How Sweden’s communal laundries shield renters from rising energy bills

People in many parts of the world are worried about rocketing energy bills as the conflict in the Gulf continues. But for the majority of renters in Sweden’s apartment blocks, this is not so much of an immediate concern.

Part of the reason for this is that many buildings have communal laundries where washing machines and dryers (as well as water and heating) are provided and the cost is included in the rent.

In Sweden, nearly one third of all water and energy is consumed domestically, with two thirds of this through activities relating to cleanliness. Electricity for washing and drying clothes also accounts for a substantial share of residential electricity use.

Communal laundries are one of Sweden’s environmental success stories. They began as part of the post-war million homes project, when modern apartment blocks were equipped with shared tvättstugor (laundry rooms) instead of individual residents having to buy their own machines. These rooms usually have a handful of semi-industrial washing machines, dryers and drying rooms serving an entire building. Access is through a communal booking system, and use is free to residents of the building. That set-up is efficient because it means share use of generally high-quality machines which encourages people to use full loads of washing.

I live in the Swedish city of Lund. Since I met my husband 11 years ago he’s been the go-to person for laundry, and takes the loads down to the communal room. For our family, using this facility is convenient because someone else takes care of maintenance and servicing of the machines and we don’t pay extra for washing clothes. It’s all included in the rent, which is negotiated for the building annually.

Tvättstugor rose to prominence during the Swedish government’s widespread building programme of the 1960s and 1970s, as part of a commitment to improving living conditions and creating a fairer society.

Clean running water, reasonably priced central heating and access to a laundry were part of a broader social project: raising living standards collectively, through shared infrastructure. This often meant that shared facilities such as laundry rooms and heating were included in the rent at no extra cost. This means that many people living in apartment blocks dotted around many Swedish cities don’t have to worry about too much about hikes in energy costs for washing, or heating, if, as expected, household energy prices rise this summer, due to the conflict in the Gulf.

Around 51% of Sweden’s housing is in these apartment blocks (2.3 million homes). And a survey of tenants in Sweden in 2020 found that around 53% have access to the tvättstuga.

How communal laundries save resources

If each household in Sweden had its own appliances, the material stock of machines – and future waste – would escalate quickly. A tvättstuga, by contrast, can serve dozens of residences with just a few semi-industrial machines that are built to last, maintained professionally and replaced strategically. It is a denser, leaner way of organising cleanliness.

Shared laundry spaces change how often we wash. Interviews and time-use data suggest that people with easy access to their own machine tend to wash more frequently, with smaller loads. If the washing machine is in the next room and energy and water are relatively cheap, it is tempting to wash “just in case”, or to avoid the minor inconvenience of airing clothes or dabbing away a single stain. When you have to book a slot, carry clothes down to the basement and work within a fixed time window, the calculation shifts. People batch their washing, fill machines properly and think twice before throwing something in after a single wear.

Communal laundries also make technological improvement easier. Upgrading a handful of machines in a shared space is far more straightforward than relying on hundreds of individual households to replace old appliances. Shared infrastructure can be a powerful lever: change the system once, and many people benefit.

But tvättstugor are also social spaces. Where I live the laundry room doubles as a small community centre. There’s a children’s book swap, a noticeboard with local events, and a steady trickle of neighbourly encounters. My husband has his gang of dads that he sees there every Sunday. They chat while folding, sharing tips about laundry liquid and life. Negotiations over booking times, cleaning lint filters and wiping benches are not always idyllic – there are passive-aggressive notes and the odd conflict – but they are also a form of everyday democracy. We learn, in a very concrete way, how to share resources, negotiate conflict, respect common rules and live together.

Despite the environmental and social benefits, communal laundries are disappearing from new housing schemes. Many municipal housing companies are not including tvättstugor in new builds. This is a shame because it’s not possible to solve the energy crisis individually.

We need shared infrastructures – from tvättstugor to public transport to district heating (a centralised heating system that distributes heat to a range of buildings). Sweden shows how these facilities can work in practice: these shared laundry rooms spread costs, reduce waste and nudge people towards sufficiency. Just as importantly, they give us a reason to meet, compromise and practice our negotiation skills. This can help us build the solidarity needed to tackle the climate crisis.

Tullia Jack receives funding from Formas, grant number 2024-02280.