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This is a family member who is 36, married, good job, 2 kids under 5. Whenever he visits he asks to use the washer/dryer on the day they leave. I have never had anyone, relative or friend, ask to use our washer and dryer to do their clothes.
Honestly, it really bugs me. I do enjoy their visits, but seriously, I already have to cook and clean up after them, plus change the sheets and towels and wash them, so I have to do their laundry too? To be clear, I plan for their visit and create daily menus, have their beverages on hand, what the kids like to eat etc. I just don't get this quirk of doing their laundry before they leave. They have their own house with a washer/dryer and his wife doesn't work so ???
Are you doing his laundry, or is he doing it himself? Sometimes if I'm staying with family I ask to do a load of laundry before I leave so I don't have to take a bag of dirty clothes home.
If it bugs you that much you can always tell him no.
This is a family member who is 36, married, good job, 2 kids under 5. Whenever he visits he asks to use the washer/dryer on the day they leave. I have never had anyone, relative or friend, ask to use our washer and dryer to do their clothes.
Honestly, it really bugs me. I do enjoy their visits, but seriously, I already have to cook and clean up after them, plus change the sheets and towels and wash them, so I have to do their laundry too? To be clear, I plan for their visit and create daily menus, have their beverages on hand, what the kids like to eat etc. I just don't get this quirk of doing their laundry before they leave. They have their own house with a washer/dryer and his wife doesn't work so ???
Am I wrong to feel this way?
Well, show him or his wife how to use your washer. I like to have my clothes washed too before repacking them, and I do it throughout my stay.....but I don't expect my daughter to do my laundry, I do it myself.
Seriously, if you really feel their visits are so burdensome, because that is how your post is coming across....Tell them to stay at a hotel.
" Whenever he visits he asks to use the washer/dryer on the day they leave."
I see no problem with that, as long as HE is doing the laundry.
When our out-of-town kids come to visit, they often want to do a load of laundry before they leave. That is fine, but THEY put the clothes in the washer, THEY take them out of the washer and put them in the dryer, THEY take them out of the dryer, THEY fold them and pack them.
That, IMO, is the way it should and must be!
There was a very lengthy thread a few years ago on this topic. Some people thought it was absolutely ridiculous to wash clothes on their last day of vacation and other people would never, ever, ever pack any dirty clothes in their suitcase and would spend hours and hours on their last day of vacation making sure that every single item was clean.
The people who washed every item of clothing thought that the people who packed up dirty clothes at the end of their vacation were crazy to do that. And, the people who took home their dirty clothes and washed them at their own home thought people who wasted their last day of vacation doing laundry were crazy.
It was quite a memorable thread.
BTW, I recall that most, or even all, of the people who washed their clothes at the end of their vacation did it themselves, they did not ask their hosts to do it. However, some hosts were grumpy because their friends or relatives used their hot water, detergent and electricity plus could not/did not spend time with them on their last day because of doing the laundry.
Last edited by germaine2626; 04-22-2017 at 12:47 PM..
There is an easy way to relieve yourself of doing his laundry (if that's what's happening): Whenever he asks to use it, point towards where the washer 'n' dryer is at and say, "Have at it!" Even the dumbest person would get that hint.
I'm one of those who doesn't ever want to wash clothes on a vacation.
I usually offer to anyone who stays over if they want to use the washer.
Your visitor's travel is tiring coming to see you and returning home.
Even the long drive home can give a person jet lag, so to speak, so having that laundry done eases the burden for them.
They cared to visit and be with you. It is of a caring and generous virtue to offer something to make their return home one step easier. After a long trip, its even hard to summon up the energy to cook a meal let alone tending to a pile of laundry.
I'm sure it seems odd but its fine to offer and yes, show them where the laundry soap is...they'll be able to do the rest...you might even put a broom in someone's hand and ask if they'll sweep the kitchen. It's okay to do that too.
People who do not have their own personal washer and dryer get along just fine. They live in apartment buildings and use the communal laundry facilities in the apartment complex.
Others in apartments (or even a house) without a laundry room or without washers/dryers take their clothes to an offsite pay laundromat. And they do laundry sporadically and sometimes infrequently and sometimes with long spaces in-between doing it. They might have tons of underwear, towels, sheets, shirts and other things - never really running out of fresh things for a long time.
The obsession displayed in this thread is bizarre!
And this obsession with doing laundry almost daily or extremely frequently or multiple times per week for many people in the U.S. is so unnecessary, but no one ever seems to challenge it.
(people with babies, kids, etc need not protest, yes, you have special needs, although people who live in apartments with laundry facilities who have babies and kids get along fine)
People in less affluent countries or third world countries or even countries where many people do not have their own washer/dryer or even countries where people do have their own washer/dryer would find it bizarre too.
I agree with the OP that her relative house guest should not be asking to use her washer/dryer - he can do his laundry when he returns home!
Last edited by matisse12; 04-22-2017 at 01:13 PM..
I can't imagine wanting to do laundry while on vacation, unless maybe they were heading to another stop and needed clean clothes? Didn't want to pack a bunch of stuff and thought that washing them would be a good idea? When you travel with kids, they use up a lot of clothing. I don't have kids, but I've seen what they go through.
Also doing laundry at home is no big deal. Its not like you are standing there with a scrub board.
So did they make the OP do the laundry? I know my sister doesn't let anyone in her family touch the machines. She is paranoid that they will break them.
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