College Freshman’s Guide to Laundry

Doing your own laundry, the official sign that you are now on your own and in college. Or maybe it’s the mountain of dirty laundry and lack of clean underwear. Either way, this quick guide will help you learn how to do laundry in college.

What You’ll Need

Detergent: Clothes won’t get clean with just water, so you need detergent. These days, detergents are highly concentrated, so you won’t need much detergent for several loads of laundry. Follow the directions on the detergent jug for how much to use.

Stain remover: Some stains won’t come out after one wash, so just to be sure, buy a bottle of Shout Stain Remover and apply it on stains. If you spilled something greasy on your clothes, like barbecue sauce, use the stain remover immediately and wash it as soon as you can. Also, buy Tide to Go sticks that usually come in three packs and keep them on you to get rid of stains right after they get on your clothes.

Dryer sheets: These Kleenex-looking tissues prevent your clothes from sticking together through static cling and  soften and add artificial fragrance when you dry them.

A bag to carry everything: If you live in a dorm, chances are you’ll have to make a trek to the laundry room, so bring a draw-string laundry bag or plastic basket to carry everything.

Quarters/school I.D. Most colleges offer an electronic declining balance for machines like washers and dryers, so don’t forget to bring your student I.D. and some quarters just in case your balance is low.

Not All Laundry Is Equally Washed

Before you dump all of your clothes in the same washer, you have to separate your laundry into three groups: Darks (blacks, dark grays, navy blues), lights (bright colors like blue) and whites.

If you wash any colors with whites, the colors will bleed through and ruin your clothes. For example, if you wash something red and something else white together, the result will be something pink.

Brrr, it’s cold!

If you’re worried about your clothes’ colors running through, wash your laundry with cold water. Your clothes will keep their color and you can wash darks and lights together in one load.

High and Dry

Before your clothes are finished washing, clean out the dryer’s lint filter and throw in a dryer sheet. Once the washing machine finishes, take your clothes and put them in the dryer and choose the appropriate dryer setting.

Some fabrics and clothes should not go in the dryer as the high heat will make them shrink, so just hang those clothes to air dry. Always look at the “how to wash” tag on your clothes before you wash and dry them the first time.

Final thoughts

Most dormitory washing and dryer machines have guides on how to sort laundry and what water temperature settings to use for which types of clothes. Remember to check your fabric labels and bring something to read as doing laundry is a monotonous and boring process, but clean and fresh clothes feel great and are one less thing to worry about.