<p>Interested in what people think about laundry service. I know a lot of people think it is expensive or that it is a good learning experience for their children to do their own laundry. I thought so too. However, the more I think about it I think I just might get the service for my daughter. She will be a prep a Exeter and I'd like her to be able to just get used to being away from home, enjoy her sports and EC's and be able to focus on studies. Frankly, she doesn't know how to do laundy now and I can only imagine the condition her clothes will be in not to mention her room. When i break down the expense it doesn't really seem that bad to me. Who has used the service? I have heard you need to have twice as many clothes because you only get the laundry back once a week. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Your d can learn to wash her own cloths before she leaves for school. My d washed her clothes last year during the Exeter summer program without any problems. She has continued to do so at home. I considered the laundry service for next year, because I was concerned about time constraints she might have, but when I talked to her about it she didn’t seem to care one way or the other.</p>
<p>My D does her own. It really doesn’t take that much time. She is also careful about taking good care of her clothes since she very particular about what she likes. the laundry service is much harsher on clothes from what she has seen and heard.</p>
<p>I know I’m a guy, and it’s probabaly different for girls… </p>
<p>But get the laundry service, it saves so much time and energy. I have friends who don’t have laundry service and instead of just doing it on their own they procrastinate and end up barely ever washing their clothes, which is kind of gross.</p>
<p>I just did my own. I had the laundry service at first but personally thought it was kind of a pain and just so much faster to do it on my own. It’s not that difficult and really doesn’t take much time. I taught myself. when I got there…put the clothes in, put the detergent in, press the appropriate button. Wait however many minutes it takes then put it in the dyrer and press the button.</p>
<p>Separate whites from colors? And I mean garments, not people!!!</p>
<p>My daughter preferred to do her own laundry at summer camp. However, Kent doesn’t have laundry facilities on campus. Students have to walk to town to use the laundromat. Although it isn’t far, its not a pleasant hike in the snow or rain with a load of towels, sheets and clothes.</p>
<p>That sounds like it would be a huge pain, tzeme, and would definitely make one opt for laundry service at Kent. At SPS, there are washers and dryers in the basements of the dorms.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that if there is a dress code, there will be a need for some dry cleaning periodically (hopefully)…big pain if you are not on a laundry plan.</p>
<p>My child is in her second year of BS and so far both years we have gotten her the laundry service. I frankly thought she would have enough to keep up with and she does. She was only just 14 when she went away to school! Maybe her senior year she can do her own, but frankly I am inclined to keep paying for the service. It’s expensive, but worth it.</p>
<p>My son’s school requires the laundry service. I wish it was not this way as my son does not use it and says not many people he knows do. They all do their own laundry in the dorm (I guess this is a benefit of the laundry service…washers and dryers do not take coins and are the property of E&R) as no one “trusts” E&R. I wish the school would just install coin-op machines; it would be a lot less expensive.</p>
<p>No way do I pay for a regular laundry service, although I would pay for the occasional dry cleaning. My son did not have difficulty keeping his clothes clean. When he came home on vacations, he often ran his own loads of wash because it had become a habit. My wife was dumbstruck with happiness.</p>
<p>Even if he were a natural slob, like I was in boarding school, I would not have provided a laundry crutch. It may take years of clawing through piles of fetid, germ-infested clothes like a vent-man to find something to wear, but eventually the child gets the picture and starts taking responsibility. </p>
<p>One of the best benefits of boarding school for the kids is having the veil pulled back, at least partially, on all those parental functions that are carried out at home tirelessly and without notice or recognition. It does wonders for the kid’s appreciation of and willingness to take responsibility for the basic plumbing of their own lives.</p>
<p>ha, my mom isn’t paying for the laundry service regularly! Just the occasional dry-cleaning or comforter washing. She’s teaching me how to wash my ownq, she says i NEED to learn. and i sort of agree. Besides, i don’t think i’d trust them to wash my clothes. and if they don’t use Tide, i could get a rash. idk, laundry service just seemskinda superflous, just a crutch for kids that are babied by their parents.</p>
<p>My mom has always done my laundry…and I don’t really want to start doing it when I go to BS. The laundry service seems so convenient, my parents won’t want to waste the money…but then I’ll remind them that I’m basically going there for free.</p>
<p>I would take a look at the different plans they offer. I believe one includes unlimited dry cleaning and one is just wash and fold and will charge extra for dry cleaning. I remember friends being upset that they were charged $8 to have an Old Navy cami dry cleaned. She might want to sort those things out and wash them herself. I also warn against sending favorite items to the laundry service as they have a tendency to lose things.</p>
<p>We got the laundry service for my S and glad we did. There are different levels you can choose from, and we got just the basics – wash and fold, no dry cleaning (though if they ever need that, they can pay extra). We also felt that he enough to handle getting adjusted school, and he is also only 14. Frankly, he still looks wrinkled whenever I see him (the service we chose doesn’t press pants), so I can’t imagine if we hadn’t gotten it. I truly think he would have ended up wearing dirty clothes. I guess it depends on your child, but I think its well worth it for them to have one less thing to worry about. I ordered iron on name labels and put them on everything before he went, and have had no problems with losing items. I bring his nicer items (blazer, dress pants) home on the occasional long weekend or break to get drycleaned locally.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the imput. We have decided to get the service for our 14 year old daughter and I will still be teaching her to use the machines. She is three sport kid so she will be needing to was her sport clothes anyway. if I could I’d have the service at my house too! the one job I hate is the laundry. I can’t believe how much we have.</p>
<p>Check to see if the school washes the kids’ practice clothes. Deerfield and SPS do.</p>
<p>We got the laundry service for our daughter thinking that it would save her time, but she didn’t end up using it…She was in a small dorm, and everyone did her own laundry. So, we ended up cancelling it over parents’ weekend, and got a partial refund.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any information as to how available laundry machines are on the Chaote campus? According to mapquest, the nearest laundromat is almost a mile away, and I seem to remember reading that there are facilities on campus, but not in every dorm.</p>