Is it ever acceptable for a guest to do their laundry at your place?

A friend stayed with me for a week and, on the day she was leaving, asked if she could do her laundry before she left so she wouldn’t have to do it when she got home. Is this acceptable?
P.F., Concord, NSW

Credit: Illustration by Simon Letch

A: Distance is key here. If your friend travelled across the planet to stay with you, then sure, I get why she asked to do her laundry before she went home. Sometimes it’s nice having a change of clothes over the course of a long plane journey – and you really don’t want airport customs staff rummaging through the festering laundry-stew that used to be your underwear.

But if your friend only travelled a short distance to stay with you, I’ve no idea why she couldn’t do her laundry when she got back home. All I can think is she doesn’t own a washing machine or there was a particular item of clothing or bed linen that needed emergency cleaning – and by concealing it in a larger bundle of laundry, you’d never discover the heinous horror that had happened in your very own house.

Long-distance or short, heinous or innocent, acceptable or not, here’s the thing: your friend is a house guest, so what are you going to say? “No, I don’t want your soiled laundry contaminating my pristine washing machine, but it’s been lovely having you stay, dear friend. Come back any time!”

Of course a guest can do their laundry before they leave. But don’t offer to do it for them, don’t watch them while they’re doing it and, as soon as they’re out of your house, run your washing machine on a hot setting with a solution of bicarb and white vinegar. Not being weird, just being careful.

[e-mail]

To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.