Ha! Here is an obscure product you bet you didn’t even know you wanted – but now you do – and now you know where to get: A laundry chute door.
And here’s another one — designed and manufactured by Air Rite Service Supply in Lakewood, Ohio, USA. It’s also powder-coated metal.
And the one above: Alas, discontinued: It’s available from American Metal Products / Lima Register … made of powder-coated steel … comes in 10″ or 12″ widths … and includes “spring-hinged, push-in laundry chute door with inner rubber guards for quiet closing.”
Consult with a licensed professional / check local building codes before installing, or if you have one — a reader has pointed out that in some communities, laundry chutes are considered a fire hazard.
Do we all have laundry chute stories?
“I certainly remember my first one,”
she says longingly, as if recalling a childhood sweetheart.
Here’s Ann-Marie’s:
…I do have a laundry chute story from my childhood. My sisters and I were always forgetting our keys to get in to the house after school, but we could usually borrow the spare key from the neighbor.
One day, we realized we had forgotten to return Mrs. Neighbor’s key. We puzzled and puzzled over how to get into the house without a key.
Finally, being the resourceful little schemers that we were, we figured out that my sister Lisa was probably skinny enough to go up the laundry chute (a cut out in the bathroom cupboard, with a tube like protrusion hanging from the basement rafters).The basement was accessible from the garage, which we were able to get into, because the garage door did not lock.
We pulled an act worthy of a circus, with me standing on a box, Ginny on my shoulders, and we crammed Lisa into the chute.
Of course she got stuck, but Ginny and I didn’t care. What is the life of one little sister worth when you are missing the afternoon’s episode of original “Star Trek” rerun? (Captain Kirk was so dreamy.)
So we just twisted her and kept shoving until she popped through, and, the day was saved.
To this day, we cannot figure out why we got in so much trouble for that little escapade. My theory was that it scared my parents into seeing how easy it would be for bad guys to break into our house to steal all our stuff, of which I was sure we had plenty.
Pretty darn excellent Marimekko bed and bath sale at Crate & Barrel 
Pantone products for bed and bath at J. C. Penney 
Flamingo decor from Ikea — cheery shower curtains for just $14.99 — and more 
Rejuvenation starburst bathroom hardware no longer in production 
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With the “small-ish” chute we had in our MCM rental house years ago (I’m pretty sure the chute part was a piece of ductwork), the kids were always pushing a big wad of clothes through and I always had to loosen them up from the bottom with a broom handle!
But the best was the really big chute at my grandmother’s old farmhouse, where my brother and I used to climb up and down the inside! What fun!
My sister and BIL finally found one on e-Bay after they remodeled their cape bathroom. Had BIL known they were no longer up to code in their area, he would have just painted the one they had vs. throw it out. Yes, apparently, it’s a flue for a potential fire.
I’m from Lakewood, Ohio..and the house I grew up in had a laundry chute in my bedroom…my sister and I would throw our dolls down the chute…great memories….now I live in Maryland in a lousy Levitt rancher…not laundry chute, no basement, no architectural imagination…..Oh for the good old days!
We have a laundry shoot – there are three points of entry – one from an upstairs bath, an upstairs room and one from our coat closet near the kitchen. I absolutely love the convenience…the laundry drops into a bin down in the utility room where the washer and dryer are located. The only thing is that I haven’t found the little lady that should be down there washing everything as it magically gets dropped down the shoot and out of sight!
I love all of these stories. So many of the articles here bring back memories we hadn’t thought about in years. That’s what makes this site so much fun!
My family’s 70’s house didn’t have so much of a laundry “chute” as a laundry “hole” — a hole in the cabinetry under the sink on the first floor, that, if one removed a ceiling tile in the basement, allowed one to toss laundry from the first floor to the second. As far as I can remember we never used it for laundry, and the ceiling tile remained in place. But as a ~12 year old I picked up what I thought was a fairly risque novel, and after reading it, had no idea where or how to dispose of it — so I tossed it into the hole. As far as I know, it’s still resting somewhere on top of the ceiling tiles of my parents’ basement.
I was with a realtor looking at a 1930’s house from a prominent family still owned by the original owners. The 88 year old woman who lived there was moving out. The realtor showed us the top door for the laundry shoot on the second floor.
We then went to the basement, and she found the bottom of the chute, which also had a door. She pushed it open, and resting on the floor were two pairs of old lady panties, complete with ruffles, waiting to be washed!
LOL AND let’s not forget the “Milk Chute” Remember those?
Our grandmother had a laundry chute that fascinated my brother & I. We were constantly throwing toys & other items down it. Grandma was patient until we started peeing down it!!
My partner & I will be installing one in our 1928 Bungalow. We are taking it down to the studs, so perfect time to do it!
I was born and raised in Lakewood, Ohio, so CLEARLY I need to support that business and have my dreamed of laundry chute installed.
We have 2 doors to our chute. A chrome door (with broken spring) in our kitchen and a wooden door in the upstairs hallway. I LOVE the laundry chute! And we are in Cleveland, right next to Lakewood. I love finding local places that make these products. Thanks!
Hi Todd – I’m so sorry, but we stopped making laundry chute doors a few years ago.
We never made them in a nickel finish.
My suggestion would be to google them.
So sorry.
Thanks for asking.
Diane Kooiker
Retail Customer Service Rep
American Metal Products
Selkirk Corporation
P. 800-252-8467
F 888-252-6444
5030 Corporate Exchange Blvd SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49512
hartandcooleyinc.com