Upworthy recently posed the question: What’s one item from your childhood home that you loved most?
The answers from our followers were rich and nostalgic: A stone fireplace. An old porcelain tub. The willow tree in the backyard.
It wasn’t long until someone mentioned the laundry chute, of all things, and struck a seriously whimsical nerve. From there, dozens of commenters jumped in to echo the sentiment.
People share their laundry chute nostalgia stories
Laundry chutes, though not seen often in modern homes, were quite common in houses built during the early 20th century. They loved chutes back then, and homes had chutes for all kinds of things: trash, coal, and, naturally, laundry.
It turns out, people who grew up in those houses in the ’50s, ’60s, and beyond have brilliantly fond memories of laundry chutes.
Kids LOVED to make mischief with the chutes.
“We had one, my brother used to shimmy up and down from second floor to the basement,” said Rachel Horne Lackie.
“Our chute was the best spot to hide in when we played hide and seek. It only went down one floor, and didn’t reach the basement where our laundry room was, so it was pretty useless, but it was fun to hide in,” said Christina Lund Botzum.
Obviously, climbing around or hiding in the laundry chute is extremely unsafe, but for those who lived to tell the tale, it was a blast.
Or sometimes, they used them to save the day.
“We had a laundry chute in my childhood home. It was a swing door in the floor of the bathroom linen closet that led to a bin hanging from the basement ceiling. I crawled UP through the swing door one Thanksgiving when a much younger cousin accidentally locked himself in the bathroom,” wrote M.E. Ram.
Pets loved them, too.
“I’m not saying my house is old – but I still have one! It drops into a laundry basket in the basement. We recently got a lab pup (8 months old now) when I drop a sock down the chute and he sees, he runs to the basement and brings it back up,” wrote Debbie Eldridge-Crowson.
Sometimes, the laundry chute confused the guests.
“We had one too. It had a pull cord in the party space. Someone pulled it thinking it turned off a light. Dirty laundry cascaded down!” wrote Marlies Merk Najaka.
But dang if they weren’t convenient.
“There was an access door in the upstairs bathroom. Chute ran straight down to the basement and we had a laundry cart under it that caught the dirty clothes. Cart wheeled over to the washing machine. So handy!” wrote Linda Vought Spencer.
“Ours had a door in the upstairs bathroom and another door in the kitchen (large bin caught the laundry in the basement.) It sometimes came in handy as an ‘intercom’ if you didn’t want to yell,” wrote Jeanne Tolliver Dipple.
Laundry chutes have mostly gone out of favor
It’s rare to find a laundry chute in a home made within the last few decades for a few reasons.
For starters, the technology inside washers and dryers has improved dramatically. Overflow pans and better construction mean the risk of flooding is a lot lower, so you don’t need to keep your washing machine in the basement. Many families have a washer and dryer on the main floor in a mudroom, laundry room, or even bedroom—which eliminates the need for a chute to avoid walking down the rickety basement stairs.
Experts also figured out that laundry chutes, unfortunately, are quite the fire hazard. They allow heat, smoke, and fire to travel easily between floors. The laundry chutes that do exist now are often sealed with fire-rated doors and outfitted with a sprinkler system.
People who grew up in old homes still crave houses with personality
Laundry chutes are mostly gone. Lazy susans are outdated. Little kitchen pass-through windows have gone by the wayside in favor of open floor plans. So have many pocket doors, phone nooks, and transom windows.
Maybe their purpose is outdated, but the fun, whimsy, and charm of old-house features lives on. People overwhelmingly agree that more modern builds are boring and sterile. Houses, in particular, are built largely for resale—clean, open designs that don’t offend anyone, but don’t make any bold choices, either.
Some young homeowners are even going so far as to “unflip” their homes and return them to their former glory, with wood, brick, textured walls, and other outdated choices that fly in the face of “Millennial grey.”
You can’t argue with the fact that old-fashioned laundry chutes were a safety hazard in more ways than one, but there’s something to be said for the deep nostalgia and longing many adults have for a time when charm and personality were ever-present in our homes.
