Laundry Chute- Yeah or Nay? Please read for details.

amother

Sat, Mar 08 2014, 11:33 pm

We are moving into a two-floor condo IYH, first floor and basement.

Laundry room is on the basement level. Master bedroom and kids bedroom on the main floor (more bedrooms downstairs for future use IYH but not used currently).

We have an option to put a laundry chute in. The catch is that we are limited as to where it will go.
It seems that the most reasonable place for the opening on the main floor is in the main bathroom closet, which makes sense. The place where it would then land is in the bathroom (kids/guest) downstairs.

I can't figure out how to make the landing pad elegant. It would be a hole in the ceiling, across from the toilet/vanity. Someone suggested making a closet. But it wouldn't be flush with the wall, it would be a square foot closet jutting out into the five foot wide bathroom. Someone else suggested figuring out a way to put a mesh basket underneath, pretty much on the ceiling, as a net that could be slid to let the laundry down when necessary.

Given our specific details, not necessarily your specific details, what do you think?

miami85

Sat, Mar 08 2014, 11:41 pm

My mother's house has a laundry chute, in this case it lands in the basement so no one sees the landing area, but for years there was a bag that attached to the bottom to catch the clothes with an opening at the bottom (perhaps zippered) so you just open it and let the clothes spill into the laundry basket below. the bag has been lost for years so I don't remember it 100%, but since you mentioned the same idea, maybe that idea could work for you.

Kugglegirl

Sat, Mar 08 2014, 11:42 pm

No suggestions, only questions from me:

So laundry would land on the floor on in a basket that has to be in the middle of the floor?

How close is this bathroom to the laundry room?

Would you be the only one sending laundry down or would kids & DH be sending it down at any time?

How startled will a guest or kid be if they are sitting on the toilet & a bundle of dirty linens lands in front of them?

Any way to slope the chute from the middle of the ceiling to a wall & then put an enclosed hamper under the sloped chute?

amother

Sat, Mar 08 2014, 11:55 pm

Kugglegirl wrote:

How startled will a guest or kid be if they are sitting on the toilet & a bundle of dirty linens lands in front of them?

forget clothes coming down the chute, could an immature kid technically look down the chute into the bathroom below?

amother

Sun, Mar 09 2014, 12:22 am

either way, please make sure the chute opening is not big enough for a kid to reavh in. I saw a choot were the laundry hat to be uped and then pushed down, if you understand me. I know a story where a little boy got stuck in there.

BabsB

Sun, Mar 09 2014, 11:01 am

We had a laundry chute when I was young. It was inside the "mop closet" off the kitchen right next to the laundry room.

It was a cabinet though. Think of a wall cabinet you might normally see in a bathroom. My mom just opened the door and the clothes were right there.

It was big enough for us to crawl in. Smile

Hehe, the cabinet was very sturdy and we just climbed right back up but it's something to consider.

greenfire

Sun, Mar 09 2014, 11:18 am

build a wooden cabinet around it ... & have laundry baskets next to the washer to divide laundry as you take it out ...

careful for kids not to throw something heavy down on the other kid's head Feeling beat up

tryinghard

Sun, Mar 09 2014, 11:26 am

As other posters have pointed out, be careful about the size of the chute opening - a friend of mine told me theirs was large enough to throw down a small sibling so they boarded theirs up. Ours is smaller so it's not a safety issue - but it also means we have to be careful to not throw tons of stuff down in one shot or it gets stuck. Towels and large clothing items need to be put in very carefully as well.

amother

Sun, Mar 09 2014, 3:36 pm

BabsB wrote:

Hehe, the cabinet was very sturdy and we just climbed right back up but it's something to consider.

OP here. Can you elaborate on this set-up?

Happy18

Sun, Mar 09 2014, 4:44 pm

Playful children will send different things down the chute. I specifically remember sending many many many toys down the chute at my neighbors house. Personally I would not want to have to pull toys out of my laundry every time I did a load. I would find out if there is some kind of lid with a child lock to prevent this.
Like others said make sure its too small for a child to fit through.

Rutabaga

Sun, Mar 09 2014, 6:01 pm

Our house came with a laundry chute, and I haven't used it once it the +5 years we've lived here. I would much rather everyone put their dirty laundry into hampers which I can sort at my own convenience than have piles of unsorted dirty laundry hanging around.

greenfire

Sun, Mar 09 2014, 6:25 pm

Happy18 wrote:

but they also leaves things in the pockets ... all pockets should be checked & socks unrolled before you do the wash - regardless if it's in a chute or a basket or on the floor

Happy18

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 7:27 am

greenfire wrote:

but they also leaves things in the pockets ... all pockets should be checked & socks unrolled before you do the wash - regardless if it's in a chute or a basket or on the floor

Fair point, but like I said I know what we threw down there. I wouldn't want to add the work of sorting out that stuff in addition to emptying pockets.

m+m

Mon, Mar 10 2014, 10:29 am

I am not a fan of chutes, I think they are dangerous. We closed our chute.

If you are using one build a cage around it so you don't need to worry about laundry all over the floor.