<p>I offered to pay for D’s Laundry Service because of the legendary crunch for time at B Schools with all the activities but she insists on doing it herself. No matter how many times I offer, she says no way she wants a Laundry service for what she can do for herself. Tomcat’s view is more or less D’s view that in between clothes going into the washer & dryer, studying can be done.</p>
<p>I hope that my dorm has a washer and dryer. Otherwise, maybe I can get by with sneaking into a neighboring dorm to do laundry. I’m not a boy, so I don’t have as many clothes that need ironing… I hope teachers don’t mind slightly wrinkly clothes since it’s against the rules to have irons!</p>
<p>Do you know that there are some boarding schools that do not provide a laundry service? All students are required to do their own laundry. Each dorm has it’s own laundry room and the machines are FREE. You only provide the ‘ingredients’ 
My sons (two different boarding schools) quickly discovered ‘Swash’ for quick de-wrinkling, and the one who is more particular about his clothes actually does not mind ironing.</p>
<p>I had friends with children at other boarding schools who signed up for laundry service the first year, and quickly dropped it after the first term. Stuff was sometimes lost (apparently the children don’t always complain about it because it’s too much trouble), and whites eventually became off-white. The kids did a much better job when they started to do laundry themselves. Plus, by the time they go off to college, they have the whole laundry/time management thing under their belts.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it depends on the school. For instance on a school like Deerfield where you wear dress shirts, ties, blazers, and dress pants it’s much more difficult to do laundry rather than some polos, t-shirts, and khakis/jeans etc.</p>
<p>We must be the only parents who PAID for laundry service that our son NEVER used. Well, he used it once and sent ONE shirt in. He said he never used it again because he never got his shirt back. Turns out he didn’t know where to pick up his laundry and he eventually forgot about the “missing” shirt. (Freshmen!)</p>
<p>Sophomore year we turned down the service and picked up his laundry every three weeks when we visited him. (Smelly, yes, but wasn’t he just as smelly the year before?) I would wash his clothes and send them back in a flat rate package. Do you think he would go pick up the package from the mail room??? NO!</p>
<p>Fast-forward to junior year (now). After two days at school, son called and asked, “Do I have laundry service?” We asked him if he wanted it. “Yeah, probably.” Would you actually USE it? “Probably not.” Nuff said! Back to the every third week plan. So this year we’re hoping he’ll pick up his clean laundry from the mail room and actually OPEN the box and wear the clean clothes!</p>
<p>BTW-his school does not have laundry facilities. Son showers in the morning and at night, so that might keep his clothes a little cleaner! Thank goodness he not a sweaty boy AND that the school cleans the sports uniforms! :)</p>
<p>It was the consistent extra fifteen - twenty dollar charge by the service each time for the articles found in the clothing, wallet, keys, cell phone, ipod, paperwork and repeat that really irked me.
Other guy’s school does not offer the service, he does it all himself, even before he comes home!</p>
<p>I didn’t sign my S for the service. At some school, bedding sheet & towels are include in the tuition. Dry clean service is available in separate charge (on top of $500). I let my S try for this year do his own laundry. Let’s see.</p>
<p>ops: oh that’s a good reminder to me to send that laundry waiver in. Don’t think it covers keys, but at least I know they won’t charge me for dry cleaning stuff we’d throw in the was at home.</p>
<p>baseball: too funny!</p>
<p>There’s a lot of talk about ironing here, and I just wanted to share a quick note. My parents don’t iron my clothes at home because they are usually wrinkle-free (we don’t use those wrinkle free detergent, wrinkle free pants or shirts, etc.) I don’t know whether it’s just a trick from my mom, or if all people do this, but when the laundry is damp from the washing machine, we take the clothes and kind of “blow dry” them out. Here’s an example, we take a shirt and we kind of shake it out vigorously, until it looks pretty straight and then put it in the dryer. It’s pretty hard to explain but we just don’t simply transfer it to the dryer right away. I’m not sure whether everyone does it (by common sense) or just a few, but I just thought I should share that. </p>
<p>PS My clothes aren’t ironed and they’re pretty wrinkle free! Although this may just be a result of my hardworking mother. :)</p>
<p>Finishing up a second year of laundry service for our son, and it has been, in our estimation, worth the cost, not only because dress shirts and pants look great, but because of ties and spandex/exercise stuff continually needing dry cleaning or gentle treatment. My son has learned to do his own laundry along the way because there are weeks he forgets to send his clothes in. (The kids get a card with the laundry plan, so can do their laundry in the dorm machines for free.)</p>
<p>We haven’t had much problem–as far as I can tell–with clothes going missing–but we labelled everything, down to socks and underwear. </p>
<p>If he went to a school with a casual dress code, I’d probably tell him, at this point, to do his own laundry. But in the world of shirts and ties, I think it has really helped keep him and his room neater than they would otherwise be.</p>
<p>Like classicalmama I have just signed up for Year 2 with E and R
My D has started to do some of her own laundry but there is no way she is ready to do all of it on her own. I think it has been worth it!</p>
<p>E&R have done well by us too. The “look sharp” covers all dry cleaning and it comes back ironed and on hangars. My daughter just has to remember to take the bag down. </p>
<p>Order some labels on-line to sew or iron on all clothes, it seems to help. We evened labelled the shoes (although they do not go to the cleaners)!</p>
<p>Some schools have so few washers and dryers that stuff gets taken out by others, left on floor, and it costs a couple of dollars to use the machines too.</p>
<p>Okay, I have become a convert. For D’s first year, I truly believed that she should handle her own laundry. Now, after seeing (and smelling) the condition of her dorm room upon my arrival last week, I have changed my mind. What I discovered during the packing up process is that she only felt the need to do laundry once every two weeks (worked well for her). This resulted in an accumulation of clothes scattered about a very small room. Teenagers participating in sports should not have dirty clothes in a confined space for that time period. I also realized that, although her sheets got washed regularly, none of her blankets, mattress pad, bedspread, etc. got washed for the entire year. YUK! She did not seem to be concerned about the situation, but I certainly feel the need for things to be different next year. I also feel that we over packed in the clothes department, which added to the clutter of her room. If the wash is getting done more regularly, she can certainly cut down on the amount of clothes she needs to take to school. </p>
<p>So, my question is for the Exeter moms. Can you pull laundry service after one term or do you have to commit for the whole year? I want to make a deal with D that if her room remains a mess after the first term, we will pull the service.</p>
<p>The best way to find out is to call E&R directly. They answer questions is a pretty timely fashion.</p>
<p>Bah Humbug on laundry services!!! Kids should sleep in the beds they make (literally!) It may be repulsive to the parents to see great masses of festering, dirty clothes that rival anything you might see at Yucca Mountain, but ultimately the kid will reach the conclusion (usually helped along by peers) that it’s better not to be disgusting. But, as long as the laundry safety net is there, then habits never change.</p>
<p>@Parlabane–Totally, totally agree. I have no intention of policing my child’s BS room or laundry basket from afar; I reserve that duty for the room he occupies here during the summer. If he picks up an incurable filth-related disease at BS, oh well.</p>
<p>Fortunately, I did read through this thread before posting, so I prepared myself for the ridicule. Believe me, Parlabane, I was with you last year; and, it is very apparent in this thread how strongly you feel about this issue. It’s just not a battle I am willing to fight again next year.</p>
<p>neatoburrito - loved your comment - sounds like our S</p>
<p>I’m definitely planning to sign my daughter up for the laundry service. And I am also very much looking forward to having no dog in the fight when it comes to the messiness of her room - that’s going to be between her and her roommate!</p>
<p>SAS (no laundry service) son and I went on vacation together two Spring’s ago for a week. He caught me off guard when in the middle of the week he announce “laundry night” and proceeded accordingly.</p>