How much is too much Washer and Dryer usage?

[Zacharias0]

Is it me or do guests who stay on a long term or even short term basis use your washer and dryer more often that even you do? I have a gas dryer and received my gas bill to find out it was twice as high as normal. Mind you natural gas is suppose to be super inexpensive. My bill went from $25-30 a month to $60-$70/month. I thought it was a mistake until I realized that my guest is using my dryer every other day at the most random of times. On top of that he always has something to wash. Am I atypical in that I only use my washer and dryer once a week at most and do all my laundry at once mid-day?

Before he moved in I learned my lesson and stated hours of laundry and that each time you'd like access its an additional charge of $5. I wish I lived close to a laundrymat then I can honestly say that its off limits. Unfortunately, I have a hard cost that the monthly payment isn't covering. That isnt usually the case with a lot of minor expenses like increased water bills.

What have fellow hosts done in regards to washer and dryer usage?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Zacharias0  you are in the desert, just put the drying rack on the window/balcony/garden and that's it 🙂

[Alan475]

Of course they do, the Guest is living out of a suitcase and only has x amount clean clothes.

To save on costs maybe purchase a new machine that does shorter cycles, ours does a 18 minute refresh cycle which uses minimal power and water. As for drying suggest the use a air drying rack.

[Kath9]

@Zacharias0, some people just have no brains and also simply don't care if it's not their power bill. No, you're not atypical at all - apart from my Airbnb sheets, I do my own washing no more than once weekly and I won't even tell you how infrequently I do my own sheets! And I almost never use my dryer except when it's absolutely necessary. Why don't you just say no to the laundry use? How far away are you from a laundromat? At the very least give them a drying rack and, if you have a quick cycle, ask them to use that.

[Paul154]

I'm with @Branka-and-Silvia0 . 

I got rid of my dryer 10 years ago and I live in a rain forest.

I was afraid at first, thinking other Americans would balk at living without a dryer. But It hasnt been an issue -  I just don't get roommates or guests who want a dryer.

No loss, just gain.

[Sarah977]

@Zacharias0  I don't offer use of my washer and I've never owned a dryer in my life. I have an outdoor clothesline- when i lived in Canada i also had an indoor drying rack. And yes, I also only have one load of personal laundry a week, then a load of sheets and towels from the guest room. 

What I do is when I am doing a load of wash, I'll ask a guest if there's a few small things they'd like to add to it. They have seemed to appreciate this, and takes the place of them deciding to start a wash with 2 pairs of undies, a tee shirt and a pair of socks.

A couple of guests asked for a pail and a bit of laundry soap, which I was happy to provide, and washed their stuff out like that and hung it on the line.

Most of my guests stay for at least a week. I have a 3 night minimum, and I wouldn't even offer any washing to a 3 night guest. If they arrived with a bag full of dirty clothes, that's their problem, not mine.

[Rachel177]

@Zacharias0 I have had the occasional guest who uses the laundry way too much. The last one was a guest who stayed for a week and managed to do 4 loads (with minimal clothes in each) during that time. She even put a load on the night she arrived & no, she hadn't been travelling she'd arrived straight from her own place.

I can't restrict use of the washer as it is in the guest bathroom, but I only give instructions on how to use the short 30min wash. And I've taken off my listing that I have a dryer (it's a washer/dryer combo which is so inefficient as a dryer so I don't tell guests that I have one). And I do have signs in the guest bathroom about conserving water - though some guests just don't seem to care.

[Amelie90]

Yes I can feel you. I have the same problem. The guests staying 2 nights and are using my machine even without detergent. Even 1 hour before departure they are using the machine and want to use the dryer before they leave.

[Milind14]

I have been hosting my first guests as a pilot test. They are a family of 3. They have been running 2 loads each day for the last 5 days. They plan to stay for 10 days. Meaning at the end of their stay they would have run the washer dryer more than 20 loads!! I live by myself and do laundry twice a month and 3 loads each time. 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Zacharias0 

I have a 16kg top load Samsung washer. I did not consider the possibility of hosting when I bought it....... and while I have been wanting to buy a dryer (which is quite expensive in Korea because indoor line-drying is the norm) I cannot because *I know* that most guests will probably over-use it and I'll end up with a HUGE gas & electricity bill. 

I state that guests staying more than 1 week are allowed "1 load" of laundry per week at no additional cost. I emphasize during check in that the washer HAS TO BE at least 1/3 full for 1 load, and a guest would need at least 1 week's worth of laundry to meet the minimum laundry requirement. I handle laundry for guest towels and bed sheets so the guest only needs to worry about their own clothes. During 2yrs of hosting and about 10 guests, I've only had 1 guest use my washer excessively. 

[Afua8]

I have this same problem with guests both long and short term, my question is if airbnb is an accommodation service were people host guests then why do guests seem to have more power than host when it comes to following rules? For example, if a guest was to stay at hotel laundry service is not inclusive with the stay so why are guest expecting so much from hosts? I think as a hosting community we should collect our concerns, experiences and bring it to airbnb's attention to come up with strict guides for guest and end this bad behaviors of some guests after all without airbnb host risking their home to host guest this company has no profilio to operate on world wide platform.

[Alice-Leda0]

I have supplied a small washing machine in my airbnb and Ive just had the issue where I realised my two tradeworker guests have been using the heat lamp in the bathroom to dry their clothes. We only realised this because  intense localised heat was coming up through the wooden floorboards of the floor above where we live. I immediately thought that must surely be a fire risk and asked them to stop, which they did.

I can understand while guests are away from home and especially away for work, they may regularly run out of clothing and urgently need to dry it.

I sent them the link to the local laundromat with a dryer

I am trying to find out what the limits are to using the IXLtastic bathroom heat lamps, but I think anything that transfers so much heat cant be good when left on for indefinite periods of time. The lamps are 275 watts each .

[Sarah977]

@Alice-Leda0  Not only a fire hazard, but a huge electrical energy draw. 

[Mika8]

Not only guests are that brainless .. in Switzerland it's used to have a common laundryroom .. and two of my neighbours make laundries with only 3! pieces of things in it (and this not occassionly, an a regular basis). They also manage to flood the place around the machine because they use way to much detergent and the massive amount of foam leds to a leaky machine-door. I never have the problem of a leaky door.

And once I had a guest, who was a host too, he told me that one of his guests used the washing machine every day for one single pair of socks, because this guests seems to had a (mind-)problem with used socks. After this experience he took the laundry away from the amenitiy list.

Also some of my guests asked to use the machine on the day they'll go home (back home) ... is it so terrible to have some used (not dirty) clothes in the bag?

[Mj69]

Traveling sport teams laundry...