While most modern laundromats are attended with staff to help keep the laundromat clean, it helps to clean up after yourself. It’s always polite to leave the area cleaner than when you arrived.

That means keeping your clothes organized, folding them neatly where possible, discarding lint or fabric softener sheets properly, wiping down machines after use, and cleaning up any spills.

Also, be sure to take all your clothes with you when you leave. Nobody wants to see piles of discarded clothes left behind!

If you spill some softener on the floor, wipe it up! If you use dryer sheets while drying your clothes, throwing them away instead of leaving them scattered on the floor helps the next person who comes to use the dryers. If you ever need any help cleaning up after yourself, ask the attendant for assistance or simply let them know that there is something that needs cleaning.

The laundromat is a public space! Having a sense of pride and ownership in your local laundromat is an important part of keeping it clean and well-maintained. Cleaning up after yourself is good laundromat etiquette.

No one wants to be that person who has their clothes removed from the machine if they are left unattended. Proper laundromat etiquette is simply setting a timer on your phone for your load’s cycle. Laundromat cycles typically last 20-40 minutes. You might have enough time to leave and run a few errands and be back in time for transferring your load to the dryer or packing it up. Do not expect someone else to put your clothes in the dryer for you. In fact, most orders that are left unattended are moved out of the way by an attendant to make room for the next customers in line at the laundromat.

It is common that orders that are left unattended for an extended period of time are logged into a lost & found inventory and moved out of the way. This creates room for other customers. If you leave your clothes unattended and come back to find your clothes are gone, ask the attendant to look your order up in our lost & found inventory system.

Vice versa, if no other machines are available and you’re caught in the situation of being forced to set aside someone’s clothes after patiently waiting for at least five minutes for their return, contact the laundromat attendant. Do your best to not handle other laundromat customer’s laundry – that’s bad laundromat etiquette.

Do not place their load in the dryer, as there is a risk of misplacing items or doing something unpreferable with their load.

No – excessive amounts of liquid sanitation products like detergent, bleach, and fabric softener will not make your clothes any cleaner and/or softer. In fact, too much detergent can have the opposite effect. When there are too many suds in the cycle, the soap suds actually prevent the dirt, dust, and grime from being rinsed out properly.

In addition to trapping all the dirt into your clothes, it will also create a headache for the next person in line who will need to clean sticky residue from the inside of the machine, and they could have allergies towards or dislike the scent of your products.

With bleach especially, there runs a high risk for the next user’s load of colors to be stained permanently. Not convinced? Using too much detergent or other liquid can stain your clothing, pose a safety hazard, and can wear down machines over time.

Proper laundromat etiquette is to use the proper amount of detergents, softeners, and solvents!

The main rule of laundromat etiquette is simple — be courteous! That means being respectful of other people’s space and not monopolizing machines unnecessarily. It also means keeping conversations civil and not engaging in any disruptive behavior such as arguing or fighting.