As an incoming college student, one adjustment that many kids have to make is that of doing his or her own laundry. Although many kids do their own in high school, many, myself included, had the luxury of throwing dirty clothes in a laundry basket and having them reappear every Thursday, clean and folded. Unfortunately, the laundry fairy cannot accompany you to college. I have learned a few lessons about laundry that I think would be worth sharing to the incoming college student, or the student who has yet to do laundry and is now wearing very smelly clothes.
First of all, I would strongly advise learning to do laundry BEFORE coming to college, rather than thinking that it will be easy to figure out all alone. Personally, I did my own laundry the majority of the summer before college. This made me pretty comfortable with it, but it still wasn’t second nature. I would suggest maybe 4 months of consistent laundry doing before college; this will make it second nature and your entire wardrobe will be very familiar to you. This will make laundry sorting at college a much quicker process.
Another point to remember is that the washers and dryers in college are most likely not the same as the one’s at home, so be sure to check out the features before you use them. In Owen Hall at Purdue, for instance, our washers don’t have a place for fabric softener; instead you have to buy fabric softener sheets to put in the dryer. Also, don’t forget to remove all lint from the lint trap – it’s easy to forget, but if you do, all of your clothes will be covered in little fuzzies!
One of the hardest things about doing laundry in college is planning your time accordingly. Realize that once you start, you won’t be able to leave your dorm until you’ve finished – generally a little short of two hours. You don’t want to leave clothes sitting in the washer because colors could bleed or leave them sitting in the dryer because they will wrinkle. And although everyone hates to admit it, leaving clothes sitting in the laundry room increases the risk of something getting stolen. Last, but not least, pick a good time of the week to do laundry. The weekends are always the most busy since everyone has big chunks of time open without any classes to go to. Pick a time during a weekday when you have time between classes so that the room will be less busy. Don’t wait until the last minute to do laundry either since there is no guarantee to get a machine…
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I found out after I came here that they make little sheets called "color catchers" that you throw in the washer with your clothes and it allows you to wash lights and darks together. It saves a lot of time and you don't have to do laundry near as often. They only cost a few bucks for a dozen sheets and they are well worth the time saved.
One thing I hate about doing laundry is that I will go to get my stuff out of the dryer and my clothes will be piled on top of the dryer because I didn't pick up my clothes fast enough. One time the person actually folded my clothes for me! I thought that was kinda weird but hey i didn't have to fold my clothes that day.
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