should be considerate of others and what they have going on in life- they should also be considerate too. You may have a tight schedule to do your laundry and that extra time may completely ruin your plans.
Sharing is as much a skill as an art, it’s about communication as what people consider the “rules” of sharing vary based on many factors and what seems “fair and logical” to you and those who think like you may seem illogical and unfair to others and vice versa. In general if you do remove laundry you should take care with it- place it somewhere clean and put it there neatly. Even if you want to be productive or nice by drying it for them or placing it in the drier- don’t. Not only do people often have their own systems for what goes with what, but some items have special care instructions as well.
The more you touch their stuff the more liability you open yourself up to. Even if you are very careful and do everything right- if something gets damaged or was already worn and handling it causes visible wear you open yourself up to potential legal troubles. It is not illegal in most US states to move laundry if a laundry room is a communal area. The general rule in a nutshell is people with leases covering the same properties, when in an area a landlord grants access to both parties to, have equal rights to the space. It’s still a crime to take their things, sell them, or cause damage (including dirtying clean clothes), but not a crime to move things on the premises if none of those conditions occur.
For instance- a roommate equal on the lease, can rearrange the others furniture and belongings within the house as they please so long as they don’t cause damage to those things or remove them from the property. Shared units like condos and apartments with common porch areas that aren’t separated and private, you can also move around items on the porch legally in most places so long as you don’t damage them, remove them from the shared area, or convert them for your use. So 99.9% of the time it’s in your right to move laundry- however it would be nice to speak to the person about it, and unless the clothing is very expensive it’s unlikely even if you do damage or dirty it that the other person would seek legal action- but never forget that person may someday have access to your clothes or car etc. when no one is around and might decide to get “payback.” So manners aren’t just about “being nice,” but about avoiding potentially costly troubles too.
Now we go to a local laundry mat and we do the same thing but now we wait in the car in full view but only because clothes were stolen from other people there. There is a old woman not allowed there because she was caught trying to take clothes. She sells it at her 2nd hand store.
Only reason I still tell them is because so many people like them.