Everything you need to know about doing laundry at college or university

You’ve settled in to your new life at college or university. You’re loving parties with no parental input, making friends from different backgrounds and living away from home. Unfortunately, life tends to get in the way a bit. Laundry is one of life’s annoying realities.

No matter how much you pretend your clothes don’t really need washing yet, trust us, they probably do!

Six simple tips to help you do your laundry more quickly and easily

1. Everything you need to know is on the label

The symbols on laundry labels will tell you the maximum temperature you can wash your garment on, whether it’s handwash or dry clean only, if it can be tumble dried or ironed and if so at what temperatures.

 

 

Once you know the icons they’re easy to understand, although they can vary slightly between countries. They’re easily googled if you ever need to check one.

Dyes can leak, so if it says ‘wash dark colours separately’ it’s a good idea to do so. Particularly when your clothes are relatively new and haven’t been washed much. And take notice of whether garments can be tumble dried or not.

2. Plan your laundry days ahead

Aim for a full load each time you do a wash. Work out when that’s likely to be and plan accordingly. If you don’t have enough for a full load wait until you do or combine your laundry with a friend or housemate’s. Some clothes can leak dye so if you’ve got a lot of whites you may prefer to separate out your laundry into coloureds and whites.

If you need to visit a launderette it’s a good idea to experiment until you find a quieter time and make that part of your routine. And make sure you’ll be there when the load finishes or you risk finding it in a heap somewhere – or not at all.

3. Beware of the ‘hot’ setting on commercial tumble dryers

Commercial tumble dryers can be larger so you might get two washing machine loads in at one time. However, they can also be a lot fiercer. It’s a good idea to use a lower setting and avoid drying your clothes on hot. It might be quicker, but you could end up ruining your clothes.

 

Not all clothes are suitable for tumble drying and if you ignore the instructions, it won’t take you long to work out which really aren’t. Make sure you have space at home to dry your non-tumble dry items. If they don’t dry quickly enough they will smell.

4. Smooth and fold

Avoid having to iron (or looking permanently crumpled) by taking your clothes out of the tumble dryer as soon as the cycle finishes. Don’t bundle them into a bag in a heap. Smooth and fold each item immediately. You should be able to significantly reduce the amount of ironing necessary.

This is particularly useful if you don’t intend to do any ironing anyway. Clothes that aren’t going in a tumble dryer should be shaken out and, if necessary, pulled into shape before being hung up. This will help with creases.

5. Go Eco. Go Melt!

Choose the eco settings and wash on lower temperatures. You only need to wash at 60° to kill germs – so just do your sheets and towels on a higher temperature.

 

 

Avoid traditional laundry detergents as they’re bad for you, your clothes, and the environment. Melt laundry detergent strips are superior to traditional laundry detergents: find out why in our blog about the future of laundry. 

6. Get a Melt 60 laundry detergent subscription

Melt laundry detergent strips are available on a subscription basis that can be adjusted when necessary. Never worry about buying, storing, or transporting heavy, bulky laundry detergent again. You’ll never have too much or run out. And you won’t be damaging your clothes or the planet with Melt: it’s an eco-friendly, zero-waste product.

 

 

Now you’re armed with tips for doing your laundry at college you can relax and enjoy your free time. Cheers!

Enjoy the best days of your life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!