AIBU to think neighbours are using my dryer?

[DontThinkSoBro]

In our block of flats each floor consists of 2 flats which share a drying room on the landing. The drying rooms are jointly owned by the two flats, we have a key each & our own tumble dryers on each side of the room.

New neighbours have moved in - lovely so far, no issues at all... except over the weekend I found one of their sons socks in my dryer & last night I found one of the woman’s socks in my dryer. 100% no mistaking that they are theirs as we only have plain socks & these are most definitely a little boys socks & a woman’s pair of patterned socks.

I absolutely don’t want to cause an argument about it. Could there be another simple explanation that I’m not thinking of as to how twice now, their socks have ended up in my dryer?

How would I approach this without causing a rift with otherwise very nice people?

Embra, you going tonsend OP the funds to do her neighbours laundry? No? Why not?nonly, what, 30p?

People literally typing out posts saying that OP should fund the cheeky fucker neighbours to use her property??? Seriously?! Pay the OP then, yourselves. ridiculous

@Embra

Maybe kid is doing pretend play? My boy is obsessed with washing. And even if they do use it how much that costs? 30 p per wash ?

what rubbish... 🤣

they're using OP's dryer to save time 😂

@NVision

You need to get a folding security post in front of the dryer door

A penguin bollard you say?

My thoughts are, they’re probably placing 2 loads on at once? Using yours and theirs

What sort of functionality does your dryer have? Mine has an app so I can literally monitor cycles on my phone, so I could catch them out.

If yours doesn’t, buy a smart plug where you can turn your dryer on and off remotely. The dryer stopping mid cycle after being used by them would be hilarious. You could just play if off that your dryer is faulty (as opposed to you purposely turning it off!) as a deterrent for them to stop using it

I would also pop into the drying room when you hear them in their and maybe put your own load in the dryer so they can’t use it?

It's entire normal for one circuit to serve multiple rooms in the UK. I lived in a two-floor flat, 2 bedrooms living room and kitchen, with just one circuit for all the sockets.

It's not ideal if one socket is in a shared area but I don't know about any rules against it.

Why would they assume that? Driers cost a fortune to run. I only my use mine in drastic circumstances.
Its like taking money out of your purse.

Erm..... Yes.
A conversation was had about who's
machine was who's.

The take home message from that convo is not "so we both use mine"

Ive loved reading this thread and all the putative suggestions.

The one I like best is replacing the plug with a smart one powered by an app on your phone. You can then make the machine inoperable by controlling the power supply without the trouble of removing parts or fiddly fuses. Neighbour will assume your machine is faulty. She might even mention it to you so you can say "Yeah, I must do something about that sometime."

It would also give me a lot of pleasure to thwart my neighbour without them knowing what was happening. Love it.

I feel the best idea has been said. Look in your electricity box and switch off the supply to your dryer when your not using it. They will soon get tired of loading the dryer then having to unload it again.

These will work. Glues on. Has removable key.
They're hardly going to come round demanding the key and why would they even know you had it it they hadn't been using yours.
People are such sneaky Bastards.

@DYWMB

These will work. Glues on. Has removable key. They're hardly going to come round demanding the key and why would they even know you had it it they hadn't been using yours. People are such sneaky Bastards.

brilliant 🌸

What strange wizardy is a drying room?

I feel I have been missing out.
After years of flat living in the city drying clothes- especially without a tumble drier was always a challenge.
A drying room would have been awsome.
Presumably space for a rack too if you don't want to use a tumble drier? Is the room ventilated? A window? Photo please!

I would take the items round and say, “Hi, these were left behind in my dryer...is there any particular reason you were using it?”

Loving this thread, never knew you could get Bluetooth sockets, but chocolate underpants definitely my favourite option.

And to the person who said only 30p a load, 5 loads a week, 52 weeks a year £78 a year. CF’s

Amazon. Refrigerator door lock with key.
Is what I typed in to get the lock with key.
Sneaky twats.

Oh God don't let him say that. They will latch onto the 'without permission' and think you don't mind them using it as long as they ask first.

@YouKnowItsTrue

I think it’s a roll out situation:

1st instance: friendly chat with neighbour

Still issues?

2nd: take fuse or drawer out as others have suggested

This approach is the best one.

Find 1,000 spiders and put them in the dryer. When you hear the screams and they ask wtf is going on, calmly say "Oh yes, that's where I keep my spiders."

Sorted.

Hmmm.

They haven't got a house Elf have they? Wanting you to give it a sock?

Do they realise that the dryers don’t just come with the building and if they want a better one than the one that’s there they need to buy one?

They have a small child? It could be that the child is “helping” with the washing and putting it in your dryer. Im constantly finding stuff in there and have to make sure I check properly before I put anything in. It’s not necessarily someone sneakily using your lovely new dryer.

We used to have drying rooms in our forces accommodation blocks.

Lined with rows of heating pipes, well ventilated. Clothes dried in 6 hours easily. No tumbling required.

If I ever build my own house it will have one.

I love some of the bonkers answers on here

Lots of ideas for locks:

letmegooglethat.com/?q=how+can+i+lock+my+dryer%3F