<p>Below is from the NMH A to Z handbook posted on their site. I believe this is the 13-14 edition, but even so, the price is considerably lower that what most have quoted on this thread. </p>
<p>Laundry
The school contracts with E&R campus laundry services. Each student is allowed to send in one full bag per week. Each bag can hold approximately 25 to 30 pounds of clothing, such as jeans, underwear, socks, undershirts, bed linens, etc. All laundry will be washed, dried, and folded. Dress shirts will be laundered, pressed, and returned on hangers. A laundry fee of $550 is included with the first installment of tuition, due in July.</p>
<p>Also included in this plan:
all dry cleaning
valet service: Includes replacing of missing buttons and sewing of minor tears upon request.</p>
<p>washer and dryer service: Each boarding student will also have unlimited free access to the washers and dryers that have been installed in several dormitories throughout the campus. In so doing, students will be able to do an occasional load of laundry themselves if needed.</p>
<p>@croissantmiser The laundry fee at NMH is not optional for boarders. As others have said, the fees vary by school. NMH undoubtedly is able to get a better deal since they guaranteed E&R that they would deliver ~530 contracts this year.</p>
<p>@GMTplus7 - As a former JBS parent, I can assure you that the biggest battle was getting the filthy clothing into the laundry bag. Boys at that age have absolutely no problem wearing the same pair of khakis for 2-3 weeks while six clean pair hang in their closet!! Typical (and somewhat endearing) boy stuff. You gotta love it. </p>
<p>My DD has gotten the laundry service. Washer/dryer avalilability has been the big factor there. Her first year she was in a dorm where the washer/dryers were fairly inconvenient and not really accessible after checkin time. This year she’s in a large dorm with few facilities. After reading this thread, I think I’ll start lobbying the school for better washer/dryer access and availability so that there’s not such a big convenience tradeoff if you don’t want to use the costly service.</p>
<p>I was pleasantly surpirsed when spring break rolled around and she had done all her laundry for herself on her first day home! So depsite my buying the laundry service, she still knows how to get by (phew! )</p>
<p>Athletic clothes are washed at the gym for everyone, with a 1-day turnaround.</p>
<p>@CroissantMiser- It’s definitely mandatory at JBS (for more reasons than I could possibly list here), but the cost is usually included in tuition. I never knew the cost for JBS laundry service ( because it wasn’t billed separately) so when my first kid went off to SS, I had sticker shock, too. Sadly, by that time I was hooked and there was no turning back… </p>
<p>Well, we were going to roll with the service at NMH whether it’s mandatory or not, especially in her first year. I will have to do some further investigating as to how “mandatory” is defined after freshman year. She will have enough on her plate in year 1 so we don’t want her to have to worry about finding time to do laundry as well.</p>
<p>OK, ok, ok. These kids are in the top .05% of lucky. They have hit the jackpot. On top of the educational experience, many of them are also blessed with great financial wealth. And we’re saying that they can’t or shouldn’t have to do their own laundry, one of the most basic hygiene tasks? What? They’re too busy? They have too much stress freshman year to handle it? They’re inherently pigs (girls too) and don’t care how nasty they or their room look? They don’t know how to do it (shame on all you mothers who have been giving them free passes all along!).</p>
<p>I’m not talking about dry cleaning. I do agree that should be sent out. But wash and fold - hell no. I’ve never understood moms who come up with a smorgasbord of reasons why it’s just better to let little Johnny or sweet Suzy have a free pass. There’s no free pass at home for you! Don’t we parents want our kids to know how to pick up after themselves? To be clean? Not to smell like something stuck on the bottom of your shoe?</p>
<p>I hope some of you out there who are actually debating laundry will use this moment to put a most simple parental stake in the ground and say to your kid, whose independence you’ve otherwise been lauding all along, that with the gift of boarding school comes the responsibility for cleaning yourself, your clothes and your room.</p>
<p>Parlabane: while I agree there are many valid points in your post, the real issue is that if you buy dry cleaning on a “per item” basis over the whole school year, you might find that it ends up being cheaper to just buy the flat rate plan…</p>
<p>I am impressed you have an avatar to match the topic!</p>
<p>We solved the laundry issue by making sure the schools that were considered had a river or some other body of water on or near campus with ample rocks and trees for drying.</p>
<p>This scenario has worked wonders for time management and budgeting purposes. </p>
<p>Another poster mentioned “name bubbles” last year, and we tried them… they work great. For girls’ clothing, fabric pens are not always the best solution. The name bubble labels adhere very well to the little tags inside the clothing. You can use them on just about anything… sports equipment, electronics… whatever. They come in a variety of styles and you order them online… </p>
<p>^^ Name Bubbles sound great!!! You know…we might need a thread devoted to where you can find all the stuff BS kids need… and at a great price… clothing, bedding, electronics, etc… My sisters text me all the time when they see awesome sales online and I always save a ton of money… it would be nice to help each other here and offset the cost for E&R. Just a thought.</p>
<p>PhotoMom, that is a brilliant idea. You’ve had lots of experience with shopping for BS supplies… So I am counting on you to get it started! =D> </p>
<p>It really wasn’t that bad once you are all set up. AND - if you figure out the cost to replace everything, you will be happy you did it. Things do get left around campus and this way you have half a chance someone will bring it back. For those of us with “control issues” it is a comforting exercise. </p>
<p>Good luck with the quarters. I sent a bag of them. They were absolutely used - in the snack machine! :P</p>
)</p>
Just a thought.</p>