AIBU to ask my lodger to cut down on washing machine use?

Each to their own, but I don't want my white t shirts and tops looking like a dirty old grey dishcloth so I will continue to wash them separately

Of course I wash towels every day. Apparently nobody on Mumsnet does but you wouldn't catch me using a towel for days on end and I just assume they're the same who leave their bedding on for weeks.

Start charging him for it. You can use the drought as an excuse, we all need to cut down water use and a washing machine for one pair of shorts is ridiculous.

Why can't towels and sheets be washed with each other and other stuff?

If he put the shorts into an eco wash, he can't have intended to wear them that soon. It would definitely be quicker to wash by hand and just put them in for a spin dry.

You really don't need to separate clothes like this these days.

I am guessing he wants to wear the shorts soon. Maybe he doesn’t have a lot of clothes. It is hard washing for 1 because you will have different sorts of loads and no one else to double up with. I think 5 would be the minimum:
Sheets
Towels
lights
darks
gentle

1 item in a washing machine is not on.

and if there are whites, darks, coloureds?

Not fair to ask him to ruin his clothes by washing it all in one wash

For those of you who say you’d need to wash a load of towels per week, as a single person, you must be using a new towel each day??

This is going to turn into one of those threads where you discover that people do a ridiculous amount of washing.
Although, to be fair to them, no one ever mentions how big the washing machine is.

I agree that "full loads only" is a reasonable message.

We are normally a family of 3 adults who typically do 4-5 loads in a week, so I am hoping all the people who think this is a reasonable amount for a single person who wfh and doesn't do anything hot or sweaty or sporty have tiny washing machines.

Working from home and not active, I manage to do two loads a week max if I'm washing bedding as well. If not the towel usually gets chucked in with the clothes. One item in the drum would not do the washing machine well in the long run as it unbalances the drum. I would suggest a communal washing basket and anything essential is done as a handwash.

Five loads a week for one person? Of course it's a lot. Unless you do something stupid like washing sheets and towels every day.

OP is in a position of strength. She can tell him if he won't be sensible about this he can leave.

@Pearofplums
Just looked it up and I stand corrected!

Whilst I agree with people saying you can't police his amount of washing as he's paying to live there.... I do think there's no harm in just nicely asking him if he could aim to do fuller loads when possible.

Get him a laundry basket?

Also point out that there is a drought and this is incredibly selfish of him.

I realise that @Pearofplums but it’s 2 whole hours to be annoyed by the single item in the wash rather than 20-30 mins. I doubt the eco wash is designed for a single item wash! 😂

The clue is in the name. The 2 hour eco wash uses less energy than the quick wash; that's why it takes so long.

My DC did this and it used to drive me mad.
In the end.. I got them some of those cheap collapsable netting baskets in two colours for their room. One for whites and one for colours and told them to wash when they were full.
It worked mostly I guess... although they'd often try to wash one shirt if they were going out somewhere.

Your lodger washing nearly every day is just wasting electricity and water galore. Only full or nearly full loads from now on. You can say it nicely, but I think giving him the baskets which I got very cheaply from Amazon will illustrate it nicely without labouring the point.

And I got them to always do a quick wash setting... and hang them outside, or next to radiator, rather than put them soaking wet in the dryer ( unless it was urgent or terrible weather)

A quick wash uses more energy than a 2 hour wash.

I'd give him a bit of slack if he's generally tidy, clean pleasant and pays the rent on time. An eco wash uses less electricity and water, but takes longer as the drum moves less ( think leaving stuff to soak for a bit). You could do a lot worse and end up with a dirty, untidy, lodger who doesn't pay the rent on time!

Using a washing machine for one item of shorts does eem excessively wasteful to me, but a quick google says that one cycle of washing in eco mode (and no tumble drying) costs between 13p and 20p. That seems low to me, but it says that you'll use between 0.5 and 0.7 kWh of electricity and 35 to 50 lites of water :)

Two loads a week is fine. If there is drying space then no tumble drying.

One pair of shorts is ridiculous. 4 decent size loads is reasonable though.
If he works from home he should be hanging everything on the line. In England currently there's no excuse not to.

I don’t think you can really monitor how many times he uses the machine if it’s included in his rent.