First time doing laundry

Parents Forum
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<p>Following up on a previous thread, wanted to give an update as my son is currently doing his first loads of laundry away at college.</p>

<p>Of course, the machines are front loaders, totally different dials/settings than the ones at home, so we're figuring out what settings to use. </p>

<p>After a scare of watching warm water flash on on his dark/red clothes, he stopped the wash, surrendering the machine to his friend who had no money on his laundry card yet, to start over. As the wash is going, we turn to the dryers, also differently labeled, to figure out what settings to use.</p>

<p>I have to note, son has been on a service project all week, where he painted in the morning, wore some casual/some nice clothes for evening classes, dinners, receptions, so he's doing the whole gamut of types of fabrics, colors, today. Hopefully, once classes start, he'll be doing grab and go tshirts and shorts that won't take so much thought.</p>

<p>After three hours of not hearing from him, I figured everything is going well, the clothes are put away, and he's enjoying the rest of his day.</p>

<p>But, a few minutes ago, he called to say that nothing is drying, he is taking a break to go pick up his books, and he can't figure out what's wrong. He did finally check the lint trap. Dirty. I asked about the wet ball. Sure enough, the compact wet ball was thrown in the dryer. Each dryer load takes an hour and he's run the loads through twice and they're still wet. Bless his heart.</p>

<p>So, he's putting everything in one last time, after shaking the wet ball out, checking all the lint traps, and setting his alarm on his phone to make sure he's back to the laundry room in time for his clothes to be nice and dry.</p>

<p>Mom is just hoping that the clothes are still there when he gets back.</p>

<p>But I am so proud of him, doing his own laundry! After he called this morning, I immediately called my mother in the nursing home to tell her he was doing his own laundry. She has never forgotten how my twin brothers came home from college with so much dirty laundry, it took her three days to do it all. She was thrilled to hear my son was doing his own.</p>

<p>And thank goodness for the money on the cards you can use to do laundry!</p>

<p>Back in my day, I would have run out of quarters a long time ago!</p>

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<p>I’ve been doing my own laundry for more than 3 decades. What’s a wet ball?</p>

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<p>Sorry, I’m not answering the “wet ball” question and look forward to the answer as well…</p>

<p>This is a suggestion for ALL parents who have kids away at school doing laundry:</p>

<p>Purchase them a box of “Shout” brand “Color Catchers”. You throw one in when you load your clothes in the wash. Any dyes that come out of the colored items are trapped in these little white fabric squares. this way your kids don’t have to be careful when separationg lights and darks (which you know they won’t be doing anyway!). I use them and highly recommend them for home use as well!</p>

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<p>What’s a wet ball? I, too, don’t know what you’re talking about.</p>

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<p>I’ve never understood kids not having done their own laundry before college. Our DS was told in 10th grade he was to take care of his own laundry.</p>

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<p>Color catchers, I have been recommended them and have not been able to find them!</p>

<p>The wet ball:</p>

<p>When your load of laundry is finished, the clothes, etc, are often clumped together in a wet ball. If you just take that and throw it in the dryer, the inner items will never dry.</p>

<p>I have this happen when I do blankets and sheets. If I don’t separate the sheets from the blanket before putting them in the dryer, it runs all night, and the sheets are still wet, from being in the middle of the wet blanket ball.</p>

<p>To avoid this, take out your items separately from the washer, tshirt, undies, socks, towels, and throw them one at a time into the dryer. </p>

<p>Son just called to say he got his books and still has 35 minutes left on the dryer, so all is well.</p>

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<p>I’m also wondering what a wet ball is.</p>

<p>Edit: Nevermind, cross-posted with Montegut.</p>

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<p>I’ve never understood kids not having done their own laundry before college. Our DS was told in 10th grade he was to take care of his own laundry.</p>

<p>I think a lot depends on how you were raised as a child. I started doing my own laundry when I was 12 years old however my wife was also one who never learned until she went away to college. I think if you came from a working mother (outside of the home) household, you may have been more inclined to be doing your own laundry. At least that was the case for me.</p>

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<p>Color catchers, I have been recommended them and have not been able to find them!</p>

<p>Target and Walmart both carry them, at least on the west coast they do.</p>

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<p>My mom worked from home and I still started doing my own laundry in early elementary school. She was just too slow at getting it done, such that I demanded she teach me so I could do it myself. Might not be a bad idea for some moms looking to lighten their load to take their time with the laundry for a few weeks and see what happens. :P</p>

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<p>Back to wet ball… </p>

<p>Many times when drying a sheet, particularly the fitted bottom sheet, other clothing items have a tendency to get trapped inside. Sometimes adding an anti-static drying sheet to the load will help with this as well. Another thing you can do is go back to your drying machine half way through the cycle and un-tangle your load if necessary. This is a pain, but better than having a “wet ball”! </p>

<p>Montegut is absolutely correct about loading the dryer one piece at a time! Having said that, it is much easier to tell your kid that then to have them actually DO it!!</p>

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<p>One more suggestion for all those college launderers…</p>

<p>Check all pockets in your dirty laundry BEFORE loading the washer!</p>

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<p>Montegut: my D is also doing her first loads of UA laundry this afternoon. Wonder if they’re in the same laundry room?</p>

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<p>**Never ever heard the expression “wet ball.” I’ve never had this happen, except with large heavy items with which I usually don’t wash small things. Maybe twice in 35 years of doing laundry. Don’t see how it could happen with just regular clothes. </p>

<p>I bought S2 tan towels (gray would work, too). I told him he could wash them either with lights or darks if he needed to make a load. I also made sure everything was washed two or three times before he left to eliminate the probability of fading.</p>

<p>After two years, he seems to keep his clothes clean, however he doesn’t fold them when they’re dry. Just goes from the clean basket to the dirty basket, but only he knows which is which.</p>

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<p>LOL! :wink: I taught both kids to do their own laundry when they were about 12 and 9- years old. I got tired of trying to figure out whose socks were whose. Maybe we are wearing gray and dingy clothes, but sorting was not a priority with them or with me. Even now, I often just throw the clothes in all together and figure that clean is better than not clean. I haven’t actually noticed any difference in sorting or not sorting, and always wash on lukewarm. It lightened my load considerably to turn laundry over to the kids - and it’s not like laundry is a difficult thing to do!!!</p>

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<p>^I could have written your post. Same in our house. I’m sure our clothes reflect that, but so be it. </p>

<p>I have often thought the only reason my kids have tremendous everyday life skills and very early sense of independence is because delegating has been my solution both at work and home. Call me lazy. Throughout their childhoods, the minute they were old enough, they did it. I think a lot of parents would be quite surprised at what young kids can do, like make dinner for the family, laundry, booking one’s own medical appointments, doing one’s own banking, emailing requests to adults, signing oneself up for lessons or camp, running the dishwasher, buying groceris, buying plane tickets, and so on. Why wait until college? I am a loving mom not a servant, and they need to learn these skills and the self-confidence that goes along with it.</p>

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<p>“But I am so proud of him, doing his own laundry!” This is tongue in cheek, right? Or did you break out the good champagne the first time his backside got wiped or his shoelaces got tied without your intervention?</p>

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<p>While my kids never did their own laundry until they went to college, they both are pros at it now. My son even taught himself to iron! I always did the laundry as I was a stay at home mom, and now a stay at home wife. It was easier for me to do everyone’s laundry at the same time instead of having many different loads going. I felt the kids job during the school year was to go to school; my job was the house work. Actually we were fortunate enough to have a cleaning woman come once a week, but I always preferred to do the laundry and change linens myself. The kids love the way I make a bed and alway requested my services during college move in!</p>

<p>The kids were still able to become adults without doing laundry until college ;-)</p>

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<p>My S is starting college; he’s been doing his own laundry for the past few years. Unfortunately, that does not include folding them. He leaves the clean clothes in a basket and pulls out what he needs every day. Needless to say, his style can be best described as ‘rumpled’</p>

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<p>D did her own laundry since 9th grade, but still had a bit of trouble when she went to college last year. The dorm equipment is very different than our machines at home. Plus as noted above, dryer times are limited or must be purchased in various time increments. </p>

<p>I think the biggest adjustment, though, was that phenomenon that all dorm residents and apartment-dwellers are familiar with – competition. Of course at home, she could pretty much count on the washer being available when she was ready, or at least, if the washer was occupied, she knew who to ask about availability. She could start a wash load in the morning, let it sit all day, and then dry it up in the evening. It’s a whole different thing in a dorm. Back in my college days, I remember getting all revved up to spend the afternoon doing laundry, and lugging everything downstairs – only to find all the washers full. Do I sit around and wait for several to become free? Do leave and come back and hope no one has jumped in line ahead of me? Once I’ve started the wash, I’m committed for the duration – if I don’t stay, or come back at exactly the right time, very likely someone will have dumped my wet laundry on a table so that they can use the washer. Then I have to wait for a dryer to be available so that I can pounce on it. Sharing laundry facilities is just a pain, and no matter how long a kid has done his/her own laundry at home, it’s just a different ballgame at college. They’re smart, though, and they figure it out pretty quickly. :)</p>