Laundry hacks for the student -- Cheap and fast
Tuesday, May 26, 2009 by Chris Lesinski 
Sunday at LMU: National Laundry Day. The following is a guest post courtesy of Justin Burklow ('10) of the University of the Incarnate Word who won our finals week 24-hour Guest Post Showdown. This post earned him a Matrix Pro smart phone and $100 at AT&T.
Massive piles of laundry haunt the average college student (or Mom on the weekends back home) and going starkers isn’t really an option. Having survived several years of college, months of traveling, and now dealing with an economic recession, I have devised several methods of keeping laundry costs down. You can use these tips on your escapades over the summer, to butter up the parental units by saving their money, or just to store in the noggin for next semester.
Wear Your Clothes More Than Once
The fungus-growing, dandruff-spreading classmate wearing the sweats that can be smelt five rows over is an expert at this. Do not turn into him... but you can learn from his methods. I’ve found I can wear a shirt at least twice before putting it in the laundry due to smells or stains. Pants (especially jeans) can last a week. Do not experiment with underwear or socks; it doesn’t work. By wearing your clothes more than once before washing, it cuts effort, electricity use, quarters, and clothing getting spin-cycle damage.
Rotate Outfits and Hang Up Your Clothes Between Uses
Raise your hand if you’ve noticed the person who wears the same shirt all the time. Don’t be that guy either. The point is two-fold. Use your hangers or buy a clothes tree to let your multi-use clothes air out for a couple days while sporting different styles. This prolongs their use keeps you looking snazzy, saving you washes and friends.
Hang Up Your Laundry to Dry
Not always an option for the inmates of dormville, but if you are lucky enough to live in a house or apartment, you can employ this method recommended by many home economists. Attaching your threads to a stout line after a dunking saves all the quarters or electricity used in drying. It also eliminates wear and tear from lint collectors and gives you a couple minutes of therapy hanging clothes up in the glorious sun.
Use ExOfficio Underwear
I should be getting some sort of kickback from the company for this... but I’m not. This underwear can be worn consecutively all semester with just a quick washing in the sink and hanging up to dry for 15 minutes each night. While this sounds worse than borrowing intimates from a Wookie, it’s hygienic, comfortable, and saves you from having to go commando.
Wear long and prosper!
Reader Comments (9)
My school has a high-tech fancy washing machine system, and periodically the card readers in one of the laundry rooms will break down and the machines there will stop charging. Because word got around, I don't think I paid for a load of laundry in my last 2-3 months at school, and I've never paid to wash my bedding.
Good read! I can testify to the greatness of exofficio underwear. I put off many a laundry day because of its usefulness.
FYI, the first link in the post is broken...
ExOfficio Underwear is the Best!
Check out their deals online: http://bit.ly/iQEAP
@Tonei
Damn, I wish I were that lucky. Whenever the card readers or laundry machines break at LMU, they charge your card and you don't get to do your laundry. It sucks!
I’ve found I can wear a shirt at least twice before putting it in the laundry due to smells or stains. Pants (especially jeans) can last a week.
I often use a white, cheap v-neck t-shirt under my polos, and that way I can use them one day, change into something more comfortable while at home working, and then put them on again a couple of days later.
As far as the t-shirts go, I wash them after one day, because they're always close to my skin and I feel more comfortable by doing so.
I rarely wash my jeans. It might sound weird, disgusting and whatever, but when I get small stains, I wash them away with a small cloth, and when they're smelly I put them in a plastic grocery bag, throw them in the freezer for a day or two, and they're nice and fresh.
This is just to keep the look, and when buying $200 jeans, I want them to last long.
I have acne on my forehead and a lil on my cheeks. Its not to the point where its very noticeable but i'd like to get rid of it fast. What are some fast cheap ways to get rid of acne?
I have acne on my forehead and a lil on my cheeks. Its not to the point where its very noticeable but i'd like to get rid of it fast. What are some fast cheap ways to get rid of acne
Exofficio unders, eh? Thanks for a really helpful post!
Ask your nurse practitioner, family doctor or local dermatologist to prescribe a topical cream for acne. Seeing a dermatologist is always best.
Like my one daughter, you likely have lots of natural oil in your scalp which is working toward your forehead area. You need to keep your hair washed everyday.
You also need to apply a Neutragina non-oil facial scrub morning and night with your finger tips, working it in and then rinsing with water with your hands. Pat dry with a clean towel. Scrubbing with a wash cloth can spread your acne or make it appear worse.
This will keep the problem oil to a minimal level, but you will still need a topical prescribed cream to help reduce the occurance of acne and or black heads. In some cases, a dermatologist will give you something by mouth to take as well, depending on how bad it is.....perhaps just to clear you up for starters.
If you are a female, there are a few brands of birth control pills which work wonders in clearing up acne! They can also boost your outlook as the pill does make life in general easier for females. This doesn't mean you are sexually active, but you are proactive in taking control of medical issues concerning your body, such as facial acne which is now an unwanted problem as it can hender you from being competative in the job market and in other areas of interest.
Good Luck.....and you will feel so much better when you have power over your acne!