If you’ve ever used a shared laundry room, you’ve probably run into this situation: every washer and dryer is taken, except one that has already finished. The clothes are still sitting inside, but the person who owns them is nowhere to be found. Do you wait for them to come back, move the clothes yourself, or give up and try again later?

It’s a surprisingly common source of tension in apartment buildings, dorms, and laundromats. Most people understand that nobody wants a stranger handling their clothes, but people also need access to the machines they’re paying to use. That leaves one awkward question: when is it actually okay to move someone else’s laundry?

Some People Think Finished Laundry Is Fair Game

A lot of people believe the responsibility falls back on the person who owns the clothes once the washer or dryer stops. If other people are waiting and every machine is occupied, leaving a finished load inside can hold up the entire laundry room.

People who are comfortable moving laundry usually see it as a practical solution. If a cycle has been finished for a while and nobody has come back, they don’t think the person waiting should have to stand around indefinitely. As long as the clothes are handled carefully and placed somewhere clean, they see little harm in moving them.

The Hard Part Is Not Knowing When They’ll Be Back

One reason this situation gets frustrating is that there’s no way to know how long someone will be gone. They might be walking through the door in two minutes, or they might have completely forgotten about their laundry.

For the person waiting, it’s hard to decide how long to give them. A short delay may not seem like a big deal, but when you need to get your own laundry started before work, school, or bedtime, those extra minutes can matter.

Other People Prefer to Give Them a Little Time

There are also plenty of people who think a finished cycle doesn’t give everyone else immediate permission to grab the clothes. They prefer giving the owner a few minutes to return first.

There are plenty of normal reasons someone might be late. An elevator could take forever, a child might need attention, a phone call could run long, or someone might simply misread the time. For these people, waiting a little before touching another person’s laundry feels like basic courtesy.

Wet Clothes and Dry Clothes Can Be a Different Story

Many people also treat wet laundry differently from clothes that have finished drying. Wet clothes can be heavier, easier to drop, and more likely to pick up dirt if they end up on an unclean surface.

Dry clothes tend to get a little more leeway. If someone needs the dryer and the finished clothes placed neatly on a clean tray inside a laundry basket, some people see that as a reasonable solution. Still, not everyone is comfortable with anyone else touching their clothing, so there’s no single rule everyone follows.

Shared Laundry Rooms Go Better When Everyone Is Considerate

The responsibility really goes both ways. If you’re using a shared laundry room, keeping an eye on the time and getting your clothes out soon after the cycle ends helps prevent problems for everyone else.

At the same time, someone who needs the machine should handle another person’s clothes with care. Putting clean clothes on the floor, tossing them into a corner, or mixing them with someone else’s laundry can turn a minor inconvenience into a real argument.

If you have to move a load, a clean folding table or laundry basket is a much better option than the floor. It takes very little effort and shows some respect for the person whose clothes you’re handling.

So How Long Should You Wait?

There isn’t one rule that applies to every laundry room, but many people settle somewhere in the middle. If the room is busy, giving someone a few minutes to return is a reasonable courtesy. If they still haven’t shown up and people are waiting for the machine, carefully moving the finished load may be considered fair.

Around 10 minutes is a common amount of time people are comfortable waiting, though the situation matters. A nearly empty laundry room is different from a packed one where several people are waiting for a washer or dryer.

The best thing you can do if you’re the person using the machines is set a timer on your phone. If you’re the only person waiting, a little patience can help, but you don’t have to wait forever for someone who has left their clothing in a shared machine.