Laundry in switzerland sucks

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
21

Yes,if you hadn't put that in swissbob,I would've

It's not only because of the noise that some landlords/agencies don't allow them in the flats.

Another reason is fear of rot/mould,because the laundry would be dried within the flat as well, which causes a higher humidity overall, add to that closed windows (particularly in the cold season) you got a recipe for mould occuring...........

@

sandgrounder

you hit the nail on the heat,COMMUNICATION is everything in todays lifestyles!

Rather ask once too often than not at all!

Rather let your neighbor know ,in nice words,that you are pissed off at his taking over your slot,than never saying anything at all.And this goes for everything else where people

@

all the others whose washing machine and driers are not up to their expecations or seem to be faulty.

Have you thought about asking the neighbours

-if your setting of the machine is perhaps not right

-if they also have problems

-if the machine is indeed faulty,asking the agency/landlord for a repair/check up/a new one in a letter that all tenants then sign?

If ppl hold their hands in their laps and expect things to change by themselves,they are in for a surprise

22
I need help with my laundry machine. It's a mini Kenwood EU 350 front loader. No manual, have no idea how to use it. I've searched high and low online for something that might help make sense of it. The pictures don't make sense. Can anyone give me some insight? My landlady is just weird and old and confused.

23
I live in relative luxury. Our wash room has 8 washing machines and 8 dryers. We can wash on Sundays and if you time it right you can use three or four machines at a time and get all your laundery done in a little over two hours, including drying.

But, on the flip side we suffer from another problem. Certain w*nkers seem to think that it's acceptable to use three machines and then pop out for the day leaving the machines standing idle.

Now before someone says, "why don't you just empty their stuff out?", I've started to. But why the hell should I? Why can't these people be more considerate of others?

24
I do not know what you all do with your maching machine. But back in Switzerland I used always the settings Sport/40°/Delicate on my V-Zug. Took ~30 minutes and clothes have always been clean and never torn.

Here I have a stupid toploader, with 3 possible heat settings. Hot(ca. 90°), Warm(ca. 60°) or Cold (10° or as it comes out of the tap). And two speed settings. Cloths come out torn, still dirty, and shrunken. Whooaa.. My full size bed sheets are going towards twin size, my t-shirts have holes and i am happy that i have no white socks.

So RTFM (if you dont know what it means look it up) and learn how you can wash in less time. It is possible even with Swiss machines.

25
Now before someone says, "why don't you just empty their stuff out?", I've started to. But why the hell should I? Why can't these people be more considerate of others?

This is a common mistake people do often.... thinking people should give consideration for others...

Sadly, everytime we think about what people should do, should say, should act, we get more angry.

We can't put our expectation on other people, because they don't have the same then you, or me, etc.

I found a way to not get angry at those people and situation where i was thinking: he should do this instead of that, how dare....

I just created my own standart of society behaviour according of my expectations. And because I know a lot of people will not share the same expectation, when I am in front of those people and situation, I call them: my idiot of the day .

Ok lets take your laundry problem as an exemple. You have this person who let all the time the machine full for hours. Obviously, you don't share the same expectation. You can try to talk to him, we'll say it didn't work, and he still doing it. So there is your idiot of the day !

Every morning when I wake up, I know today I will meet my idiot of the day . I am already expecting it! So I have no surprise when I meet one idiot of the day , ( in the groceries store, cutting the line up, for exemple) I'm not getting upset, I was expecting it, so I can only say: Haaa! there is my idiot of the day !!!

But be careful, some days, it will happen you will see more then one. In that case it is an addition of the days you didn't went out and didn't see any of them. Some are not idiot of the day , be aware of this also, some are permanent idiot, and you can't avoid them... Like a co-worker or neighbours....

My life is much easier since I stopped getting angry because I was expecting something from others.

So just take his laundry out of there and use it.

Oh! I almost forgot something, we are always the idiot of someone, for what ever the reason. We don't have the same expectations.....

Have a good day, and say Hi to your idiot of the day for me!

Nil

26
Communication is definitely the best way...in most cases, the person at fault is too embarrassed to give a repeat performance....we are lucky to have a fairly easy laundry schedule...but one thing that really gets to me is that one person continually uses a machine for ...get this....one dishcloth.......just the one! Where is the environment police when you need them?? And this person is Swiss (French part I think), lived here all their life etc...I would imagine they would know better!

27
Hi I'm new on this forum and have just read this tread with great pleasure. It is so true, the laundry problem in appartment blocks really sucks and is reason #1 why neighbours don't get along. It is a matter of communication but sometimes you can try as hard as you want, you still don't get along.

Fortunately most of the newer appartment buildings now have either built-in wash machines in their flats or enough machines in the communal laundry room.

28
The two things that I truly hate about the laundry here are that you are forced to use warm (or hot) water (in the machines in our building it's not possible to choose water under 40C), and that the power to washing machines is cut off from 11.30am or so for an hour and a half or so so that (according to a friend of mine who grew up in this canton) "there will be enough energy for everyone to make lunch"? Seriously?

29
Hello

I have a question that I hope somebody can answer. (I have not moved yet to Zurich.. .waiting for possible offer). This thing about common laundry room and not being able to use a washing machine whenever you want is completely absurd. Is this true for all rented appartments? For the prices of these rents I would assume that you have your own washer and dryer and can wash all night long if you want. We have a small baby and washing once a week or so would be completely unacceptable. Can somebody shed some light onto this?

Thank you in advance.

30
"Completely absurd", or "completely different from what you're used to"? I've heard that something like 75% of the population of Zürich are apartment-dwellers... that's got to include a baby or two, I would think.

Some apartments do have their own washer and dryer (it will say in the advertisement - look for "eigene Waschmaschine/Tumbler" instead of " Waschmaschine/Tumblerbenutzung" ) but shared facilities are the norm. However, the details of the sharing can vary a bit; in some buildings there's a signup sheet and in some you just go and use the machines whenever they're free (still has to be before 10pm though.)

31
I actually do not understand why I have to pay for the laundry. I would love to have a washing machine at home, but my apartment is not recommended, so that I must book the laundry. We do not need to pay for the complusory laundry in Sweden.

32
What are you saying? You have to pay to use the washing machine in your building????

33
Sweden??

34
Laundry is something that I really can't complain about (strange...). In my apt block there's just one washing machine and a drier (that I never use and find it dangerous for most clothes) and a spreadsheet where everyone book in advance. So it's just a matter of booking with 1 or 2 days in advance and you are done. I've surprised some people even washing without having booked.

This also saved me the money from buying a new washing machine..

But for some people is a true nightmare: in most of the apt blocks there are strict schedules and a friend of mine sometimes even had to wake up at 8 on saturday to do his laundry.. how stupid and uselessly complicated..

35
I must be one of the unfortunate ones who live in a 20 family apartment building and there are only two washing rooms. Each washing room has two washing machines, one dryer, and two drying areas. The dryer on both rooms don't work. I've checked both!

We have a schedule and for the most part, it works fine. The only thing I can't understand is why some of the people who stay in the apartment all day long book the evenings as their washtime. Why can't they do their laundry during the day, when they're home and they can take their sweet time? Now all of us folks who work during the day have to fight for the few remaining slots on Saturdays and whatever slots left on weekday nights.

Fortunately, I'm counting down the days I'm staying here. In a month's time, I'll be moving to another apartment where I will have my own washing machine and dryer in my flat.

36
Yes, I can never understand and I wonder if it is legal since the tenant should not be charged for the laundry in SWEDEN. I know nothing about the Swiss Law so that I have to pay for the laundry every time I use the washing machine and there is no dryer....

37

Really? You don't pay to use yours?? I find that really surprising (although it's not something I have ever discussed with anyone, and I have only lived in one place here)

38
Complete surprise to me - I had several apartments around Switzerland and the shared washing machine and drier were always part of the deal - I never heard of anyone paying on a per use basis. I guess there's at least two of you then.

39
I also have to pay for mine -- there is a machine that accepts 20 rappen coins and will run the washer/dryer for a limited time based on how many coins you put in.

40
Maybe it is a trend. A friend of mine recently got a card system in the laundry room and thinks it's a good idea: Some of his neighbors always hogged the machine with small amounts of laundry, the card now prevents this.