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

[Member869894]

More of a WWYD really and I'm aware this is a first world problem. I have a lodger. He's nice enough but he uses the washing machine 4-5 times a WEEK. This morning I've come downstairs to a lone pair of shorts in there swishing around.
I'm not good at confrontation. How do i broach this without offending him?

That's crazy wasteful. Tell him he needs to be having full loads, it's too wasteful otherwise. What idiot washes one pair of shorts in the washer and then uses the dryer?

1 pair of shorts might mean he's had an accident.

Just a pair of shorts on its own is unreasonable, but I don’t think 4-5 loads over a week is unreasonable.

Well I am a clean person, I live on my own and do a max of two loads PER WEEK. One is clothing etc. the other is sheets/towels/undies. I handwash small urgent (!) items and they are dry in an hour in this weather.

He obviously has no clue about water conservation or the cost of electricity. He is taking the piss putting on a two hour wash for a single pair of shorts. The lazy sod should have rinsed them out by hand FGS or waited until he had a fuller load. But he probably only has one pair of everything including socks ha ha.

I agree with others, and couch it in terms of water shortages and economy. Full load or hand wash individual items please. I'd keep it lighthearted and non snappy.

Just tell him ... washing machine is for full loads and you need to hand wash the odd item that needs washing inbetween ... to much water/energy use which in not environmentally friendly

What's the problem with spinning? It means drying time is shorter.

In a nutshell.

I was going to say something like this. He’s probably slipped something (ketchup?) on his shorts.

The problem with having a lodger is that you have to live with him and he gets to treat your house / washing machine as his own.

@Member869894 just have a word:

"Lodger. I noticed you ran the washing machine for just one pair of shorts the other day. Could you make sure you only run full loads? I have some hand wash stuff if you need to wash a single item"

I once had a landlord who clearly had some trauma from previous tenants because she made the washing machine coin operated. 20p for 10 minutes. It only took 20ps. If you didn’t have about £2 worth of 20ps a week, you could not wash your clothes. If you ran out of 20ps half way through, the machine would stop and lock and no one else could use it and your clothes were help prisoner until you got more 20ps she would come round every weekend, let herself in and collect her 20ps.

Anyway, yeah you need to tell him it’s not on. Doesn’t he know it’s a drought etc etc?

If I were you, I would point out the environmental issue of washing handful's of clothes at a time. We have a drought. Perhaps suggest he soaks things that he is afraid of staining (may be the reason for doing one pair of shorts). Ask him from now on to do full loads only. Your house, your rules.

A 2hr eco wash as well?! Would be slightly less bad if it was a quick 20-30 min emergency wash. Definitely need to have a word! Tell him you don’t want to have to make it token/coin-operated 😂

I'd probably sit him down and ask him what the almighty fuck he was thinking.

Whilst I think washing just one pair of shorts is wasteful, I don't think you can police how often a grown, paying adult does their laundry. If you feel the water/electric used is too much (and it's included in the rent), then just adjust the rent at the next review.

I can see loads of people pointing out the environmental and cost issue of this in terms of water and energy but under loading can also cause actual damage to the machine itself due to imbalance during the spin cycle!

All of the above is more than good reason to raise this with lodger.

Five loads a week isn't a lot at all. And he could have spilled something in the shorts and needed to throw them straight in the machine when he had nothing else to wash. If he was using it 5x a day I'd understand but I think you'd be very unreasonable to moan about 5x a week.

I'd just preface it with 'I don't want to come across full eco warrior but...' and then come across full eco warrior. That's outrageously wasteful.

it was clearly a smalls load 😮‍💨

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

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'd just preface it with 'I don't want to come across full eco warrior but...' and then come across full eco warrior. That's outrageously wasteful.
I'll go for this approach thanks Pixie

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

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 :)

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!