So number 1 (no laundry and car washing on a Sunday) surprised me. I know shops are closed... but no laundry at home?
And 13? Really? No toilet flushing? Private homes is this okay? New buildings?
And 14? No trash on a Sunday?

I also recognize that the internet is full of hyperbole and exaggeration... but are any of these true?

https://www.destinationtips.com/dest...switzerland/1/

Yes really
And don’t even think of reaching for the lawnmower on a Sunday either.

Wecome to Switzerland 🇨🇭😊
You’ll be Swissed and loving it in no time, everybody does 😊🇨🇭

Once you get used to all the rules, you’ll wonder why other countries don’t have them and everything elsewhere seems chaotic after being here.
Many of the rules you’ve stated are simply out of respect for other people’s peace.

I’m Swiss and just the other day, I was severly told off by two ladies of a certain age because my puppy barked (just once!) for a cuddle. I was told to take her to doggie school immediately and teach her to be quiet.

A tip….. never snap back if you have an issue.
I just: «mais oui mesdames, bonne idée!» and let things slide.

Follow the rules
They will change you before you change them

__________________
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"Il mondo è fatto a scale, chi le scende e chi le sale"

<Wrapping head around this>

No laundry on Sunday… have always done laundry on Sunday. And the toilet… no flushing!?!

Japan (my current situation) has a lot of rules too.

The toilet thing is bull shit. I’ve always flushed the toilet at night in many different apartments with no issues.

Laundry on a Sunday will depend on your building - again I’ve always been able to wash on a Sunday.

People will gladly call the police about neighbours making noise, there are hundreds of threads on the forum about it. There are specific rules and laws .. Take a look at a quick summary here.

The flushing of toilets is just sensational though of course and only applies if you're in an apartment with no sound insulation and disturbing your neighbours all night with it.

I live in an individual house and I do all these things like laundry whenever I want .. But I don't cut my grass on Sunday. I also don't let the kids go crazy in the pool or on the trampoline early morning or later at night.. But Sunday is a popular car washing day at the local jet wash place.

You just need to get a feel for where you live.

True too (regarding toilets)
Lucky you for being able to do the laundry on Sunday, I once got told off for washing at lunchtime during the week because I was supposed to be making lunch for my family 😁

I’ve sneaked in a few loads on Sunday too.
Still here to tell the tale
🌸

So if I'm in a private house and I chose to hang laundry outside, the neighbors (likely) won't have an issue?

My concern is, because, in Japan, I once left the towels on the line overnight (mind, we are in a farmhouse, next to an apartment building, and there's no law on this), and we got a visit from the police (they have to follow up on EVERY call, no matter how trivial) because a neighbor complained (noise). We since learned that we have neighbor who likes to harass via the police. Nowhere else where I've lived (in several countries on four continents) have I ever had the police called on me!

So... I am actually curious about this.

In reading this... am I to understand that people call the police on others rather than talking to neighbors?

I'd never think to reach for the phone first, but would rather consult the neighbor politely the next day (if not too bad), or knock at their door if it got late and the music/party was really still too loud and ongoing.

https://www.ch.ch/en/noise-disturban...ms-neighbours/

As long as you hang out the washing without disturbing the neighbours then it's fine .. Noise has to be excessive / unnecessary to break the rules, you can still start the car and drive off, the kids can still play, you can even have a BBQ . But if the kids are screaming for hours, you are revving your engine for fun or your fishy BBQ smoke is going in the neighbours window. You are likely to have issues.

In 9 years of normal living here I've never had an issue, either me breaking the rules or being annoyed with a neighbour breaking them.

That's fair... I use a non motorized push mower personally (might be different depending on garden size in Switzerland), don't allow my kid to scream excessively ever. My smoker is large, but actually doesn't run smokey... and I'll certainly check the wind patterns for best location if near a neighboring house. Hopefully a preemptive gift of smoked sausage to them can make for some understanding - or an invite if its going to be an actual barbecue. Engine revving drives me nuts... as does idling for any period of time other than the wife forgetting something in the house and going back for it.
My farmhouse currently abuts a grocery store parking lot, and so we hear truck deliveries at ridiculous hours, and it's only when they leave it idling that I occassionally at 5AM will go out in my PJs and have a word with the driver. But calling the cops? Still seems excessive to me.

True, except if you a farmer. Then you can make as much noise as you want 24/7. We’ve had combine harvesters in adjoining fields after midnight a few times.

Rule 1: Every other rule will have an exception, rarely will they favour you.

I wish the slamming of car doors was more paid attention to ... I sometimes feel people slam them harder late at night. (My street is small and the echo is deafening.)

Depends.

We do.

Chainsaw too.

Tom

It didn't say that. It said no hanging it outside on sunday.

That's totally not true.

We used to be able to 24/7, but it became Swiss-wide illegal on Sundays, holidays, and after 9PM earlier this year.

Tom

From what I see, Swiss Germans are much more strict about sticking to the rules. In Romandie, things are waaaay easier

Ahh.. for us, generally, laundry includes hanging it outside... If we had an indoor dryer, I doubt that anyone would know... the trash is one I'll have to pay attention to... I'm not noisy, and I tend to attend to ours shortly before bed time usually...

Whew...

Except for the farmers, things are indeed pretty laid back in Vaud, in particular along La Côte. But the proportion of non-Swiss is much higher here than the average.

So much depends on your neighbours - things that are Verboten! in one neighbourhood might be well tolerated in others.

For instance, I may not hang laundry out any day of the week. At least not that the neighbours can see. Doing so on a Sunday would likely be a deportable offence. I can, however, run my washing machine (when the damn thing works, that is) 24/7, as I live in a house and no one is the wiser.

No lawn mowing on Sundays, not even a push mower. That will get you shot, then deported. I can quietly work in the garden, and must, because the emergence of a weed will send the Geraniumpolizei running for their post-it notes regardless of the day. But no power tools. And so on a nice sunny sSunday I discretely work, while waving to the farmer behind me running his big ol' noisy manure spreader.

And around here it's not just Sundays. No power tools or similar noise before 8, between 9-9:30, between 12:00-14:00, and after 17:00. Official quiet times, as in whisper when you are outside, are 22:00-07:00, though.

One other thing to be prepared for:

If I need work done around the house, most tradesmen start at 7am, but noise is not allowed until after 8. So I pay the workmen for the first hour even though they can't work.

All this is of course a whole lotta YMMV. It all boils down to what is the norm in your building or neighbourhood. And how thick your skin is. The neighborhood enforcer with post-it pad on hand and the police on speed dial is also the gentleman who most often disregards noise etiquette himself. One rule for me, another for thee.


TL;DR - just be discreet, outwardly respectful, and live your life.

Depends where you live and the house rules. I have a house. On your list the only things we don't do is cut the grass on a Sunday.

Living in a an apartment block, you can put trash in a communal bin on a Sunday, but you can't do your recycling. You can flush the toilet at any time, day or night if not everywhere then most places. There may be a request in the house rules to try to minimise it, but it's a matter of hygiene.

You often cannot wash your car outside of designated car wash areas. That's local or possibly cantonal law.

You cannot disturb your neighbours with noise between 10pm and 7am. (Hours vary), and between 12 and 1:30 or 2 during weekdays.

There are often family shops that open long hours on a Sunday. Around international railways stations, motorway services and airports shops are open Sundays.

__________________
Down with racism. Long live miscegenation!