Laundry Tutorial for College-Bound Teens

Quick Laundry OverviewCheck the Labels - Show your teen the labels in their items so they understand the water temperature needed for the item, whether the item should be handwashed or not, if the item should be laundered separately, or if it should be dry-cleaned, and if items should be dried in the dryer or line dried. Sort the Stuff – Teach your college-bound kid their colors, again.  Have them sort each item into colors and then by fabric type, i.e. white t-shirts and white sheets should be separated, even though they are both white.  Then teach them the correct water temperature based on the colors and fabric types. Bonus tip:  Sort items into pillowcases to make taking them to the laundromat an easy task, then simply dump each pillowcase into a washer and away they go! Stain Removal – This may be a necessity for your pizza eating college teen.  Show them where they can find stain removal resources and have them pick up a good stain removal product. Detergent Selection – Start easy and have them work with an all-purpose laundry detergent.  It may even make sense to have them begin with using the single dose pod packets to make it even easier. Folding Tips – If your child has never done the laundry before this basic task may need to be taught.  Show them how to fold socks, fitted sheets, and t-shirts and jeans so they don’t get wrinkled. Ironing – A tutorial on how to iron clothing would be beneficial, but honestly, do you expect a college student to iron their clothes?

Make a Plan If your college-bound young adult will not have a laundry room in their dorm or apartment, scope out the local area for a laundromat.  Research the website to see how to pay for services (will they need rolls of quarters or a laundry card pre-loaded with funds, etc.) If they will be using a laundromat maybe make the initial trip with them to learn the facilities and show them how it all works. If your student will be around one of our 5 locations in Illinois, be sure to download our Laundromat Instructions and get a pre-loaded card so they are ready to go when they visit us.  (We also have laundry services for students who don’t drive or don’t have the time to do laundry.)