Neighbor uses all 4 apartment building washing machines for laundry side hustle, complains when she gets banned from using them for her business: 'It got ridiculous'

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Sep 25, 2026 12:30 PM EDT

Should somebody be able to make money from a shared utility?

Laundry is one of those chores that a lot of people dread, and it's not difficult to see why. It seems like the hamper is forever filling up with clothes, sheets, and towels, and all of them require washing, drying, folding, and maybe even ironing before they are in a state to be used again. It is one of those never-ending annoyances that most of us want to get done as quickly as possible.

It only adds to the complication when you don't own a personal washer and dryer and have to share those resources with other people. Not only are you running out of clean underwear fast, but you have to time your next laundry load between all the times when everyone else needs to do laundry. 

It is one of the more inconvenient parts of apartment living, and it is only natural to get irritated by those who don't respect that the machines are a shared resource. A lot of us only have a finite amount of time for chores, and to have that window squeezed even further often takes things to a point that is not sustainable.

Advertisement
  • A washing machine with laundry spilling out of it and into a laundry basket.
    via Elena Helade (Unsplash+)

    A washing machine with laundry spilling out of it and into a laundry basket. Stock photography for depiction only.
     

  • A woman started a side hustle doing laundry for other people, and she used the shared machines that were in her building to perform the service. She became so prolific in her business that nobody else felt like they had a chance to do their laundry, as she was using all of the machines at the same time.

    After this issue showed no signs of getting better, a neighbor complained, and building management made an official rule that people could not use the washers and dryers for commercial purposes. It stayed under the radar who had taken action against her.

  • I got my neighbor’s laundry side hustle shut down

    We have a small laundry room in my building with four washers and four dryers. One of my neighbors started doing laundry for people as a side hustle. At first I had no idea what was going on, I just noticed she was constantly using multiple machines at once.
    via Ill_Grapefruit4644
  • Eventually I realized she was doing paid laundry for people who didn't even live in the building. She'd bring in huge bags from customers, wash and dry everything in our shared machines, then return it to them. It slowly got ridiculous.
    via Ill_Grapefruit4644
  • I'd come downstairs after work and all four washers would be running, then she'd show up with another couple bags as soon as they finished. Sometimes there were bags with people's names written on them sitting all over the room.
    via Ill_Grapefruit4644

  • She was asked politely to change her schedule.

    I asked her once if she could at least leave one machine open because those were supposed to be for everyone in the building. She basically told me to come at a different time.
    via Ill_Grapefruit4644
  • After having to take my laundry somewhere else twice because she had everything occupied, I checked our building rules. Using the shared laundry room for any kind of business was specifically prohibited. So I took a few pictures over the next couple weeks and emailed management.
    via Ill_Grapefruit4644
  • They put up a notice shortly after saying the laundry room couldn't be used for outside laundry or business purposes and apparently spoke to her directly. She stopped almost immediately.
    via Ill_Grapefruit4644

  • She was none the wiser.

    She talks to me pretty often and has complained multiple times about whoever reported her. She told me the extra income had actually been pretty good and she couldn't understand why somebody cared so much. Every time she complains I just say something like "yeah, that sks."
    via Ill_Grapefruit4644
  • Close-up of a woman putting laundry in a washing machine.
    via A. C. (Unsplash+)

    Close-up of a woman putting laundry in a washing machine. Actor performance of story events. 
     

  • The business could not take precedence over the neighbors.

    Lives4Sunshine And had she been polite and left at least one of each open for others, she would still be in business today. Play stupid games..
    via Lives4Sunshine
  • vr0202 ".... She told me the extra income had actually been pretty good and she couldn't understand why somebody cared so much... Well, she got greedy, that's why. I would have made one machine available at all times, always let a resident go ahead of me,
    via vr0202
  • intentionally paused a day or two here and there to make myself less visible, and so on. She can only blame herself for the lost income.
    via vr0202

  • The whole building must have felt the disturbance.

    Mediocre Video 1893 I GUARANTEE you aren't the only one who complained
    via MediocreVideo1893
  • QuokkaSoul Why didn't she just offer to do your laundry for free? Then everyone is taken care of!
    via QuokkaSoul
  • CoolAnt6 You did the right thing..She was taking advantage of the washers and dryers..Good for you..
    via CoolAnt6

  • She should have invested in her own equipment.

    LL dataexception I that. She's not entitled to any more than her fair share of the laundry room and time. Good on you. She can buy her own washers and pay her own electricity, maintenance, and water bills.
    via dataexception
  • rkwalton She could have just worked you and the other neighbors in? That would have been very cool of her to do. She F'ed up. Good for you and whoever else reported her b.s.
    via rkwalton
  • megggie Is there any reason she couldn't do the same thing at a laundromat? Not as convenient for her but shouldn't be a huge difference unless the residents' laundry machines were free to use (I never saw that when living in apartments, it was always coin- operated laundry).
    via megggie

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

laundry washing machine apartment living Bad Neighbor
Scroll Down For The Next Article