Anonymous wrote:If you have teenage boys, they will not touch any of the cleaning supplies you send, except perhaps the clorox wipes.

Make sure that your kid has a plunger in their bathroom if they live in a suite style dorm room.

Febreeze too.

Anonymous wrote:So newbie question...Does the mattress cover pad go on first then the foam topper or whatever?

No the mattress pad goes on top - it's there to protect everything from spills and stains.

If the dorm has no A/C you might need to buy a fan and cotton bedding.

So newbie question...Does the mattress cover pad go on first then the foam topper or whatever?

Anonymous wrote:There are Facebook groups geared towards what to buy for dorms. Lots of good advice there.

What I got so far based on those recommendations - the blue bags from Amazon and the Woozoo fan from Costco.

You can get the Woozoo fan on Amazon as well. And whoever convinced all college kids (and parents) that fan is the one you need to have is genius! The Woozoo company is making $$$$$.

Also, someone said the latex mattress pad has to be opened before arriving at school. I disagree. I kept it in the box until we were in his room and it was just fine. It will take up a ton of space otherwise.

If you have teenage boys, they will not touch any of the cleaning supplies you send, except perhaps the clorox wipes.

Make sure that your kid has a plunger in their bathroom if they live in a suite style dorm room.

Anonymous wrote:Nobody needs a "best" laundry bag. Get a hold of yourself. I'm 48 and still using two of the laundry bags my mom got me at age 17 from Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Let your kid figure out how they want to store medication. Land your helicopter.

I’ve still got a laundry bag I made myself for college. Not to be special, just a beige fabric I found sitting around. Flat rectangle with a draw string. It was a little too big and I didn’t actually use it in the dorm much. But has been back of the closet ever since and now I use it for the load of beach towels.

At fall break, my son grabbed a zip up duffle bag to use for laundry. His roommate was using that system and it worked better than large bag or basket. It also became his train bag.

Don’t over think these things and let them figure some of it out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bedbug covers for the mattress.

At my kid's school, the mattresses are laminated in plastic. No need for bedbug cover. I think this is probably true at most schools nowadays.

+1 the mattresses at my kid's dorm were super thin, so if you get a mattress cover, you need to also get a mattress topper.

DC didn't care about a mattress topper. They thought the thin mattress was fine. I guess it's all those of years of camping lol

If your school gives the option of renting a fridge/microwave instead of buying it, do it. It's more expensive, but it doesn't matter. You don't want to be lugging that stuff up and down the stairs with no elevator, not to mention the space it'll save in the car.

You can often find the 3 tier rolling carts already assembled at Marshalls/Home Goods, etc.

Thre 3-tier rolling carts are very useful, but if you look on amazon they sell a version that folds flat (like a stepladder). Very helpful for moving/storing.

Most of the kids at my dd's school have their adjustable beds on a high setting (for more storage underneath) and found they needed a pretty tall stepstool to climb in, especially the shorter folks.

Anonymous wrote:Bedbug covers for the mattress.

At my kid's school, the mattresses are laminated in plastic. No need for bedbug cover. I think this is probably true at most schools nowadays.

Buy the cheap 2" mattress topper from Amazon. It's great. They don't need the pricey 3" Tempurpedic or Caspar.

3 tier roller cart is useful
Plastic drawers for under lofted bed
Backpack laundry bag. Look for high ratings on Amazon

Check Target in July for super cheap and nice bedside lamp, foldable chair, pillows etc. Target also has reasonably priced cotton sheet sets in XL.
HomeSense for bed chair pillow

Bedbug covers for the mattress.

My kid just came home so I have some recommendations, OP!

ViscoSoft mattress topper Has a washable cover, smell dissipated within a week, kid (with bad back, takes Celebrex) liked it and taking it back next year
https://viscosoft.com/products/three-inch-mattress-topper?variant=39670601318497

Brooklyn Bedding Cooling mattress topper, because I was worried the mattress topper would be too hot. I personally didn't care for this because it is "slippery" (I tried it out because I sleep hot), but kid liked it.
https://brooklynbedding.com/products/luxury-cooling-mattress-protector/twin-xl

Collapsible laundry basket is great for transporting clean, folded clothes and carrying clean laundry back to dorm room. I guess you could put dirty in it too, but my kid preferred a bag for that.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09DR8QBJ4/

A woozoo fan is good for small spaces
https://www.costco.com/woozoo-5-speed-globe-fan.product.4000230071.html

This detergent is great. Very concentrated and small bottle. Sometimes crappy dorm washers don't get hot enough to dissolve the laundry pods, so this is a good alternative. We only use the unscented, though, because the one scented one we tried was gross.
https://www.target.com/p/seventh-generation-free-38-clear-ultra-concentrated-66-loads-laundry-detergent-8211-23-1-fl-oz/-/A-76158733#lnk=sametab

Also, I read that the trick to getting a minifridge that works is to never, ever tilt it too far or turn it on its side or back to carry it. It needs to remain upright or the refrigerant (or something) can leak out and then it will break. You should also let it sit upright for several hours after moving it before turning it on. Overnight is good.

Finally, find out from current students what the wifi is like. My kid really needed an ethernet cable for some things (like gaming, but also on class registration night when everyone was logged in at exactly the same time)