'My roommate doesn’t seem to get this': Woman keeps 'borrowing' things without permission, so her roommate makes a plan to catch her

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 7, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

This person is frustrated with their roommate, who has a habit of taking things that don't belong to her. 

As with many parts of life, living with another person is all about communication. It's way easier said than done, and this person, who shared their petty revenge story, is tired of her roommate's inability to replace things she's used up. 

As u/nothesame shared, their roommate doesn't even mind when their roommates borrow their things, whether it's some milk or clothes washing powder. But what does grind this OP's gears is their roommate not replacing things they've used up. That would drive anyone crazy! You go to do a load of laundry and find no soap — that's annoying. When the lack of soap is a surprise from your roommate? That's next-level irritating. This person shared their solution to the issue, and it is certainly petty. Commenters then shared their own experiences with rotten roommates, who seemed to also have success with these methods. 

Next, check out this baker who was facing a birthday party dilemma. 

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  • 01
    Motor vehicle - 'I just snapped. I had told her over and over to not use my washing powder if she wasn't going to replace it'
    via Tina Bosse on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - She kept stealing my washing powder so I gave her dye I don't mind when my roommates borrow my stuff. We've all been there. All I ask is that they replace what they take. You drink my milk? Just buy me a new milk. It's as simple as that.
    via u/nothesame
  • 03
    Font - Unfortunately my roommate doesn't seem to get this. She keeps taking my stuff and when I ask her to please replace everything she takes she'll buy one new thing and "forget" to do it the next time despite having more money than me.
    via u/nothesame
  • 04
    Font - I finally snapped when I wanted to wash my clothes but only found an empty box that used to contain my washing powder. I don't buy fancy or expensive stuff and I don't care about brands. After using the last of my powder a week earlier she could literally have bought the cheapest no-brand powder in the world and I would have been fine. I just snapped. I had told her over and over to not use my washing powder if she wasn't going to replace it and I just had enough.
    via u/nothesame
  • 05
    Font - I bought a new box of washing powder, some dylon machine dye, mixed it with a bit of the washing powder and dumped it into the old box. When the dye is dry it looks like washing powder, especially if you're not expecting it. I took my new box of washing powder to my room and waited.
    via u/nothesame
  • 06
    Font - A week later I came home from work and saw her laundry hanging outside, all with a mysterious pink color. She stomped up to me and demanded to know what I had done. I told her I was going to dye my own clothes and someone had told me the shade would be lighter if I mixed it with powder (lie), then asked her why she had used it when it had clearly been in a box with my name on it when I had told her not to use it because she never replaced it?
    via u/nothesame
  • 07
    Font - I don't think she believed me but she finally got the message. She almost never takes my stuff and when she does she's quick to replace it.
    via u/nothesame
  • 08

    Commenters couldn't wait to share their own stories of laundry revenge and petty roommate squabbles

    Font - wezlsquez My mom put cornmeal in a box of detergent for the same reason. We lived in a trailer park and later that day, one of the neighbors was bing a blue streak because someone "ruined" her clothes. They don't realize who the bad guy is in this story.
    via u/wezlsquez
  • 09
    Font - I had a flatmate that quite a few times took everyone's laundry off of the clothes drying rack and would dump it in a pile just so he could hang up his own. After the third time of coming home to a pile of wet laundry that smelled damp I had had enough. He didn't know that the rack belonged to me and I was being kind to allow everyone in the apartment to use it. So I sold it. My office building had a laundromat and I had a locker anyways.
    via r/pettyrevenge
  • 10
    Font - Was fun when he got mad and asked where's the rack because he had just done a load. Said I was strapped for cash so I sold it. Ended up buying a better one a few weeks later and kept it locked in my room. He walked around smelling like old towels until he eventually bought his own.
    via r/pettyrevenge
  • 11
    Font - SilverFoxolotl I had a similar housemate once, he liked to take my clothes out mid cycle and dump them on a dusty chair outside. After the second time I warned him that I'd do worse. He laughed me off and did it again later. I dumped his wet work clothes in the garden. He nearly lost his job due to the stains and never went near my stuff again.
    via u/SilverFoxolotl
  • 12
    Font - Waifer2016 hahahah thats awesome! There is a story in here somewhere about another university student whos dorm mate kept stealing their washing soap so they mixed it with bleach. Dorm mate came to the weekly meeting screaming someone owed him new clothes and the RA turned around ad told him HE was in trouble for stealing washing soap!
    via u/Waifer2016
  • 13
    Font - LuminousLoon I had a flatmate who constantly finished off things like butter and rice that I had bought, then didn't replace it. She didn't drink milk, but her girlfriend did (which I didn't know). I noticed I was suddenly going through milk a lot faster and thought I was losing my mind - from half a gallon every two weeks to the same amount in half the time. I ran out of popcorn, pasta, rice, veggies, soy sauce, etc way faster than I thought I should, and couldn't figure out why my budge
    via u/LuminousLoon
  • 14
    Font - Turns out flatmate gave her girlfriend free rein to eat and drink all of my stuff, because she "didn't think I would notice."
    via u/LuminousLoon
  • 15
    Font - Advent_Anunna. There was another story like this a while ago, that guy mixed bleach with his detergent, because someone in his dorm kept using it. When the guy showed up with bleach stained clothes, and threatened the guy in the middle of a dorm- wide meeting, the RA explained that he would be happy to call the police, since this idiot just confessed to stealing for an extended period of time. XD
    via u/Advent_Anunna
  • 16
    Font - Oo A Socalinatl My first year of college I had two roommates in an apartment with a single fridge. Pretty standard living situation. I bought myself some microwaveable snacks and for whatever reason one of my roommates decided he was going to make some of them for himself while we were both watching tv. So he comes back to the living room with my snacks and proceeds to start eating them without even asking if I wanted any. When I took one of them, he got mad at me for eating one of his sn
    via u/Socalinatl
  • 17
    Font - JaBe68 I have two sisters. When my mum got thoroughly fed up with us whining about "she borrowed my shirt without my permission and stained it" she made us buy clothes from each other. I would have to give my sister the replacement value of the shirt in cash when i returned it undamaged i would get my money back. Stopped all the fighting
    via u/JaBe68
  • 18
    Smile - anneylani "What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine." insufferable.
    via u/anneylani
  • 19
    Font - Technomage1 Well done, ma'am. Well done. Powdered starch would have been another and less damaging option. Generally people tend not to take your detergent when their underwear comes out stiff as a board.
    via u/Technomage1
  • 20
    Font - #MeToo à SleepyConscience She broke the fundamental rule of mooching: you never take the last of anything.
    via u/SleepyConscience
  • 21
    Font - lexpython I did this with anchovy paste in a toothpaste tube. It also worked great.
    via u/lexpython
  • 22
    Font - SortaPolyish All too often I see the stories posted to this sub and just cringe at the immature BS that it typically displays. But not this time. This was clever and wonderful revenge. Bravo!
    via u/SortaPolyish

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laundry dye roommate petty revenge washing machine borrow clothes
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