Visitor Laundry

[Thipu1]

Whenever we visit MIL, she asks if we want to do laundry and seems surprised when we don't.  We normally arrive on Tuesday afternoon and leave on Friday morning.  We pack plenty of clothes and can easily do a load of wash in our own apartment when we get home.  we're also adults who don't engage in contact sports. 

Last time SIL and her DH visited us, she asked about doing a load of wash.  There was no problem with this.  But, since they pack much like we do and have the same appliances at home, it seemed a little odd.

They're certainly welcome to do laundry at our place but, lacking small children, it seemed a little odd for a two day stay.

I'm just curious about how common this sort of request is.

[Outdoor Girl]

I'll do laundry if I'm staying with a friend for a week, especially if I've flown.  Knowing I have laundry facilities available, I'll pack a little less.  Or if we do something like camping where my clothes would get especially dirty.  Otherwise?  I pack everything I need.

As a hostess, I have no problem if my guests want to do laundry.  However, my washer doesn't allow for small loads so if they only have a few things, I'll ask if I can top up the load with my own stuff.  Or if I'm running a load, I'll ask guests if they want to throw anything in.

[lowspark]

I think the same way as you do, Thipu. Really, if you're staying less than a week, you really shouldn't have to do laundry. Exception would be something like heavy duty sports (sweaty clothes) or swimsuits maybe. But even then, it's a maybe.

A friend of mine was visiting and stayed with a mutual friend. The three of us were hanging out together for a few days. Host friend was perturbed that guest friend wanted to do laundry. She'd arrived on Tuesday night and was leaving Sunday morning. So really, about four and a half days.

The issue was that she chose the exact tiime to do laundry that host's husband was going to do his. I mean, he was toting laundry to the washer when guest interrupted to do hers. So that obviously left a bad taste in everyone's mouth (except the guest!). But it got host friend and me to pondering, Really? She needed to do laundry after being there about three days? Come on.

So yeah, I'd have to say, it would annoy me a little. I bet if said person were on a vacation for the same amount of time, or even more, staying in a hotel, they would manage without doing laundry till they got home.

[Yvaine]

Like Outdoor Girl, I'll do laundry at my host's home if I'm going to be there a while and it'll make a big dent in the number of bags I have to bring. I ask while I'm packing if it's ok to do laundry while I'm there, and I ask if it's a good time to do it when I'm about to start a load. For a weekend, I can get all my stuff in one small bag and I don't bother.

[amylouky]

When we went to visit a somewhat-relative for four days a couple of years ago, this came up. She is very fastidious about her house, everything in place, and she did their laundry every night. So she was surprised the first night when I told her we didn't need to do any (although she came in and took our towels, which was fine). The second night she asked again, I could tell it was bugging her, so I went ahead and washed what we'd worn so far, even though I'd borught enough for all four days. I think it really bugged her to think of having dirty clothes around the house. 

[Lynn2000]

Yeah, I don't think I've ever done my laundry when I've been a guest in someone's home. I would certainly hope it would be okay if there was a situation of some kind, like an unexpected mess or the airport losing my primary luggage or realizing, to my horror, that I only packed one pair of socks. But I wouldn't expect it as a matter of routine, unless I was staying longer than a week perhaps or planning to get quite dirty.

I guess if the host doesn't mind it's not a problem, of course, though to me it would be the less usual request, so if I was thinking about doing it, I would certainly ask the host in advance, like before I even did my packing.

[Betelnut]

For a 2-day stay--yeah, that's probably kind of unusual.  But for any stay over 4 days, I think it would be fairly common.  I'm big and my clothes take up a lot of room.  I don't want to pack a lot if I know I can do a quick load while staying at my sister's house (for example).

I think doing laundry while on a trip (especially staying at someone's house) is normal.  Heck, I even did laundry while I was in the hospital!

[Zilla]

I wouldn't think it was odd at all.  This is your mil, your spouse's mother, correct?  And your spouse's sibling that visits?  I would thank the mother and decline but I wouldn't think it weird.  And again for the sibling that ask to use the laundry. Not strange.

[Hmmmmm]

I've met people who dislike packing dirty laundry if they don't have to. My mom was like this. If a family member was visiting for more than a day or 2, she'd always ask if they wanted to throw a load in their last day. I think it might have stemmed from when it was common for people to have limited amount of clothing options, so if you were traveling for a day, visiting for 3, and then traveling home for a day, you'd use up 5 days worth of clothing and may not have time to wash clothes (prior to cloths dryers) before running out of clean undies.

One of my sister's still does it. If she is visiting for a few days she'll wash their clothes the last night. Her deal is she likes to being able to unpack mostly clean clothes and just put them away.

I'm the opposit, I like to throw everything that was packed whether worn or not directly into the wash upon return.

[shhh its me]

   I always pack more then I need and I feel that cloths in a suitcase with dirty cloths are dirty , so I'd love to be able to toss in a load or two of laundry before I go home just so I don't have to wash everything. Some people sweat more/have different BO so their dirty cloths smell bad especially stuck in a suitcase or car with them.

I don't think its a big deal unless it effects your plans.

[CakeBeret]

I always offer to let guests do laundry.

I like having the opportunity to do laundry on vacation. I would not ask, but if it was offered to me, I would take the hosts up on it. The worst part of vacation, for me, is getting home with a suitcase full of dirty clothes and having to start doing laundry right away. If I can do the laundry on vacation, even if it's just a couple days' worth, it makes the end of vacation, going home, and getting back to normal life much smoother and less stressful.

[Betelnut]

Oh, good point.  It is nice to only have a few pieces of dirty clothes to set aside after getting home!  So I try to do at least one load before heading home.  Mind you, my trips tend to be at least 5-7 days.  When I go to NYC for the weekend, I don't do laundry there since it is usually only a one night stay.

[Dorrie78]

I don't think this is a strange offer when you are visiting your parents (or your spouse's parents). I have never done laundry at a friend's house (absent some emergency), but when I'm at my parents' house, I'll often help them with chores around the house while I'm there and if I'm going to help with their laundry, I might toss some of mine in there too. And if they are doing the laundry, they'll ask me if I have anything to wash.

I think there is a big difference between visiting parents and visiting other people when it comes to laundry for many people.

[WillyNilly]

I'm always very thrilled when I can do laundry while on vacation. Because laundry on vacation is infinitely easier then laundry at home! I live in an apartment building and I am not allowed to have my own washer & dryer, instead I must lug all my laundry down the hall, down the elevator, down another hall, hope a machine is empty, pay, remember to be back down promptly to move it t a dryer (again hoping a machine is available) then remember to get down promptly, to haul it down a hall, up the elevator and back down a hall, and I must do this all within the laundry room hours, which are not 24/7. Oh and I need to work around my work schedule because when I'm home I'm not on vacation. If at someone's home or a vacation rental with a washer & dryer 1 or 2 rooms away and a nice relaxed schedule, laundry is 100x less of a chore. And it means when I get home, and resume my work schedule I don't have a huge pile of dirty laundry waiting to be done.

Also, I generally only travel with one suitcase. So if I'm not doing laundry, I have to pack any dirty clothes in with clean clothes, which I don't care for at all. (Yes I usually bring a large plastic bag or something for the dirty clothes, but folded clothes fit in suitcases better, and i dislike folding my dirty clothes.)

[Judah]

I don't see the strangeness in doing laundry.  When I have guests I make sure they know where the laundry room is (it's hard to miss, but still), and I if I'm going to be staying with someone more than two days, I'll need to do laundry, especially of I'll be exercising while I'm there.