September 21, 2026 at 2:25 pm

She Just Wants Her Roommate to Do Her Own Laundry and Sleep in Her Own Bed — Her Roommate Disagrees

by Kyra Piperides

A woman holding up laundry

Pexels

When you live with roommates, you kind of have to accept that they’re not the same as you. They’re going to have different preferences when it comes to food and beverages, they might be cleaner or messier than you. Perhaps they’re on a very different sleep schedule and have certain different moral, ethical, or religious beliefs. But so long as you respect one another and are actual decent folk, you should have no problem living together at all.

Of course, there will be points of friction, but if handled properly with a respectful conversation and compromise, all parties can still feel heard and respected in their home. However, unfortunately for her, that is not what happened with the college student in this story. Instead, her roommate acted on her concerns – but only for a short time. Now, she’s stuck trying to figure out what to do.

Read on to find out why.

WIBTA for asking my college roommate to stop sleeping on the futon and do her laundry more often?

Okay so I met this girl through the Facebook group for new students in the winter of senior year.

She seemed nice enough and I drove to her city (about five hours away) to meet her.

We decided to be roommates after meeting in person. We didn’t talk much about our cleanliness habits (HUGE mistake).

So after getting to school, I realize this girl is the DIRTIEST girl I have possibly ever met. She never does laundry, and keeps her laundry bag (of dirty clothes!) right next to my desk.

This is understandably grossing this student out.

It is so overfilled that sometimes dirty underwear will fall on the floor. Granted, the room is small and she is an out of state student so she brings more clothes than me.

But, I keep my dirty clothes in a bag in my closet. NOT right next to her desk.

It is embarrassing to have friends in the room because some of them have pointed this out. To make matters worse, she used to keep them right next to the futon where friends sit. So the other spot she picked was right next to my desk.

I didn’t fight it at the time, as I would rather it be here than next to the futon, but it is disgusting.

And the futon is the source of some further drama within this pair.

The second thing she does to annoy me is sleep on the futon. I’m not talking about sleeping on the futon once a week when she gets home plastered at 3 am. It is every single night.

It is bothersome because she often does not wake up until noon or 1pm, therefore, me or any friends I have over cannot sit on the futon.

I feel like I have to tiptoe around my own room when I get ready for class, as she is usually sleeping on the futon right there.

Often times when she leaves for class she will leave her stuff strewn all over the futon, as she uses it like her bed!

Of course, this woman has tried to talk to her roommate about this.

I have mentioned to her that I would prefer she would sleep in her bed, so she stopped sleeping on the futon for a few weeks. This was about three months ago.

However, after her friends came to visit (week after winter break) and THEY slept on the futon, she started doing it again!

She does other things to bother me, but those are the main two that really drive me crazy. I provide most of the cleaning supplies for the room and do ALL of the cleaning. Her idea of cleaning is to throw clothes in her closet, whereas I actually wipe stuff down, vacuum, take out the trash etc.

So would I be wrong for asking my roommate to start sleeping in her bed again and do her laundry so that the bag is not overflowing next to my desk?

WIBTA?

Honestly, until you live with someone you can never truly understand their habits – and this woman has really suffered as a result of that.

But what she’s asking of her roommate is not unreasonable at all – in fact, doing laundry and sleeping in your actual bed are quite normal things to do.

It’s no wonder that it’s bugging this woman.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit had to say about this.

Even to someone who’d never had roommates before, the roommate seemed out of order.

Screenshot 2026 09 17 at 10.46.27 She Just Wants Her Roommate to Do Her Own Laundry and Sleep in Her Own Bed — Her Roommate Disagrees

While others thought the woman should seek support to fix things with her roommate.

Screenshot 2026 09 17 at 10.45.43 She Just Wants Her Roommate to Do Her Own Laundry and Sleep in Her Own Bed — Her Roommate Disagrees

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a resident who is not amused by new parking rules, so locks a lot gate to teach management a lesson.

Meanwhile this Redditor thought she needed to be more assertive with her roommate.

Screenshot 2026 09 17 at 10.45.54 She Just Wants Her Roommate to Do Her Own Laundry and Sleep in Her Own Bed — Her Roommate Disagrees

Honestly, the fact that she’s already tried to have the conversation with her roommate about the dirty laundry and about not sleeping on the futon shows that really, the roommate knows that these things are bothering her already. And yet, she’s still insisting on being lazy and neglectful with her laundry, and refusing to sleep in her own bed. That shows a complete lack of regard for her roommate’s feelings, and – in line with her gross cleaning habits – likely a lack of respect for herself too.

And this woman has tried her best to deal with the situation but understandably is concerned that she’s in the wrong for not enjoying her roommate’s dirty laundry being so close to her workspace and having to tiptoe around the sleeping roommate on the futon all the time. But she is not in the wrong – in fact, she’s the reasonable one here. She needs to seek more support from an RA or other advisor on this issue, because if her roommate is not going to change, she’s going to need backup.

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Kyra Piperides, PhD | Contributing Science Writer

Dr. Kyra Piperides is a contributing writer for TwistedSifter, specializing in Science & Discovery. Holding a PhD in English with a dedicated focus on the intersections of science, politics, and literature, she brings over 12 years of professional writing and editorial expertise to her reporting.

Kyra possesses a highly authoritative background in academic publishing, having served as the editor of an academic journal for three years. She is also the published author of two books and numerous research-driven articles. At TwistedSifter, she leverages her rigorous academic background to translate complex scientific concepts, global tech innovations, and environmental breakthroughs into highly engaging, accessible narratives for a mainstream audience.

Based in the UK, Kyra is an avid backpacker who spends her free time immersing herself in different cultures across distant shores—a passion that brings a rich, global perspective to her writing about Earth and nature.

Connect with Kyra on Twitter/X and Instagram.