‘Respect your community’: Residents’ frustrations erupt over shared laundry

A war of words has broken out between residents of an apartment complex over the use of a shared laundry.

The tense exchange – which started as two tersely worded handwritten notes – was made public this week when photos of the notes appeared on social media platform Reddit.

One note, written in capital letters on an A4 ruled loose leaf, was taped up in the laundry.

“Sunday is the best day of the week for laundry,” the note read.

“If you are unable to set a timer you need to pick a [different] day of the week. Have respect [four your] community.”

A second note, also written in capital letters, was also taped up in the laundry. It was written directly in response to the first note.

“With all due respect. To whom ever wrote that message… You choose another day. Respect other people’s belongings… My lease doesn’t have stipulations and neither do we,” the note read.

There’s little details about the authors of the notes, or the location in which they live.

What is known is that the residents live in military housing where there are about eight washing machines and dryers for more than 60 apartments.

“I’m none of these people. I just think it’s really funny to argue with pieces of paper,” one of the residents posted alongside the photos of the notes.

“In the time of each development I got like four loads done. So, snooze ya lose.”

The resident, who doesn’t identify themselves by their real name, shared a second photo which revealed further heated exchanges from others in the building.

In the photo, a third person had added their own comments on post-it notes.

Some of the comments contained expletives. Others were tongue-in-cheek or factual.

“Welcome to communal laundry,” one note read.

“People get busy,” a second note read.

“People have kids,” another read.

The notes proved to be somewhat of an amusement to some.

“Each time I read a new thing I got so excited, maybe I’ll stop by later to see if I fourth person chimes in or takes it down,” the resident shared in their Reddit post.

The post generated much chatter on social media, with more than 500 comments.

Most were in favour of being considerate of others when using a shared space.

“I’m team get your [clothes] out of the washer, please participate in society,” one person wrote.

“I usually operate on a 15-30 minute grace period and would expect the same in return. I only find myself upset if my clothes are moved not even 5 minutes after they’re done,” a second person wrote. 

“Really though, I’m most upset when I can’t do my own laundry because of other folks’ lack of consideration.”

“If I ever forgot, I never cared when someone took my stuff out. It’s the consequence for forgetting. It’s not my machine,” yet another wrote.

This isn’t the first time someone has vented their frustration over a shared laundry.

In July this year, a renter in the US turned to the advice of strangers online after reaching breaking point over his live-in landlord’s use of the shared laundry.

“So I just moved into this garden apartment and three months in the building was sold and I got new landlords. Nice young adult couple move in with their dog,” he wrote in the post.

He shared that despite being a nice couple, they regularly forget about their laundry.

“Sometimes the washer’s got clothes sitting in it wet and washed for a whole day,” he wrote. 

“I understand if they’re running around tending to the apartment but it just keeps happening.”

READ MORE: Renting guide: What you need to know about living in a share house