Moving away from home makes developing good laundry habits a necessity

Mike Treadgold

The pile grows, first in size, next in stench, to the point where you start comparing pairs of boxer shorts to determine which pair smells the least bad as you prepare for to dress yourself for another day as a first-year student. At first, the task can seem daunting, but with a little common sense and a few short words of advice, you too can learn to do your own laundry.

Your first experience doing your own laundry will surely leave you yearning for a mother’s help, for if you are like the majority of first-year university students, mom had taken on the challenge of providing you with clean clothes for the better part of the first 18 years of your life.

In reality, doing your own laundry is nowhere near as intimidating as it initially seems, and like anything, a little bit of effort can go a long way.

Virtually all of the residences are equipped with decent-sized laundry rooms and capable washers and dryers that should give you the necessary tools to get the job done. The campus laundry machines are operated on a card system with a declining balance and these cards can be purchased at residence desks.

For those of you who live off-campus, the city of Guelph features a number of public coin-operated Laundromats, which are generally in good working service.

 “It’s really important that you keep an eye on your clothes while you’re doing laundry on campus,” said fifth-year student and laundry aficionado Laura Macklem. “I put three loads of laundry in the dryer when I was in first year and forgot about them. “When I came back, my brand new Bench sweater had gone missing.”

First, what do you need? Standard laundry-doers will likely need nothing more than detergent (liquid or powder are both acceptable, but liquid is more accessible) and dryer sheets. Other products are available, but not necessary. You can also buy detergent with added bleach to get those whites ‘extra white.’

Second, separate: darks with darks, whites with whites; wash and dry your clothes in these groups. You can further separate bright and dark colours, but don’t consider this a necessity. Remember that colour wheel from when you were in kindergarten? White + red = pink. The same applies to your laundry.

Third, hot vs. cold water. Generally, the hotter the water, the cleaner the clothes become; however, keep in mind that hot water is also often correlated with shrinking, fading and wrinkling. Proceed at your own risk. Use cold water for delicate clothing items and if you’re ever in doubt, cold water will likely yield the fewest problems.

 “Fabric softener can also be a great addition to your wash load,” said Macklem. “You’ll smell great and your clothes will have a much better feel when you take them out. Just make sure you read all the instructions on both the bottle of fabric softener and the tags on your clothes.”

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