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Higher education

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

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:
Etino · 31/08/2018 14:27

Yesterday I rolled my eyes at the very thread day. Today I’m expecting one from Amazon. If it’s useful, I’ll be ordering another couple.
Thank you!

Etino · 31/08/2018 14:27

I rolled my eyes at the thread title!

Parker231 · 31/08/2018 14:34

I suggested to DT’s that they had one when they went last year but they weren’t interested. I never hang clothes out to dry and use the tumble dryer for everything. They have done the same at Uni.

HostessTrolley · 31/08/2018 14:39

My husbands very favourite thing about the summer was that our two uni age sons brought their airers home. He loved having three to put the washing on.

Sometimes you’re prompted to consider your life choices.... I decided to be thrilled to have a dh who enthusiastically cracks on with the laundry.

flatmouse · 31/08/2018 14:57

Against rules for DS in halls. No clothes drying in room. Annoying as he will be using gym, playing rugby and his course is a sporty one.

Groovee · 01/09/2018 15:38

DD's room means she can't fit a clothes horse in. It's not like the single rooms we viewed and she got a double room.

BackforGood · 01/09/2018 21:24

Mine both found them incredibly useful.
Yes, for drying washing, but also airing towels, and even spreading out coats when they've got soaked through!
Both are good at opening windows, though. Both had decent sized rooms (unlike my neice's who would never have been able to get an airer in and also be able to move in and out. Both had sports kit that needed to be washed and dried regularly but it can't go in the tumble drier.

scaryteacher · 02/09/2018 19:05

Yes, as using the dryer costs a fortune. Amazon do deliver as does Lakeland!! Ds had one for all 4 years when he realised how much the dryer cost.

olympicsrock · 02/09/2018 19:12

Totally necessary . Get a heated one if possible! John Lewis or Lakeland

Daisymay2 · 02/09/2018 22:37

Went to move dc2 this weekend (post grad student). Without my mentioning any mn threads he said the best thing he had bought was his metal bathroom caddy which has either been in his room/ en suite or bathroom in shared houses . Has stored disposable contacts, wash stuff, shampoo rasors etc. Second was his sock drier then his clothes airer which doubles as a towel rail.

PerspicaciaTick · 02/09/2018 22:43

I was in halls with 200 people and not one of us had an airer. I'm not sure how we coped TBH.

Thissameearth · 02/09/2018 22:54

Wow I am amazed at this level of involvement! Did your parents do this for you, mine’s didn’t and I think that was for the best. Genuinely, little things like working out what you need, and getting it home (or likely getting it delivered through amazon) is just part of starting out on your own. Knowing you have loving supportive parents in the background is amazing, but fussing over unimportant stuff like this would have made me feel a bit annoyed and “helicoptered”.

Thesearepearls · 02/09/2018 23:00

Mijah there's a whole bunch of sexist assumptions in your post. If you flipped the genders you would have got my DC ... My DS is the planner, the thinker, the worker, the one who beat his grade targets, the one who cooks and the one who washes. My DD on the other hand ....

errorofjudgement · 03/09/2018 07:36

Both my DS used slim upright airers, and as the uni halls are so warm, clothes dried very quickly. A heated airer would’ve been useful in second year when they were sharing grotty student houses and there were the usual arguments over how cold it had to be before the central heating was switched on!

Also I’ve been following NAPM and I’m intrigued that some of the mums have bought portable (camping) washing machines for their DC, I’m not sure how on earth they will fit in the room, not to mention carrying a w/m down the corridor to the communal bathrooms to do their laundry! Grin

Rosemary46 · 03/09/2018 07:41

I bought my DC a heated airer for halls and she used it all the time. It ended up in their kitchen / living room as all her flatmates loved it too.

Their laundry room was in another block and the tumble dryers cost a fortune and took ages.

LaContessaDiPlump · 03/09/2018 07:45

I love threads like this - I was woefully unprepared when I went to uni and didn't know how washing machines worked!! I hand-washed exactly one load of clothes in the bath of our flat before taking the plunge and attempting to decipher the machine Grin it all worked out in the end.

We used a lot of those radiator airing thingies - maybe one of those that folds flat would be useful?

ErrolTheDragon · 03/09/2018 09:22

I was woefully unprepared when I went to uni and didn't know how washing machines worked!!

Me too - leastwise, 'automatics', we had a 'twin tub' at home. I stuck to hand washing for the first year in halls - having failed to get to grips with the laundry room in the first fortnight I was too embarrassed to ask anyone thereafter.

user1499173618 · 03/09/2018 20:28

We’ve bought crockery, cutlery, saucepans and basic cooking utensils, a duvet, pillows, sheets and towels plus a clothes airer on a pre-university shopping trip with the DC. And then, on arrival at their first year halls, DH has taken each of them to buy bits and pieces to make their bedrooms more comfortable - a bedside lamp, a bigger bin. I mean - why wouldn’t you and your DC want to do this stuff together? That’s what families are for.

UghNoWay · 03/09/2018 21:01

I was woefully unprepared when I went to uni and didn't know how washing machines worked!!

I don't think this type of thing needs to be an issue these days. I can't imagine there is a teen out there who can't use google and if you can use google you can do almost anything.

LaContessaDiPlump · 03/09/2018 22:28

I don't know Ugh - I worry that kids today get accustomed to being spoonfed information and are not in the habit of seeking it out for themselves. Tbf, I would prob have been the same if I'd grown up in this modern world. I am trying to deliberately counter this in my own children by letting them struggle occasionally Grin

TheDishRanAwayWithTheSpoon · 03/09/2018 22:48

Of course they need an airer, how else would they dry their clothes? I know tumble driers exist but the uni laundrette ones are expensive, ruin your clothes and you have to sit around for ages waiting for them, your stuff might get stolen etc.. You need an airer, at least for the clothes that can't be tumble dried. A good airer could legitimately help him make friends Grin

I don't understand why you wouldn't help your DC with things they need for uni? I mean what's the point of thinking "they need an airer but I'm purposefully not going to buy one for them so they can figure it out themselves". Most parents have this amount of involvement with DC going to uni, it's perfectly normal.

Uni threads always remind me of my dad who insists he went to uni (30 years ago) with just a rucksack on the train. Yes my grandad says, you did have to get the train because we couldn't fit you in the car with all your stuff!

user1499173618 · 04/09/2018 07:39

I don’t think parents should be shopping fir university without their DC. It is a good learning experience for them to go to Ikea/John Lewis etc and to choose their own equipment, to a tight budget. It’s a good learning experience for them to write the shopping list before they go, but it’s also really helpful if parents review the shopping list and offer bits and pieces. We didn’t buy all new bedding - the DCs took old stuff from my parents’ house for part of it.

2rebecca · 04/09/2018 09:32

Helping them with stuff like airers that are bulky when they have no car is sensible to me not over involvement. Leaving home is less stressful if parents do give help and guidance and help transport bulky items initially.
By the time they leave uni they should be largely self sufficient (although my son still doesn't have a car so I helped transport new fish tank recently) but initially guidance and practical help seems sensible.

user1499173618 · 04/09/2018 09:53

Lots of young people can’t drive and don’t have cars.

FlowersAndHerts · 04/09/2018 10:46

Why would you need an airer? You just hang clothes on hangers around the room with the window open (I still do this today Blush ), and spread out the underwear... Grin

Have you seen the size of your DC's room? My DS had a tiny room last year, and I don't think he could have fitted in an airer, even if he'd wanted one - which he didn't!