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?

I'd tell him, "look, you're of course free to use the facilities in the house, but I've noticed you do several small loads of laundry. This adds to the bills, so I'd like to have a chat about how we deal with this. I personally do fewer loads that are more full, and that works for me. If that doesn't work for you, you're welcome to do laundry as you do now, but then I'll have to ask you for an extra monthly fee to cover the extra cost".

Are you familiar with the hand wash cycle on the washing machine? It's incredible what these new fangled appliances can go these days.

Bedding every 2 to 3 weeks....?!?! 😳I don't know about you, but weekly is the maximum period I want between changes of bed linen, and usually less because I like freshly laundered sheets!. But either way a king szed sheet, duvet cover and 4 pillow cases is a full load. On the towel front a conservative 2 bath sheets, two hand towels and maybe a couple more hand towels from the cloakrooms is another load a week. One load of coloured and one of whites and that's 4 loads a week. I am widowed, but I couldn't do fewer washes than that. And at 13p to 20p a wash on an eco cyle there isn't really much point ;)

This is nothing - we have paying guests in our Airbnb at the moment. Our tumble dryer is WiFi connected, and pings on my phone every time it finishes a cycle. The guests have been doing 3-4 washes A DAY! It’s driving me mad but I don’t think I can say anything, especially as it comes across as quite creepy that I am aware of how often they are doing a wash. Only another 3 days before they leave. I happened to take an electricity ready just before they arrived, so it will be interesting to see how much it has been this week.

But my rant aside, yes, your lodger is taking the piss

But at a maximum of 20p for an eco cycle according to google, and 3 washes above the acceptable 'quota' of 2 that's a whole 60p a week or £30 a year. Just £2.50 a month. That's going to look rather petty surely, and in fact might make the lodger realise how cheap it is and put on even more washes ;)

"Bedding every 2 to 3 weeks....?!?! 😳"

Yes, absolutely fine even in the summer. My sheets don't smell.

As for king size, I think this is unlikely for a single lodger...and why would he have 4 pillow cases to wash every time?

But on principle, he should know that we don't run a washing machine for just one thing. It would also be more convenient for him to own two pairs of shorts as well if he really needs clean shorts in a hurry.

Tell him there’s a drought and to pack it in. My only proviso to this is if you have observed that he has very few clothes, then obviously you need to tread more carefully.

Ask him for an extra £20 or to reduce the amount of washing he does.
A pair of shorts is ridiculous. I definitely overuse the washing machine but never on less than half a load.

Tell him you are concerned about climate change caused by consumer waste, and its ' long term impact on the planet, and 2 washes, one lights and one darks, is all you have allowed for his his rent in the light of your concerns.

Otherwise you can renegotiate the rent to allow for energy costs and fair wear and tear on your washing machine. But the climate change point is a very valid one during all these heaters, and it will only get worse if people's habits and feelings of entitlement don't change .

I think 4/5 loads a week is pretty reasonable. But I'd ask him to make sure he's only running a full load.

"If you keep using the washing machine for less than a full load and the tumble dryer in summer I will have to raise your rent I'm afraid."

For one person?

Since he’s using it eg for a single pair of shorts definitely say it but otherwise when you said 4/5 washes a week as if it was a huge thing- people who have a lot of washing shouldn’t really be told oh that’s too much, they could easily judge someone else and say they wished they washed their clothes more! (I used to work with a guy who had heard the not washing jeans thing they used to say and we were trying to convince him that maybe he could wash them sometimes😉) He walked to work and wore the clothes he worked in and just sprayed loads of deodorant to mask. I made a big point of how I had to bring a spare top when walking and he said ‘god no I couldn’t be doing with that’. Lovely guy though so we left him to it!!

It’s not fine. Our sheets are washed every week. I can’t imagine how disgusting they’d be after three weeks.

We had to do loads of washing when we went to an Airbnb because we had to rewash and dry all the sheets as the owner had used fabric conditioner on them. A quick google will tell you that you shouldn’t. It was overpowering. We also hill walk/scramble all day and clothes get very dirty. I am not bothered about the over use as we were 2 people in a 3 double bedroom house so probably only doing the washing of 6. How many guests do you have staying? Perhaps they only bought a few clothes.

Oh I agree, and as I posted early in the thread, washing just one thing is wasteful. But, in absolute terms it's not a lot of money so going back and saying that the lodger will have to pay more for 'extra' washes is not going to achieve the right result I don't think.

I think that's the best approach.

Also, if you have any recent bills to compare with previous ones, show him the increase. We're billed monthly for water and when my DD came home for a couple of weeks earlier in the summer, the bill nearly doubled because she likes to take long baths (she doesn't have a bath in her flat).* *I informed her of this!

That is right. I just looked up how much my machine uses (it handily keeps track in an app).

For a normal cotton cycle at 30 degrees that lasts 3 hours it is using 0.4kWh.
For delicates at 30 degrees it's 0.1kWH.

So even if you think your lodger is running the washing machine 3 times a week too many you are talking about 30p in electricity plus water costs (about 50p according to Google). You will come across as petty.

@CuteOrangeElephant If it costs that little, pointing out the environmental impact is the better approach then, because it is incredibly wasteful.

My DD's long baths, however, had both an environmental and a financial impact!

I’ve done this a few times with a bath mat before I realised

You might not think it's stinks but I can guarantee you it does.

I can tell you that my sheets are fine. They don't smell.
If you are more smelly that's Ok, but a single person shouldn't be making their sheets that dirty and in any case, a double or single sheet and a top sheet/duvet cover doesn't fill a machine.

No, just tell him it's not what you should do. It's also a waste of time for the lodger and the machine is less available for OP.

That is the tradeoff with having a lodger in the house.

You should not accept money for a room with facilities and then complain when a lodger makes reasonable use of the facilities.