DS is signed up for the basic plan from E&R, as we anticipated he wouldn’t have a ton of time to do laundry, at least initially.
Unfortunately, it just dawned on me that the majority of his running clothes are labeled gentle care/dry clean/etc. we have always just washed them with the rest of his clothes. I’ve emailed E&R to see if we can sign a waiver (something I remembered vaguely from a previous thread), but I’m guessing someone else on here has had experience with this issue. As he will be running 6-7 days/week, these items will be both numerous and in desperate need of thorough laundering, but I really don’t want to pay for special care per item. Any thoughts?
Where is @Parlabane when we need him? 
How about just having him cut out the care tags? If they look like normal running clothes, I am guessing they will just launder them.
If he’s running for the school (track/cross country) at many schools workout clothes and uniforms are laundered by the gym. Check your school’s policy to see if they offer this. It’s nice to not have smelly clothes going back to the dorm. 
Again, where are people finding these things?!?! I never knew such an impractical thing existed. My running clothes are whatever sweats/tees happen to be closest, and I don’t think I’ve ever read a care label for them, but then I bought them at Tar-zhay, 
Another vote for the obvious - cut out the care labels. Also, buy machine washable athletic wear in the future. :)And as @doschicos states, the school generally washes clothes for athletes, although whether is is just game uniforms or practice clothes as well will vary by school.
I love how @skieurope brings all the parents back down to earth on these threads! There is true value in a college kid who just went through four years of boarding school.
Cut out the care labels.
If you have the basic plan, be aware that E&R will dry clean anything with a special care label, and send you the bill. They also dry clean the sweaters. And send you the bill.
So check your kid’s clothes.
And label all clothing, as it can get lost at school. I don’t think the laundry service loses it, as there are tiny little tracking tags they deposit on everything. Far more likely is that your kid left it on a chair, in the dining hall, library or common room, and it was deposited in lost & found.
Yes, they will automatically dry clean any sweaters. But to be clear, unless some school negotiated something differently, when they “send you the bill,” they have already charged your card on file.
Thank you all for the advice. I ended up cutting out all of the care tags, but also followed up with an email and in-person conversation with the E&R reps. Both said there are no waivers - if they receive an item that should be dry cleaned or washed on a gentle cycle, that’s what they’ll do. The rep went further and added that because they’re industrial machines, the stress on a delicate garment would likely be greater than on a home washing machine, anyway, and that even if the tags are missing, if it’s a fabric they recognize would be damaged, they will either return unwashed or dry clean for an additional fee. Looks like DS will be washing his running gear in the dorm machines!
That’s a change of policy then @momof3nyc. The one year we used E&R at Choate, I filled out a release form and faxed it to them after they tried to charge us for dry cleaning a shirt. The release basically said that everything in the bag would be machine washed and they would not be held responsible for any negative outcome. If they’ve done away with that form, that’s too bad, but I’m all for kids doing their own laundry.
“the stress on a delicate garment would likely be greater than on a home washing machine”
One of many reasons we passed on the E&R service completely.
^^ and the fact that one could buy a new laundry pair annually for the price they charge! The forced dry cleaning with all the chemicals is just bad. I wear suits to work every day and I hand wash these dry clean only items and they last and look just fine.
This just makes me chuckle, especially when it’s the parents of boys responding.
First off, the E&R machines are more industrial than the Maytag in your laundry room, true. But it’s not like we’re talking prison laundry rooms here. They’re more like the ones in a laundromat.
Second, what are these “delicate garments” that the boys are wearing? They must be going to a different school than I attended.
Third, particularly for many in the younger years, they’ll often outgrow before they outwear.
Fourth, if they are too fashion forward for basic tees/jeans/chinos, the clothes will go out of style before they either outgrow or outwear.
Finally, if the kid is one that needs his sheets with just the right amount of fabric softener, etc. then by all means, teach him how to do laundry and let him use the machines in the basement.
Well, since I was one who posted and I have daughter, daughters often do not outgrow their clothes during high school and yes, they do have delicate items.
E&R is very rough on clothes and is notorious for losing stuff.
It is also expensive.
Sorry, @doschicos the “chicos” confused me;I’d always assumes “2 boys” not “2 kids”. L-)
FWIW, E&R never lost any of my things, nor did I have issues with damaged clothes.
I have never wondered how washing is done in DD’s school. I never received cleaning bill so I assume that she does her own. Girls have dresses but they won’t machine wash them anyway. She used share her mom’s classic closet and wear office make up to look like an adult, but sleep deprivation can quickly make a BS girl to just put sweatshirts on t-shirts and leggings she slept on. She wore her mom’s dryclean only suit for a college interview in the way back to BS, but that’s likely to just sit in her closet until she wears it again to revisit the college on her way back home for Thanksgiving break.
Ah, @skieurope, you crack me up. My kid wouldn’t know a delicate garment if it bit him, and I don’t know what those are either. Our machine has a delicate cycle. Darned if I know what that’s for. I’ve certainly never used it, and I haven’t hand washed an item since I stopped wearing pantyhose about 20 years ago.
We decided not to use E&R this year for our DD, after using them for all kids prior (13x). Our DD felt confident she could handle doing her own laundry, fast forward to me bringing home a laundry basket full of dirty clothes after her game yesterday. On the positive front, it gave me an excuse to see her again today to drop them off to her and make a grocery run.
Good point. Which begs the question as to how these delicates are laundered at home. I don’t know how it is in other households, but chez ski, you followed skimom’s rules of the laundry room:
Rule #1: If your want your clothes washed, they need to be in the hamper. Not the floor. Not the doorknob.
Rule #2 if you have clothes that require special laundering or if you want your clothes washed on a non-laundry day, then you do it yourself.
Rule #3: You don’t pay the electric bill or the water bill, so don’t you dare turn on the washer for anything less than a full load
I love that there is NO laundry service at Thacher. Every kid does their own and the school provides environmentally-friendly, allergen-free detergent. One less thing to separate the haves and have nots at school… and one more adulting skill to master for life.