•  On Oct, 31, 2016
•  mdweinstein
•   Ironing, washing

When living in a dorm, there may come a time when you have to do your own laundry (gasp!). Whether it is in your dorm hall or whether you have to trek out to a laundry mat, here is a guide for how to make sure you don’t run out of those clean clothes you love!

1. Make sure you have a basket or a hamper, your laundry detergent, a pre-treater or a stain remover, fabric softner, dryer sheets, and money or a student ID card (you will most likely have to pay to wash your stuff).
2. Be sure to remember your key to get back in your room or into your dorm. You’ll be hauling a lot of stuff…it would be a shame to lock yourself out!
3. After you’ve sorted your clothes, make sure to pre-treat any of those nasty or hard to clean stains. If you don’t have a pre-treater, you can apply laundry deteregent right to the stain and rub it in.
4. Make sure to empty all your pockets. Lipstick, lighters, pens, and markers can ruin a whole load. You may also find some money in there!
5. Separate your clothes. You can do any like colors together. Whites or lights are usually like fabrics of light and like colors. These should be washed in a hotter temperature. Darks are usually darker colors that can fade and should be washed on a colder temperature. Delicates like undergarments can be washed separately or with other items. This is really a personal preference. If you are in doubt of an item wash it on a colder, more gentle cycle.
6. Turn anything that is delicate, screen printed, or has embellishments on it, inside out. Secure your drawstrings on pants or hoodies, you’ll thank me when they aren’t floating around your washer!
7. Before choosing a washer, make sure that no one added bleach or detergent to a washer. If you accidentally bleach your clothes, you’ll be real sad!
8. Choose your settings on your washer (warm or cold water), (size of load), etc. and start the machine as directed and add your clothes.
9. Don’t overfill the washer and make sure all the clothes and the weight in the washer is distributed evenly.
10. Your washer should take 20-45 minutes depending on the washer. Decide what you want to do with your time at your own risk. Some are comfortable leaving their clothes, some need to keep an eye…you do what’s best for you!
11. Once your clothes are done, pick a dryer and don’t overfill. One load in the washer usually equals one load in the dryer. The whole point of the dryer is to dry your clothes so trust us on the not over stuffing thing! Add a dryer sheet if you choose!
12. Make sure you clean out the lint trap…some people forget and you want to make sure the dry can work at its best capacity!
13. Time to play the waiting game again…dryer can take anywhere between 30-60 minutes…maybe try some of that homework you’ve been putting off.
14. When the dryer is complete, take things out right away. If you let them sit, they will wrinkle and then you have to iron…and that is no fun!
15. Now you are done…enjoy all your clean clothes!