<p>Have any of your kids used this service? I just discovered it and it sounds fantastic! </p>
<p>As much as I want my DS to do his own laundry the idea of his clothes and linens actually being washed weekly, and, his dry clean only clothes not getting ruined because they are thrown in the washer and dryer, seems to good to pass up.</p>
<p>My daughter looked into it and they provided a bag at move in. It seemed quite expensive when we last looked. Since the laundry room is so conveniently located on 2nd and 4th floors, doing laundry hasn’t been a hassle. You meet a lot of people there too. I bet your son will surprise you once he is there and will do his laundry with his friends. It was quite amusing to hear one of our daughters telling about two boys doing laundry for the first time. Obviously, their moms had instructed them to sort their clothes by color before washing. They dumped the basket on the floor of the laundry room and sorted it all into whites, lights, and darks before loading all of them into the same washer! Priceless.</p>
<p>I think Ahpimommy’s D used the service.</p>
<p>Bamagirls - I can’t stop laughing. I can just picture the boys sorting their clothes and then putting them all in the same washer - priceless!!!</p>
<p>It looks like it costs about $400 per semester for 20lbs of laundry a week. Call me crazy but if he ruins his white RL oxfords and polos, wool and cashmere sweaters, and light khaki pants because he put a crimson tee shirt in with that load, $400 is a bargain! </p>
<p>I’m putting him in mom’s laundry and bathroom cleaning training boot camp this summer. If he passes the test he’s on his own (of course I won’t tell him about this service), if not, then I think that Bama Laundry is going to have a new customer. :)</p>
<p>That sounds like a great plan and excellent reasoning for using the service. They will have an opportunity to pick up bags in the lobby of Ridgecrest South if it is anything like last year at move in. He will likely receive an email about reserving a bag.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your son next year.</p>
<p>Bamagirls - Thank you, he’s so excited to be going to UA. </p>
<p>My daughter never had a problem doing her laundry. She actually folds linens better than I do. 
My son is another story. If I had a nickle for every time that I’ve found his sweaters in the laundry basket after reminding him that they belong in the dry cleaning bag I would have the $400 for Bama Laundry already put away for next fall.</p>
<p>She did use it first semester…was wayyy too busy to do her own. They picked it up and dropped it off. If you want more info I can ask her. I don’t remember how $$$ it was. She seemed fine with it. DD’s BF also used a laundry service…not sure if it was Bama’s or a local laundromat. DD now does her own :).</p>
<p>My son used the Bama Laundry Service for Fall semester. He asked me not to renew for this semester. Here’s what he told me:</p>
<p>Pros:
Reliable
Clean Clothes</p>
<p>Cons:
Clothes were extremely wrinkled (I saw this first hand during one of his visits home. I had purposely bought some khakis that were “non-iron” and he brought them to me asking if I would iron them for him. I couldn’t get the wrinkles out! I had to rewash all his clothing. He said the clothes always came this wrinkled. </p>
<p>I must say that my son is a clothes horse and is very particular about his clothing. He has both an iron and steamer and has always used them frequently. He is totally red/green color deficient, so they may not match but they are ironed…LOL.)</p>
<p>Crimson was that this year? I asked DD and she said that she didn’t remember any huge problems…She didn’t let them do any of her hang to dry things and we used A LOT of dry cleaning!!! She said they were ok…worked for what she needed them to do. When it actually came down to it she said that after she and the boyfriend started to date (Oct.) his mom would do her laundry when she came in town.
On a side note my DH said to tell y’all that he couldn’t figure out why she had to do laundry at all since she bought over $500 worth of sorority t-shirts that first semester :)</p>
<p>i think learning to do your own laundry is part of growing up. unless there are special circumstances involved, kids can probably do their own laundry.</p>
<p>my kids have been doing their own at home for a while. they lost my laundry services when they couldn’t be bothered to bring the clothes downstairs once a week.</p>
<p>400 dollars sounds like a lot of $$ to me! wonder how much 20 lbs of laundry is?</p>
<p>ahphimommy, It was Fall 2011. He sent items such as knit shirts, khakis, underwear, socks, t-shirts, etc. One might think that my son had done something to make the wrinkles worse, I.e. Wadding them up. However, I opened the plastic bags and took the clothing items out myself. The wrinkles were baked in…it looked to me they had been dried too long.</p>
<p>Mike, I agree that it is important for our children to learn how to do laundry and it is very expensive. However, due to my son’s color deficiency (aka color blindness) he has ruined many, many items mixing reds (crimson) with whites and turning the items pink. To add insult to injury, he wouldn’t know it was pink and would wear it out. We spent the Winter Break marking his clothing and hopefully he won’t have too many mishaps. (If you are ever in T-town and see a well dressed young man in a pink undershirt you may have seen my son. LOL)</p>
<p>My son may have been the exception but I can only speak about our experience. Hopefully others will chime in on their experience.</p>
<p>then, crimson217, you would be one that would fall into the special circumstances category. : )</p>
<p>though, i wouldn’t think that colorblindness would effect not being able to tell that a crimson (red and also dark) shirt wouldn’t go in the white (or light colors) pile.</p>
<p>i am sure some cute girl wouldn’t mind helping him sort. : )</p>
<p>DD said she never had “a lot” of clothes to do… she’s so funny she drying dries her t-shirts so she said mostly what she had them do was towels and bedding…so maybe she just didn’t notice the wrinkles so much.
I also agree that doing ones own laundry is important but the kid was over her head in classes, sorority and then she got really involved in several organizations. It was something we could do to alleviate a little of the stress (especially at homecoming time). It was her idea to discontinue for spring (I’m talking 2010-2011).
We have had laundry mishaps so I totally identify with Crimson217 and their dilemma.
I too would be interested in others experiences. DD lives in the house now and so doing laundry has become a social event :).<br>
I think you just need to decide if it’s a priority, a necessity or a luxury and if it fits into your budget.</p>
<p>you could get those color grapper things you throw in the wash… my S1 swears by them…then it doesnt matter if you mix colors…</p>
<p>Crimson217 and ahpimommy - Thank you for sharing your experiences. Spending approximately $400 a semester is expensive, especially if the clothes are returned wrinkled to the point of not being able to iron them. I’d like to hear from some others who have used the service. </p>
<p>Yes, there are many things that young adults should learn to do on their own, laundry is certainly one of them. In a perfect world my son would do his laundry without throwing his expensive cashmere sweaters in the washer/dryer, but knowing him…</p>
<p>In the two years my son lived on campus (he’s now at The Bluffs), he never spent more than $150 a semester on laundry … and he does his regularly, including sheets and towels. As for pressing his things, he asked that I purchase a steamer rather than try to find a place to store an ironing board and iron. Anything that needs dry cleaning, he and his roommates go to a place locally.</p>
<p>Parent56 is right about the Color Catchers. They do work quite well. I use them regularly.</p>
<p>I love Color Catchers…however, I don’t rely on them for new (never washed) over-dyed items (like over-dyed blk jeans or red/red cottons). Those items have too much dye for the Catcher to handle the first time they get washed.</p>
<p>I had signed S up for laundry service for fall semester. I figured since he was pledging it would come in handy. He had me cancel it after one use. It just wasn’t convenient for him. I think you had to wait 2-3 days to get the clothes back. He wouldn’t be without his favorite jeans for that long.</p>
<p>I did laundry once at Ridgecrest S-N which is fairly convenient, you can usually get a couple of washing machines. I had to stalk the dryers though. But all in all 90 mins for a couple of loads of laundry isn’t bad.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tip on Color Catchers. I just sent my son an email to let him know about them. Hopefully he will (a) go buy them and (b) use them.</p>
<p>We use the Dryel or woolite dry cleaning sheets in the dryer at home for sweaters, blouses, dresses, pants, and women’s suits. Unless the item is filthy, they work great and are relatively inexpensive…just take the clothes out and hang them IMMEDIATELY - usually can avoid any pressing</p>