<p>^^^</p>
<p>I know that Purex laundry sheets do have at least one HE version…they may all be HE, but I know that at least one version is.</p>
<p>just a note - i sent detergent with my kid last fall. not sure she used any of it. she ended up with tons of samples from target night and maybe somewhere else, so she didn’t even use what i sent her with! send some (maybe the purex sheets) but don’t go overboard.</p>
<p>Hmm…never thought of HE consideration for the laundry sheets. The website claims it is formulated for use for both regular and HE washers.</p>
<p>Thanks again, everyone! ^_^</p>
<p>LadyDi, as a fellow helicopter, I can tell you, I was pleasantly surprised by my son’s laundry abilities this past year. He did call the first day for me to walk him through it. I had taught him how to do his laundry the summer before college, but the machines at the dorm were different and he wasn’t sure what settings to use. Stupid me, I hadn’t thought of checking the laundry machines out when we dropped him off. </p>
<p>As I was nervous about not ruining the clothes, I was a bit too cautious about what settings to use on different colors, fabrics, and that resulted in the poor thing taking six hours to do his first laundry run. On Family Weekend, I went in the laundry room with him and sized up the machines. I also quizzed a young lady in the laundry room on what she had found worked best and took her advice. While there, I answered the questions of a number of young men on what to wash with what, what setting to use, etc. I actually got some thank you calls from moms a week later for my efforts. </p>
<p>On subsequent laundry days, I still got some questions from son if he wore a nicer outfit to a meeting. I have to say, having spent a lot of money on his wardrobe, I appreciated the care he took in doing his laundry. Son went to Catholic school all his life and wore a uniform every day, so we weren’t used to doing this volume of “regular clothes”.</p>
<p>As for the sorority, and maybe even the fraternity, kids, I would agree with alphimommy that the service is probably a good idea. They probably have a dress code they have to adhere to, and many kids don’t have the time or the room to take care of high maintenance clothing. I know my boss, who is a very busy woman that dresses to the nines every day, sends all her laundry out, and has it delivered to the office when it’s done. I know lots of kids bring drying racks and such to school, but I’d rather pay a service to take care of those clothes than have to lug that stuff back and forth every fall. </p>
<p>Luckily, son has low maintenance clothing, and I’m thrilled to say that just about everything survived the first year of college. Planning to send him with a lot less clothes next year. Oh, and a lot less laundry detergent. Those small HE jugs do last a long time. Every time we’d visit, I’d bring a couple of detergent jugs. We have enough leftover detergent in the storage unit to last him all next year.</p>
<p>LOL, nicollec! And Daydream–HELLO!! [waves]</p>
<p>LOL, Montegut, thanks!! :)</p>
<p>Lady Di…</p>
<p>For boys, it seems (to me) that doing laundry is much easier because of their clothing.</p>
<p>My kids pretty much just do…a white wash (with a scoop of oxyclean added)…a non-red colors wash…and a red wash.</p>
<p>Since this is Bama…there will be red clothes!</p>
<p>If they have a lot of non-red wash…they do the towels/jeans in their own wash.</p>
<p>Oh, yes, no matter how few red items there are, son always does those separately. He does not want to wind up with a pink or purple wardrobe!</p>
<p>He also does towels separately, or maybe with undies and socks, as he wants to avoid pilling of his t-shirts and shorts.</p>
<p>Mom has had many mishaps over the years, and happily, son has learned from her mistakes!</p>
<p>Oh…and…</p>
<p>my kids both had some white towels and some blue towels…and some white boxers and some blue boxers.</p>
<p>So, if they could only do one load of wash, they could at least be sure to have some towels and underpants get washed!</p>
<p>Hello, LadyDi!!! :D</p>
<p>I’ve always washed my reds with my dark colors and it’s always worked at perfectly – no transferring of colors, fading, etc. For people like me who don’t wear much red it saves a load (and now, money). Maybe that will work for somebody else, too. And then I sort the rest by whites, light colors, and towels/heavy stuff like bed linens and outerwear.</p>
<p>I don’t have a lot to wash and my colored clothing is primarily crimson or navy, so I normally do two loads. One load is whites/linens (socks, towels, and sheets) and the other is colors (primarily clothing). I do wash blankets separately, but that is mostly because they take up a lot of space in the washer/dryer.</p>
<p>Reds (and some navy clothes) can be a real problem when they are new and overloaded with dye.</p>
<p>I have found you can "set reds the first time you wash if you ad about a 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of salt to the water. Generally no problem after that. That being said, DD washed her new Crimson Alabama sweatshirt that we got for such a deal at Finish Line, (without salt, or separating reds) and the red bled all over the place, the A is pink, and everything she washed with it is stained. So you do have to be careful.</p>
<p>^^^Yep. It’s worth paying the extra, what, three bucks to wash reds separately so as not to ruin your clothes, especially that beloved Bama wear.</p>
<p>I love Color Catchers!</p>
<p>Love, love color catchers as well and YES, you can use them more than once. The color will keep getting muddied on the sheet but it will still work. I keep using the old one and then after about 3 or 4 loads, I toss a fresh one in as well. then I get rid of the first one and start the cycle all over again. </p>
<p>Did I confuse anyone: 1st load-new sheet
2nd-4th load reuse same sheet
+ 4th load add new sheet
discard first sheet after 4th. load
and Start cycle again</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I do that, too.</p>
<p>I reuse each one a few times until it’s pretty dark…then toss.</p>
<p>Must look into Color Catchers! Washed a bunch of my boys’ red polos recently – by hand, because I was afraid they might bleed – and, sure enough, they bled so much that it looked as if I had a sink full of blood!</p>
<p>Thanks, Daydream, mom2ck, nicollec, and y’all for all the great advice!</p>
<p>I’m learning new things, too, LadyDi. 
The salt trick sounds neat; I’ll definitely have to try that one, and I’ll also add Color Catchers to my list. I’ll probably stick to accessories in regard to school spirit (not one for tees and sweatshirts, lol), but it’s good to know just in case. :)</p>