Living in a FYE (First Year Experience) building this year as a freshman has certainly been… interesting. Although most of my experiences have been really positive, there’s one thing that drives me crazy—Laundry. Now let’s be honest, it seems like a silly topic, but you know it’s not. It’s a time commitment, it’s a competition, it’s an obligation.
Luckily, Tobey has three laundry rooms, and the dorm has a total of ten washers and twelve washers—of course it’s never enough. And let me tell you, hauling my hamper to the third floor is no picnic. But it’s all about timing. The most opportune slots are mornings, especially on the weekends. I woke up early (for some) at 12 on a Saturday morning and every machine in the building was empty. Heaven!
Now personally, I came from a self-laundry-doing background. I’ve been doing my own clothes for a little while, but my parents will help me out if I forget about it or I’m in a hurry. I’m telling you this because the majority of my friends here have been doing their own laundry for a long time, so I felt a little unprepared. That is, until I met a girl in the building who described in detail how she, on a weekly basis, mails all of her dirty laundry to her family back home (on Long Island), and they send it back to her completely finished. I don’t feel so guilty anymore.
Still, there’s definitely a laundry code. Being considerate of others’ clothes is a big deal among most college students. A lot of the inconveniences of normal laundry life involves quarters and payment, something we don’t have to deal with—a total plus. But for me, the biggest pain is when somebody takes out my soaking wet clothes… and lovingly places them on the floor.
Now I understand that you’re in a hurry, but there’s no good reason not to wait five to ten minutes before taking out their stuff. Especially for a washer. I don’t really mind if you take out my finished load, but really? Wet clothes? Just be patient for a few more minutes!
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I’ve heard of people coming into the laundry room to see their complete clothes not only extracted from the machine, but completely folded and inserted into their rightful hamper. Crazy, right? I’ve never gotten that lucky.
So here’s the bottom line on my insight into cleaning your clothes.
1) Clean up after yourself!
When you spill Tide all over the tile in front of my washer and I slip in my flip flops in front of the hot guy from the second floor? Not fun. To be honest, I have enough embarrassing moments without your help.
2) Wait!
I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt— I’ve never heard of anyone sitting in their room, leaving their clothes in the machines just to spite you. College students are busy.
3) Paws off!
Stealing other people’s clothes is, frankly, just stupid. Because if you take my favorite top from Express, chances are, I will see you wearing it later on and know it’s mine. Duh. Touch other people’s stuff as little as possible. Do you really want someone else handling your bras that much?
Next week I’ll complete my laundry saga. So HCers, come back next week for some simple tips on how to make your laundry life loads easier!