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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

DS DOES need a clothes airer in Halls, doesn't he?

84 replies

Miljah · 30/08/2018 12:24

Got two weeks to go! I'm being fairly relaxed about what DS takes, having carefully read what others say about the amount of loving sourced, personally hand-selected gear that gets stolen, 'borrowed' and trashed in halls- so a fair bit of stuff will be second hand- but our camping clothes airer is really too big and cumbersome, so I'm thinking about a narrow, smaller one- but he will need it, won't he? If only for wet towels!

OP posts:

TheCheeseAlarm · 30/08/2018 16:48

DS1 is categorically not allowed to have clothes airers in hall. Absolutely nothing must be dried in the rooms. So it's probably a good idea to check.

PinguDance · 30/08/2018 16:51

You can order these things online - also don’t understand why you wouldn’t just let him work out he needs one and get it himself. The only thing my mum pressed on me when I went to uni was a colander- now that was useful!

ErrolTheDragon · 30/08/2018 17:01

You can order these things online

It may not be easy to arrange delivery though, if they've got full timetables. Fine if they're somewhere with a porter or equivalent, but may not be ideal else where. As with all these things, no one right way to do this.

LIZS · 30/08/2018 17:04

Ds uni has Amazon lockers!

PinguDance · 30/08/2018 17:09

I genuinely, sincerely think it is better to let your 18 yr old child work out how to do an online shop for an airer than buy one for them. I mean I know I have no reason to be invested in or exasperated by this but I am. Just, come on.

Finfintytint · 30/08/2018 17:17

My halls ( a zillion years ago) limited the amount of electrical appliances in a room, so I'd check first.

motheroreily · 30/08/2018 17:20

We weren't allowed to dry clothes in our room.and you'd get a fine if they spotted an airer being used when we had room inspections.

Original poster

Miljah · 30/08/2018 17:34

Ah, all our DC are different.

It has long 'amused' me on MN how so many people can only see things from their own perspective.

20 minutes on here demonstrates girls DC who are incredibly organised, who have been drawing up and amending lists for weeks; who happily shop for and prepare a family meal a couple of times a week; who last left a wet towel on the floor aged 5; who love tidiness and order in their rooms, who have done their own laundry for at least 3 years; who have held down a part-time job for years, who organised their own uni open day visits; who have already found and organised their new Halls flatmates into FB groups... they'll certainly have both a colander and an airer in the back of mum's car!

Then there are boys other DC... to whom it has only just occurred that they need to be able to manage all this stuff alone in a fortnight's time.

But, give it 3 years, and either those DC will still be living out of a suitcase with cardboard boxes for furniture, occasionally wondering why their clothes smell musty- in which case, that's how they want to live; or they'll have worked out how to do an online shop.

Starting uni can be hard enough, this thread has convinced me that an airer is a good idea so DS will have one (found a narrow one!) and maybe even a colander .

OP posts:

junebirthdaygirl · 30/08/2018 17:35

No way would my ds take one of those to college campus accommodation. The first time they are going let them decide themselves. Meeting new people is hard without bringing along stuff your dm picked against your will. He can always take it first weekend he gets home when he is more relaxed.
Also they do need their good clothes. Am l misreading that..he is leaving good clothes at home. Not like that here..in lreland.

Original poster

Miljah · 30/08/2018 17:44

My DS is taking all his (relevant) clothes, the stuff he always wears. He needs a couple more T shirts and pants and socks, he's already said he wants to buy them now and take them which seems fair enough.

But I doubt the presence of an airer in his room is going to influence how easily he makes friends, tbh....

Just trawled through the rules and regs- no mention of airers!

OP posts:

Original poster

Miljah · 30/08/2018 17:46

And, in reality, our DC have been deciding for themselves since they chose how hard to work at sixth form, then their uni, their course, their accommodation, their 'willingness' to run up a huge debt.

Me suggesting- and buying- an airer is quite small fry against all that, don't you think?

OP posts:

flissfloss65 · 30/08/2018 17:51

Won’t there room be all damp with washing drying in such a small space?

Never thought of using one in halls.

ErrolTheDragon · 30/08/2018 18:38

Also they do need their good clothes. Am l misreading that..he is leaving good clothes at home.

Depends where they're going and what they're planning to do. DD lives in skinnies, checked shirts and jumpers and had hated clothes shopping - so we had to do a few trawls of town this time last year to get something suitable for matriculation and 'formals' (which aren't actually all that formal fortunately). Having got off remarkably lightly all through her childhood and teenage till then, it was a real pleasure to do this together.

Purplemond · 30/08/2018 20:19

both mine had them as we use them at home and they decided to take them themselves
yes they may be able to get them in uni time, but it is not the easiest thing to walk back with, deliveries arent always allowed in halls and as useful as amazon lockers can be they only seemed to allow small deliveries im sure they wouldnt take a clothes airer. If the dc wants it or agrees i see no issue, if they refuse its always a xmas present idea for when they get fed up of paying dryer costs a few weeks in

Betsy86 · 30/08/2018 20:27

There’s a very compact size airer in sainsburys at the moment it holds alot but folds down alot smaller than others i have seen (and own tempted to buy myself one) that would fit nicely under a bed.x

derekthe1adyhamster · 30/08/2018 20:35

My DS has just left boarding school. The last year they have to do their own washing. DS decided he needed an over radiator dryer. But I noticed he'd started to hang his t shirts above an open window. I would also suggest sewing a loop halfway down the towels so they can be hung easily on hooks.
They do not need an airer just for towels

Soontobe60 · 30/08/2018 20:39

When my DD went, we bought the absolute essentials beforehand such as bedding, but after we arrived in the day and did a recce of her room, we then did another trip to the local Dunelm and bought other things. She didn't have a clothes drier in the end, there just wasn't any space!

PinguDance · 30/08/2018 20:59

Hah OP - I like that you took my disproportionately annoyed comment in good spirit. I did wonder why I get quite so annoyed by these threads and why I felt the need to comment - I actually think it is to do with the gender thing you’ve written about. I know a few nice, educated men in their twenties who are SHIT at household stuff, I know a man who is 35 (!!) and his mum still makes his drs appointments. At the end of the day I can totally see how you’d be like - we should get an airer in Sainsbury’s tomorrow before you go. Although I still think your should chuck him out the car with nothing and just flimg a colander at his head and be like - see ya in 9 months mate!

Kezzie200 · 30/08/2018 22:30

Yes. My daughter used hers a lot during Freshers

They had (clothes) horse races up the corridor.

She then had to buy a new one. That lasted three years.

NotTheWayISeeIt · 31/08/2018 09:16

Lol, I’ve had four kids go through Uni and none of them had a heated clothes dryer but I’ve just asked DC 4 who is off to do a Masters if she wanted one and she thinks it’s a great idea! It looks like she is allowed them in her halls but she will double check. She is now planning to hand wash her tops, tights and underwear.

Uni launderettes are often expensive and not very good.

Daisymay2 · 31/08/2018 09:27

Dc1 asked me to get him one after the first week, along with a fruit bowl (!). I was going to past uni town to visit my father. It was just a fold up Wilko one, not heated. 7 years later ds2 still using (post grad). The best thing is the metal sock/bra driers that you can get on line.plastic ones break!

Daisymay2 · 31/08/2018 09:30

My DC found that uni tumble drivers were expensive and really ruined socks jumpers and pants. They sometimes did a short tumble but not so long that the items were bone dry.

silkpyjamasallday · 31/08/2018 09:31

I didn't take one, I wished I had once I realised the tumble driers in my halls could be opened while still on, and people would nick your stuff or dump piles of damp clothes on the floor so they could dry their things. At least you can dry things safely in a locked bedroom!

Xenia · 31/08/2018 10:00

Mine didn't take one. one of my sons borrowed someone's for a while in his halls (so that cost nothing but I am not sure what the other poor boy was doing - perhaps his mother bought it for him and he didn't want it). The other twin tended to use the driers so he could do a long wash and then dry cycle and put it all away when done.

2rebecca · 31/08/2018 14:22

Yes, it got upgraded to a bigger one with sticky out bits for hanging clothes on clothes hangers. Tumble dryers are expensive and useless for most modern sports clothes and bamboo t shirts which my son loves

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