How to do laundry in The Sims 4

The Sims 4’s new stuff pack, Laundry Day, released Jan. 16 for PX and Mac players.

You can now subject your sims to the most tedious of chores—doing their laundry. While that may not sound very fun, it’s something lots of The Sims 4 players wanted to return to the game. (It was last part of The Sims 3.) The good news is that doing laundry is a lot less time-consuming than it is in real-life—and if you don’t want to deal with it, just don’t put Laundry Day items on your lot.

But if you do put Laundry Day items on your lot—specifically, the hampers, washer, or dryer—your sims will need to do their laundry. If they don’t, they’ll get smelly and very unhappy.

Once you’ve got the necessary items, the process is simple. Here are the steps.

1. Every time a sim undresses, their dirty clothes will pile up into the hamper placed on the lot. (If they’re slobs, their clothes will go on the floor.) Click on the hamper and select “Do Laundry…” From there, you can choose to have your sim wash their laundry in a wash tub—if there is one on your lot—or in a washing machine. Click “Add to Washing Machine” to move the laundry.
2. Once it’s in the washing machine, you’ll need to hit “Wash Laundry” to start the load. The process will take about an hour, but it’ll beep when it’s done.
3. Click the washer again and hit “Unload & Move Laundry To… “Add to Dryer” to switch it over.
4. Click the dryer and start the dry cycle from there.
5. Take the laundry out of the dryer and the clothes will automatically fold themselves and get put into your dressers or drawers. If you unload the dryer too early, though, you’ll leave your sims with damp clothes.

The process is similar if you choose to add a clothesline or wash basin to your sim’s home. But for the electric washer and dryer, remember to check your lint tray once you’ve finished a load. There’s a risk of starting a fire if there’s a lot of leftover lint in there, just like in real life.