Laundry

[Anonymous]

DC has a few questions about how laundry works in college dorms. Are there set times students can do laundry, or can they go whenever they want? How often do most students end up doing laundry? Are the laundry rooms usually crowded or hard to access?

Also wondering about theft — how common is it for clothes to get stolen or moved, and are there good ways to prevent problems? How long do clothes usually sit before someone removes them from a washer or dryer, and where do they typically get put afterward? Also, is it worth getting one of those rolling laundry carts or laundry backpacks?

[Anonymous]

People do still come back here even after their DCs are accepted into colleges!

[Anonymous]

At most colleges the laundry rooms are open 24-7. If they are crowded or not varies by school. The times and frequency of laundry varies from kid to kid. Both of my daughters did laundry on Sunday afternoons and called me while they did laundry. Which was a great routine because I pretty regularly got that weekly call.

[Anonymous]

I bought little name stickers for my kid's sheets, which I thought might be easily confused with someone else's, since all the beds are twin XLs and there's only a limited number of sheets that can fit those. He's never had an issue with lost laundry, crowded machines or anything else. He had a little plastic laundry tote, useful to carry other stuff in. Dorm space is at a premium, so you want something you can stuff in the closet, or slide under the bed. I think laundry is the least of the issues a kid might have at college.

We stuck a large sticker on his Macbook Air and told him not to leave it on the table to go to the bathroom in the library, or some similar situation. Thieves go for the unidentifiable devices first. If your kid is going to a wintery place and has a fancy winter coat, treat it like a valuable piece of property. When we were visiting cold locales, several people told us that winter coats get stolen. Maybe something recognizable on the outside might help, and a name sticker inside.

Tell your kid to carry her campus ID with her at all times. My kid got locked out of his own dorm room several times until he remembered to bring it with him everywhere - the dorm rooms on his campus lock automatically when they're closed.

[Anonymous]

How likely it is for laundry to be stolen depends on the school. My daughter sets a timer so her finished laundry isn’t just sitting in the washer or dryer. People will take out finished if they need to use the machine and things are more likely to go missing (lost or taken) in those cases.

My daughter uses a laundry backpack for dirty clothes and has a collapsible laundry basket for clean clothes.

[Anonymous]

Why even ask this question when the answer is obviously completely variable? Do you think the laundry situation is the same at VCU and Washington & Lee? It will change from dorm to dorm, school to school, region to region.

[Anonymous]

My son’s a junior now but I bought a laundry bag for him before his first year and they seem to be pretty common. I don’t think many students use rolling bags because laundry is not always on the same floor as their room.

This one is unavailable now but there are lots of similar styles.

https://a.co/d/02ZlvPGw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son’s a junior now but I bought a laundry bag for him before his first year and they seem to be pretty common. I don’t think many students use rolling bags because laundry is not always on the same floor as their room.

This one is unavailable now but there are lots of similar styles.

https://a.co/d/02ZlvPGw

Yes, my son had a drawstring one & later requested a "backpack" one like in the link. It makes it easy to carry and has a convenient pocket for detergent.

His university has dorm laundry charges (washer/dryer) included with tuition/fees.

[Anonymous]

It depends and it just takes one jerk to ruin the laundry, unfortunately. I had a couple instances of my stuff being taken out of the dryer while still wet (so dryer time stolen) so I just would read in the laundry room.

[Anonymous]

It’s a public laundromat of sorts at most and yes, people do move your things if you do not come back in time. Be mindful of others or wait with your clothing.

[Anonymous]

One thing good about UMD is that laundry is free!! don't need to worry about coins or swipes. This, in addition to the unlimited meal plan, just make life so much better for college kids.

[Anonymous]

Tell your kid 2 things: To set a timer or use the school’s app to know when their load will be done and show up promptly to remove it, and to leave their laundry basket on top of the machine so when they don’t show up on time, the person waiting to use it next has a place to put your kid’s clothes.

[Anonymous]

My son's school has an app on for the laundry rooms -- they can see when machines are available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC has a few questions about how laundry works in college dorms. Are there set times students can do laundry, or can they go whenever they want? How often do most students end up doing laundry? Are the laundry rooms usually crowded or hard to access?

Also wondering about theft — how common is it for clothes to get stolen or moved, and are there good ways to prevent problems? How long do clothes usually sit before someone removes them from a washer or dryer, and where do they typically get put afterward? Also, is it worth getting one of those rolling laundry carts or laundry backpacks?

Depends. Boys rarely if ever lost their dirty laundry. Girls on the other hand appear to be loosing their laundry more often. Not sure why, but maybe the DCUM pundits would know.

[Anonymous]

The only change from when we were in school is that you don’t need quarters anymore and there are laundry services at some places.