Laundry Woes

Laundry can be an unexpected financial burden on students. At Defiance College it cost $2.50 to complete just one load of laundry, which might mean picking between a clean shirt and spending the night out.

If a student does their laundry twice a month then they will find themselves paying $10 a month, which adds up to $90 over the school year; not including the cost of detergents, fabric softener, dryer sheets and other laundry essentials. Of course, depending on how often you do your laundry, you can easily find yourself paying more than $150 on laundry by the end of the school year.

Many students can escape the staggering costs if they live a short driving distance from campus. Yet, even this option drains the meager monetary resources available to most college students, through the cost of gas.

Of course there are many options when it comes to making the personal cost to do one load of laundry. If your roommate and you are close, you can share a load between of laundry, and split the cost. You would be able to save a few bucks every month that could go towards a movie or a fun night with some friends.

Some students find it difficult to wash and dry their blankets, without having to pay for any extra $1.25 to make sure the blankets get dry. There are four Laundromats in Defiance, two of which advertise machines that are meant for larger loads. Students who occasionally pay extra to ensure that their clothes and blankets get dry, can try out a local Laundromat. The larger machines offered off campus can be used to do wash two loads, in one machine, for the same price that you would pay on campus.

When you think about doing laundry, you can think about only washing the important things, such as underwear and socks. Doing so is an alternative way of saving a few bucks. If you just hold out on washing your clothes until you run out of clean underwear or socks, you could potentially cut the amount of laundry you do to about two loads a month. Of course, your jeans and shirts may begin to smell before you run out of clean socks and underwear, but think of the savings!

Whether you’re a student who uses the laundry rooms on campus on a regular basis or you go home to do your laundry, I’m sure we can all agree that it would be nice to be able to do laundry on campus for free or for a cheaper price. After all, our tuition money goes to other resident essentials on campus, so why are we still paying $2.50 for laundry? Yet, there are plenty of options for you to help decrease the personal cost of doing laundry, you just have to look for them.