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?

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)

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.

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! 😂

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

Get him a laundry basket?

@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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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??

and if there are whites, darks, coloureds?

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

Colour catcher sheets are your friend!

Well, it does depend on the size of the bed, the size of the towels and the size of the washing machine. If it is a double bed with 4 pillowcases, duvet cover and under sheet then the machine is probably nearly full up. I believe in fully loading a machine but not over loading it. Yes stuff does dry really quickly in this weather.

Reasonable to expect washing to be a load.

Asking politely and explaining why is not confrontation.

I am sure colour catcher sheets do work but if you want your whites to stay very white then they should only be washed with white.

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.
Wouldn't you hand-wash them, or at least rinse them out/apply spot stain remover or whatever, then put them in the wash the next time you were doing one?

While I don't think five loads a week is unreasonable, it is if they're tiny washes.
I'd say you've been looking at the energy bills and the 'household's water usage (rather than pin it on him) and frame it as you both need to be really mindful of water and other utilities, so you both have to wait til you've got a reasonable amount to wash and dry things outside if at all possible.

I told my old lodger she could only use the laundrette from now on after I caught her several times washing a huge amount of stuff from work, overalls, tea towels, towels. Other peoples stuff basically in my machine every single day.
I didn't give a fuck about offending her as she couldnt care less about my ectricity bill and putting filthy crap into my machine.
Your house, your rules. If he doesnt like it he can go to the laundrette.

putting filthy crap into my machine
What do you think washing machines are for...?
But she was a cheeky mare using your machine for other people's washing. And I'm intrigued; what exactly was her work that it generated all this washing, and why was she doing it?