In my Riverside ranch house, I used to start a load of laundry on my way out. The reasoning felt tidy: the washer would shut itself off when the cycle ended, so I could come home to clothes ready to move along. As of mid-September 2026, I am less willing to treat the end of a cycle as the end of the water question. Here in California, you may have the same reflex.
In Riverside, Riverside Public Utilities recommends checking for and repairing leaks. That is a useful instruction for the laundry area, where it is easy to think about the clothes and forget the water supply behind the machine. I can trust the washer to finish its cycle without treating that as a reason to ignore a leak.
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What a university extension service says
For an extended absence, a university extension service advises: “Turn off the water supply to the clothes washer to eliminate pressure damage to the hoses.” Its instruction is about the supply to the washer, not a button that ends a load. That distinction changed how I think about starting laundry before I leave. I used to put the whole job under one heading in my mind: washer on, washer off. Now I think about finishing the load and protecting the washer’s hoses from pressure damage as separate concerns…