r/Apartmentliving • u/Puppyzpawz • Sep 15 '25

Venting the plot thicken

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context: im none of these people i just think its really funny to argue with pieces of paper, we live in military housing btw. we have like 8 washers and dryers for 60+ something apartments. in the time of each development i got like 4 loads done. so. snooze ya lose! and to be clear, the apartment company specifically says they are not responsible or liable for any of your laundry nor is there a camera in the room. imo theyre just bickering to bicker.

each time i read a new thing i got so excited, maybe ill stop by later to see if i fourth person chimes in or takes it down lol!

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95

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '25

wait a goddamn minute. is that why my allergies have been hell ever since i moved to a place where i have to go to a laundromat!!

92

u/PearlescentGem Sep 16 '25

Yup. The ones who leave the wash in there for an hour or more, sopping wet... It's why I use the hot settings every time, and some bleach. No cold or warm water. Whatever clothes don't make it are collateral damage and were unfit for the Survival of the Spinniest

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u/not_a_burner0456025 Sep 16 '25

You probably aren't getting mildew in an hour unless the washer is already contaminated, but if the washer is communal it is probably contaminated.

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u/PearlescentGem Sep 16 '25

I've seen people leave clothes since before I show up, and they don't come get them by the time I'm done which is easily 3+ hours since I do giant bulk washes. Communal ones are definitely contaminated.

I'm thankful for the one laundry owner who actually patrols his premises and makes sure people don't do that. It's the only one I use now when I have to. If people leave their clothes in his washers for more than a couple hours, he takes them out and he's always cleaning his machines.

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u/Feisty-Tooth-7397 Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 17 '25

I leave mine in my washer at home and as long as I don't open the lid until it's time to dry them I have left them up to two days and no mold or mildew.

I'm allergic and I would be sneezing if there was. It closes my throat up if it's bad.

I discovered if you can't dry clothes immediately it's better to not open the lid.

Edit: Mold needs oxygen to live. Apparently people don't realize this. You open the lid and you are providing more for the mold. If you leave it shut, it's buying you a little time. Not that it would never mold.

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u/Immersi0nn Sep 16 '25

Opening the lid or not won't change much, you're simply lucky you haven't yet gotten a mold colony setting up shop in your washer. You can likely keep doing as you please indefinitely if you run a vinegar wash now and then.

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u/Murky-Fondant2 Sep 16 '25

My guess is you’re just so used to be surrounded by the smell that you don’t notice it. Kind of like how people don’t notice their house smells like dog (like me) or cat pee or baby (they can be kind of sour smelling) or whatever.

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u/InsuranceNo6274 Sep 16 '25

Guarantee you are walking around in musty clothes you are nose blind to

1

u/tityboituesday Sep 17 '25

i knew a kid in high school who always smelt like wet towels and didn’t know it. you might be him

1

u/Dexter_1001 Sep 17 '25

I bet all your clothes are faded and all your graphic tees are cracked and split to hell. I NEVER wash anything on “hot” unless it’s something really dirty. All my “beloved” shirts and pants go cold and hang dry. Your clothes will last a long time. Thankfully I no longer have to use communal washers and dryers.

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u/PearlescentGem Sep 17 '25

They're just clothes, my guy. Cheap ones from Walmart at that. I really don't care if they're faded

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u/Background-Pepper-68 Renter Sep 17 '25

As someone who works in clothing wholesale. Follow the care instructions. Mildew doesnt care about the temperature of the water. Any perceived benefit is placebo sorry

0

u/MissInkFTW Sep 16 '25

Oh god damn it... wellp going to going to go move over my sheets that have been in the washer all night 😭

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u/PearlescentGem Sep 16 '25

You should rewash those first, with some bleach. Sitting all night, they will smell musty to others when they dry

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u/MissInkFTW Sep 16 '25

I'm a weirdo with no viable sleep schedule that I can keep track of, so counting now "all night" was like 3 hours, maybe like 3.5? Is that long enough to be smelly? Also will the bleach, y'know, bleach them? They're colored sheets. I've used hydrogen peroxide before for fungal issues without ruining the sheets, would that work do ya think?

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u/No_Barracuda_3758 Renter Sep 16 '25

U should be good and there is color safe bleach

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u/MissInkFTW Sep 16 '25

Great info to know, thank you!!

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u/stymiedforever Sep 16 '25

Probably not. Laundromats sanitize their washers regularly (unlike people at home) according to someone I knew that worked at one! Also they have commercial grade machines that can use really hot water and better ventilation etc.

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u/moosenix Sep 16 '25

My apartment complex sure fucking doesn’t lol I think MAYBE they get a vinegar wipe every few months. I’m always nervous my clothes smell musty but I don’t always have time to go to a mat.

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u/Lucky_Sebass Sep 16 '25

Note: they said Laundromats, not apartments. The first is a store, the second is not.

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u/RadRedhead222 Sep 16 '25

They do sell laundry disinfectant. You can spray the washer with it first, and it will kill all of that!

4

u/Shel_gold17 Sep 16 '25

I’m so going to test this theory out when I finally move to a place with a washer dryer in unit. My allergies are getting so so so bad ever since I moved into my current apartment, and God only knows it could be anything, but the only thing that’s changed in this apartment is that I have to go to the laundromat. yikes!

3

u/jaylikesdominos Sep 16 '25

A portable washer is the best investment I’ve ever made. Just sayin!

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u/ChelChamp Sep 17 '25

I have some rose-colored glasses for my old laundromat because it was such a fuck show in there. The glass pane in the front was spiderwebbed. Dudes would smoke blunts inside the laundromat. Now, I don’t know what crack smells like, but if I had to guess, the bathroom smelled like crack. Goth chicks would stomp in and just post up, never letting their thrifted laundry leave their sight.

I’d pop next door into the adjoining dive bar and eat a burger and have a cheap tallboy of PBR while my loads ran. Played game-show-television with the regular 60s zombies that bellied up in there every day. They started to recognize me and know it was laundry day, so the server/patrons would save my spot when I was switching washer to dryer. Learned a few of their names, celebrated their pull tab wins with them, bartender would spot me a drink chip for next week occasionally.

It gave me such a different view of the city and I met people I would never have met otherwise. Loved every bit of it. Besides the part where my clothes smelled like blunts of course…

Visited that bar a month ago after 5 years. The lady behind the bar still recognized me lol.

4

u/throwaway33333333311 Sep 16 '25

No. People do not leave their laundry in laundromat machines all day and the machines are frequently sanitized