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?

I’d accidentally on purpose leave some s&m type gear in your dryer and see if they still use it. If they do I’d return the socks along with the s&m attire

Smart plug seems like the answer if you really cant just say "Hey Friend, its actually my drier & elec that you are using, so please use your own.." ???

norweb and British Gas

That brings back painful memories of my parents. For several consecutive quarters we had bills that were beyond belief for a house. Not only were they stratospherically higher than any we'd had before - this was a house with no central heating and no showers etc. and no additional heaters.

When it came to resolving it, the bills were so unrealistic that one of the official let slip that it our bill for a single quarter was >4x higher than the usage for the entire nearby enormous factory complex for the same period.

[quote MeandT]@DontThinkSoBro I was struggling to think of the laundry equivalent of the penguin bollard, but you've done that with taking the water drawer out. But you don't want that inside the flat, so here's an idea for the equivalent of putting nails on the drive....

When I do my drying, I put a couple of drops of lavender oil on a flannel & stick it through with the load. Now, you wouldn't want your drier to smell of anything nasty, so you'd have to stick with something like lavender. But what if you put a tablespoon full on a flannel, and taped it to top of drum. Then when their laundry comes out next time, it will be obvious all week who was wafting around the building in dry clothes you paid for, smelling like granny's hankie.

I mean, not going to help the friendship level, but as others have said, they are CF enough to nick your power in the first place, so not like they are going to care! And easier than stalking it all week so you can chuck their wet clothes out in the stairwell. Good luck![/quote]
I really wouldn't recommend this unless you wanted to start a fire. I used to do the same until I found out that a lot of them have really low flash points (lavender is 70c). It's not a huge risk but it's a risk none the less.

Take the fuse out of plug

I’d just tape a note to your dryer saying,

I’m the dryer belonging to Mrs smith and flat 2 or whatever. I’m not a communal dryer so other neighbours, please don’t use me.
Thank you

They were superb whabylon

I didn’t get my uniforms nicked as they were tailored - tiny waist - comparatively huge lumps.

Lost plenty of socks though. And tights. 🥴

mm40

I’ve no idea how someone would want to wear someone else’s smalls - clean or no.

I’d rather go commando. 🥴

@DontThinkSoBro
I’m lost for words that not only has this thread received so many responses, but it’s now also trending on mumsnet 😂😂😂😂"

Watch out, the next thing you know it will be being discussed in MSM and on Loose Woman

MSM - Midsummer Murders?

[quote Gazelda]@DontThinkSoBro
I’m lost for words that not only has this thread received so many responses, but it’s now also trending on mumsnet 😂😂😂😂"

Watch out, the next thing you know it will be being discussed in MSM and on Loose Woman

MSM - Midsummer Murders? [/quote]
I presume Main Stream Media.

Ah yes! 😂😂

How can you be sure the CF won't keep using it when your out OP. Having a nice chat won't stop some people they just get smart.

You really need to get some kind of lock. Unless your happy to turn a blind eye and let them use it when they want which they will.

I like the idea of leaving something like a flannel in yours and see what happens.

@sanityisamyth I’d honestly be mortified 🤦🏻‍♀️

Come on OP, have you ordered a smart plug adaptor or not?

Could you go round and slap her with the sock?

The sheer number of posters basically saying "oh, be nice" is surprising.

If your neighbour waltzed into your home and helped themselves to two pounds out of your purse every couple of days, you would quite rightly go freaking apeshit. How is this any different really. Tumble dryers cost an absolute fortune to run. We used to have one on a prepay meter on a really low unit cost at a rental flat we used to live at and you could literally see the dryer eating the electric, if you dared to look, at an absolutely alarming rate.

The neighbour knows. It's no accident. Total cheeky fucker behaviour. Don't say a thing, she will just be more careful so you can't prove it. Just straight forward lock your dryer up/cut the power, she'll get the message then.

Could you leave something in your drier (like a couple of double stuffed Oreos) which would make a mess of any washing?( You would have to clean it out afterwards and it may not be very good for it, but their washing would have absorbed most of it. )

@SheldonesqueIsAlmostHuman

mm40

I’ve no idea how someone would want to wear someone else’s smalls - clean or no.

I’d rather go commando. 🥴

I agree.... commando would def be a better bet but I don’t remember loosing anything!

@DdraigGoch not yet, but I will be!

I’m too invested in this.
I want a drying room now and I live in a four bed detached house 😂

@DontThinkSoBro I was going to say to just leave the socks on their dryer without any notes, so they know you know.
Don't bother with the socket lock as they could simply use it when it's in use and you're out/at work etc. - buy a door lock instead for it.

To be honest I would be really surprised at them being so money-conscious that the motivation is to save £100 or so a year. Particularly if they know that the other person is paying instead.

I presume you've never encountered a CF/miser/very hard up person before? £100 is not an insignificant amount to most people - if that's indeed all it would cost - and some people will just do anything that saves them a few quid at somebody else's expense out of habit.

Sorry... more importantly... I’m staggered no one has already commented. Who tumble dries socks?! It’s shrinks them! #missesthepoint

[quote DontThinkSoBro]@DdraigGoch not yet, but I will be![/quote]
One of my posts from a long time ago under a different username went a bit viral and they discussed it on tv. That's all I'm saying. I was It was funny though.

Another post got me contacted by the frigging BBC! They wanted me to be interviewed about something I'd experienced...it was contentious and probably a bit dramatic for telly but I said NO THANK YOU!

Fortune what was it about