College students should take Laundry 101
The first weeks of a new college year can be intense, as students deal with a heavy course load, roommate issues, dining-hall dilemmas, social challenges, homesickness, and more.
Add laundry to the typical college kid’s to-sweat, to-fret list. Even assuming that a student had done his or her own laundry at home, the prospect of being 100 percent responsible for clean clothes and linens can be daunting. Many colleges offer laundry services (it’s definitely not included in the exorbitant tuition), and plenty of companies around campuses nationwide target students who are loath to do laundry.
There are even app-based services aimed at taking a load off. As USA Today recently reported, Washio is offering laundry and dry cleaning in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., with plans to expand.
Washio lets you select your pick up and drop-off times and promises that your clean laundry will be returned to you the next day. (The free app is available through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.) Wash-and-fold laundry costs $1.60 per pound.
Far be it from us to tell college kids how to spend their money, but the DIY approach will cost less than a service. Use our laundry tips for college students, and check our reviews of laundry detergents to find a reasonably priced that works well.
—Steven H. Saltzman
More from Consumer Reports:
Top performing kitchen gear at rock bottom prices
The best washing machines for $800 or less
Kitchen floors that stand up to foot traffic
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