Laundry question for the ladies

[moneybags]

I regularly dry most my clothes in about 5 inches of closet space. *shrugs*

Just going off of my DD's closet at school, she doesn't even have an extra 1 inch of space. She has a 30" wardrobe, she hangs up most of her clothes, the thing is jam packed. I agree that the closet would be perfect if space was available.

[sblatner]

99% of my clothes go in the dryer. I have no patience for clothes that can't go in the dryer. Your daughter is neither going to have time nor space to dry clothes on a rack. She needs to buy clothes that can dry quickly and then she can put them away.

[boefixepa]

Everything goes in the dryer here too. There many be some really nice Sunday Dress that are hang dry. That is it though. If it can't go in the dryer, I don't buy it.

[stoney508]

My dorm room had a closet a dresser (3-4 drawers) and then a built in desk and book case which is not the norm but was nice. I am a guy so it was different I dryed most my clothes but I got a 3 drawer plastic dresser or whatever you want to call it for inside my closet filled my dressor and had dress shirts hanging and sweatshirts. If I had to hang dry somthing I would use my loft which I would recomend in a dorm room. I would hang on there for a couple hours and if need be the closet for the last little bit so I would not disrupt my roomate. I would stress to her though to bring as little as possible I also did my laundry late so I could leave it over night if I had to and sometimes you might be able to get a schedule worked out with the roomate so you do laundry at the same time.

[Permanent Temp]

I had a drying rack and a tiny room I still use the same one now because it folds up. As others said in college most don't wear a large variety of clothes.

Mine was mainly used for things that didn't dry fully like some jeans. And things that are delicate like bras some socks and light fabrics. I'm sure your daughter will be fine.

[stoney508]

If she goes to college close enough to home where she might be able to come over 1 or 2 times a month if she has a car then it could be used as times to rotate her clothes around to seem "fresh" or for the seasonality and approriate clothes for the time of year.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Everything goes into the dryer for me. no time to rack dry. And I do too many loads to care a week. A drying rack for sure for towels since you can't hang it usually in the common bathroom.

[Mjenn]

I would say 'not a problem' but I am a 'throw everything in and hope for the best' style laundry person, and my DH doesn't let me touch his things because he has his own technique that involves a lot of line drying, drying for 4 minutes and then line drying, perfectly folding creases, etc.

Does your daughter do her own laundry now? I would have her do her own laundry for a bit, to figure it out before she goes. Jeans and shirts made of mixed fabrics should be fine. But if she has cramped dorm space, she is not going to have a chance to dry delicates.

But she won't be the only one. We usually kept some woolite in the dorm and did some sink laundry, and hung that out to dry. There was also always some drying space in the laundry room to hang up stuff, but there was a risk it would get stolen. The ultimate was when I was studying in europe, there they had a 'drying room' with heated closets and a giant warm indoor room to hang up clothes to dry.

[maryadavies]

Having lived in a college dorm room for a while, I'd say get a folding drying rack for her. Also;

* Does she already do laundry? If she don't you might want to make sure she knows the "rules" like dark with dark and light with light. Having your jeans dye your fav t-shirt blue is not only bad, it's a waste of money since that ruins it.. It may be a well durr but when I first started, I did that...
* Make sure she has a laundry bag or foldable laundry basket/hamper to put her dirty clothes in. Dorm rooms are not known for being huge, so anything that you can fold when it's empty is a very good idea.
* Most dorms have coin operated laundries; Make sure you find out about it and see if they can use their student cards. If they can't (mine may of swapped by now but when I was there they didn't) make sure she has a few rolls of quarters.
* It may go without saying, but make sure she has laundry soap and fabric softener and what have you when she goes. Most dorms do not have vending machines to get soap/etc in the laundry room, it's bring your own. At least in my experience, but always go check it out first.

I hope that helps. ^^

[scfr]

Some things that you could suggest to her:

- From now on, only purchase items that can go in the dryer. Almost all of the time, students can get away with casual wear (jeans, Tshirts, etc). For women, bras are the exception - they need to be air dried.

- When choosing which clothes to bring to school, choose the more durable clothes that can go in the dryer. Leave the more delicate items (sweaters, tanks & shirts that need to be air-dried, etc) at home to wear when she visits you.

- If she'll be at a school where she can drive home periodically, have 2 laundry bags. In the 1st bag keep items that she'll wash & dry at school. In the 2nd bag, accumulate the more delicate items that she will bring home to wash and air-dry.

To answer your original question, I air-dry more of my own clothes than my husband's. I estimate that 20-25% of my items are air-dried. The rest go in the dryer. I could put together a "student wardrobe" made up of almost all machine-dry clothes, with the exceptions being bras and maybe 1 "dress-up" outfit for special occasions.

[HappySaver]

When I was in college eons ago I did laundry once a month by taking it home to mom.
I did wash underwear/socks/athletic/grungy clothing as needed in the washer/dryer at school; it was just everything else that went home.

[dawnwes]

If it doesn't go in the dryer, I don't buy it.

The ONLY thing that I no longer put in the dryer are bras. Those hooks get messed up when I do, even though I only buy cotton bras. Those silk things are killer in the Southeastern US humidity.

WAY more info than you wanted, but there ya go!

[Blessed]

The only things of mine I wont throw in the dryer are bras, (At $60 a pop I want them to last) and shirts with beads and that that kind of stuff on them. Those things can easily be thrown on a drying rack or even over a shower curtain to dry.

[adpiterp]

There are a lot of clothes I don't put in the dryer, delicates, stuff that I don't want to shrink, etc, including a lot of workout stuff (which I didn't know to do until a few years ago) - the heat can break down the stretchy material in workout stuff, apparently. Also dryer sheets/fabric softener can plug up the wicking material in workout clothes.

When I was in a college, I had a small dryer rack (like many other posters here), which sounds like it would be perfect for your daughter, disneysteve.

[adpiterp]

The only things of mine I wont throw in the dryer are bras, (At $60 a pop I want them to last) and shirts with beads and that that kind of stuff on them. Those things can easily be thrown on a drying rack or even over a shower curtain to dry.

Yes! I don't put bras in the dryer also - they can warp in the heat.