Laundry Day!

I have this thing called long-distance telepathic delusional super hearing: I can hear all prospective students thinking, “I have this great fear going into college. I won’t be home for ages. I want to be presentable and fragrant and all such lovely things. So how do I clean my clothes in college?” 

Well, it’s laundry day today. Such days are always a bit of a project for me. I’ll tell you what it looks like, with some laundry tips mixed in. 

 Goal #1: Have everything in the washer before my 9 am class. 

After waking up (and doing some work and eating breakfast and taking a walk), I pull my laundry basket out of the closet. When I only wash every two weeks, it tends to be overflowing somewhat by this time.  

Tip 1: Sort large amounts of laundry into two loads, light and dark, because it won’t all fit in one washer.  

I’ll make a third load because I’m washing my bedding today, too. That is the biggest project of all: stripping (and then making) a lofted bed. It’s especially challenging when my roommate’s bed is situated under mine, perpendicular to it, along the windowsill. First, I climb up, throw all my pillows and stuffed animals down onto the floor, and pull off the comforter and top sheet and toss it down as well. Then I get back down and climb over my roommate’s bed, and I nudge over the plants on the window ledge so I can stand on the ledge.  

Tip 2: If you pull the mattress toward you, slightly off the bed frame, you can reach the corner closest to the wall and pull off the fitted sheet. 

Once everything is off the bed, I sort it all again into a third pile. I make sure I got all the pillowcases, and check the room for leftover laundry. I’m prone to forgetting my bath towel or hand towel when it’s not in the basket. When this is done, I dump a load into the basket, grab my laundry detergent from the top shelf of my closet, and heft it downstairs to the laundry room in the basement of the dorm. 

Tip 3: Fridays are a pretty good day for washing, if I start early. Sundays and evenings tend to be busier. When I take up more than one machine, I like to do it during the week.  

Tip 4: Concordia uses an app that connects to the machines to pay for laundry. You download the app, download $25 or so at a time, search for machines using the bluetooth connection between the app and the machines, and press start! You can also use quarters to pay, but it can be cheaper on the app. 

I pick Washer #6 and put my load inside and slather it with soap. Then I find #6 on the app and swipe to pay. It starts with a cheerful beep. 

I trek back upstairs for a second load, put that in, and then trek back again for the third load. Once it’s all going, I return to my room to find my second set of bedding and remake the bed.  

Tip 6: Making your bed is a great way to start the day, even when it’s not laundry day! 

This process is basically the same as stripping it, although it’s a little trickier to get everything tucked in on the sides. I do this by standing under the bed in my roommate’s space and pulling it under the mattress through the cracks in the bed frame. I just put my comforter in the wash, so I grab a different blanket, a bright yellow one this time, and change up my color scheme a bit. 

And now I only have ten minutes to get to Dunklau. I grab my backpack and hurry to class! 

 Goal #2: Move everything to the drier after lunch. 

This is the easy part. I get back to my dorm after lunch (12 pm) with forty minutes of free time before my next class, so I borrow my roommate’s dryer balls and go downstairs with my empty basket.  

Tip 7: Set aside jeans, towels, and sweaters, and move all the rest of the laundry into two dryers (a dryer ball in each). I’ve found that it doesn’t dry properly if you don’t pull out the heavy fabrics.

Tip 8: Hang up the jeans, towels, and sweaters in your room.  

My roommate has this nifty drying rack that folds up. I set that up and lay out the jeans and towels on it, and I hang my sweaters under the bed.  

Tip 9: If you don’t have a drying rack, you can hang things over chairs, rungs on lofted beds, etc. There are also nice little notches in the bed frame for hangers (I am 98% sure they are not intended for hangers, but I am 100% sure they are perfect nonetheless).  

Then I hang out again until my next class. 

Goal #3: Have my laundry folded before tomorrow. 
This is only because a friend is coming over tomorrow and there isn’t enough space to do crafts and also have laundry hanging up all over the place. So after I’ve gotten my laundry from downstairs (and taken a nap and had a homework session), my roommate and I hang out and talk while I fold my laundry all over the floor. 

Tip 10: Make a folding strategy that keeps it from getting tedious.  

Here’s my personal strategy: Pile one is for socks. As I pull them out of the basket, I gradually match pairs. Shirts go in a pile on the back of my chair so that I can hang them on hangers. Pajamas end up mismatched and colorful in a stack by my backpack. Every time my legs get tired of sitting seiza-style on the floor, I get up and put some things away in drawers and in the closet. Finally, the basket is empty, the drying rack is clear, and I fold it away behind the piano. 

And voila, a good 25% of my waking hours have been spent doing laundry! It makes me appreciate my mom. Honestly, though, climbing into clean sheets for bed a couple of hours later is a pretty perfect reward   :)   Hopefully it also provided you with some handy tips and tricks as you figure out your own laundry methods! 

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