Laundry at uni

[MyMagicStars]

I’ve got a slightly odd case and need some ideas! DD4 is going back to uni for her PGCE at the same place she did her undergrad. She’ll be living on campus. However, the campus laundrettes are tiny, cramped and dirty, plus she’s got multiple allergies, including detergents so has reacted after using them before. Additionally, damp, crowded communal spaces in COVID frightens her, especially if she is on placement going into schools. In second year, she was off campus with a machine, and in first and third, her partner lived off campus and let her use his machine in exchange for a Sunday roast! Portable washing machines are banned- I imagine doing knickers and socks in a sink will be OK, but with teaching and needing five full outfits a week (plus she does a LOT of sports) plus being knackered easily due to joint problems, we’re struggling for a solution. Any ideas? She’s got enough bedsheets (she and her twin are my seventh and eight students!) to not have to wash those for a whole term (nine sets) but things like jumpers, trousers, etc are causing a problem. Thank you!

Would an off campus laundrette work?

I have looked, but the closest is quite far. She is sharing a flat with one other postgrad female, and while she won’t have an en-suite, she has a bath. We will probably visit twice all term, so can’t be relied upon!

She will have to hand wash, plus plan a couple of big trips to the laundrette

It’s not such a big deal. I’ve been a teacher in areas with no washing machines and hand washed every day

Is the problem that the communal launderettes machines will have residual powder in them, meaning that even if she uses her own powder, her clothes are likely to come out contaminated ? This and the fact that those sort of machines rarely wash as long and as efficiently as domestic machines.

The ideal solution is for her to have her own personal machine, but that would mean renting a private flat. Can she afford this? I'm sure she doesn't have to stay on the campus, though for social purposes it is probably preferable to being isolated on her own somewhere else.

A laundry service?

With kindness, it seems like there is something bigger going on behind this that might need addressing. Does your DD have anxiety?

On a practical level, what is the issue with allergies? Is it traces of detergent in the machine getting on to her clothes and causing skin allergies or is it fragrance in the air giving her asthma or rhinitis? If it is the machines, she just needs to do a second wash with no detergent to thoroughly rinse them. If it is a reaction to being in the room, how serious is it? If it is just hay fever type symptoms, maybe she just needs to put up with it. If it is more serious, she needs an alternative.

From the point of view of COVID, the risk of catching it in the laundry is no different from teaching in a school everyday. Could she use the laundrette first thing in the morning or another unpopular time? 7am on a Sunday perhaps?

I sometimes handwash cashmere jumpers etc She should be able to hand wash all her clothes then wring them out using a towel to remove excess water. A big plastic storage crate makes a good "sink". Laundrettes and some dry cleaners offer service washes or there might be an online/app service near her or someone who does laundry at home. I am sure it would be very easy to find a student who would be happy to take on the job of going to the laundrette for her!

If portable washing machines are banned, are full washing machines also banned? If not, look into renting one. Though I'm not sure we every asked our uni accommodation (many years ago) we just had one installed!!

Have you discussed the allergy problems with the uni who are supplying the room? They may have solutions or be more sympathetic and allow a portable washer.

What does your daughters flat mate think?

Other option, if the rooms are never checked and could get away with a portable one! What they don't know won't hurt them!!!

I'd look for a laundry service.

A home steamer might help. It doesn't replace washing but the steam does kill bacteria (that cause smells), get rid of creases etc so you can wear things more before they need washing.

steamery.co.uk/cumulus-no3-home-steamer-black

Laundry service. Loads do pick up and drop off.

Find a local laundry that collects and delivers and explain about the allergy.

I'm assuming it is to far to visit you.

For my PGCE I had 5 pairs of black linen trousers and 7 blouses, the same one but in different materials, it was like a uniform. One wash a week for work clothes.

What about a hand cranked one? Are they banned too?

DD4 does have anxiety, and multiple tested allergies. She’s living in a halls postgrad flat we had to argue a bit to get her into, and has a video of it- while lots of storage space, nowhere for a machine. Would some sort of salad spinner type thing work? It’s electronic portable machines, I think. She hasn’t met her flatmate yet, the uni don’t share details and so usually it’s up for students to find their own flat mates on Facebook.
She has joint issues and does get tired at times, so I might look into hand powered machines. Has anyone used one? All laundry collections nearby seem to be for hotels etc.

Sorry, the allergy is to traces on skin! We’ve found a hand wash liquid she doesn’t react to, but she’s quite bad- can’t use towels at her brothers’ houses, for example. She once spilt something on her mattress cover and had to wash it, but ended up reacting- luckily at the end of term!

Which uni is she going to? I can't imagine a uni in the land that doesn't have a launderette offering service washes, etc nearby. Also she's bound to make friends on her course and may be able to use someone's machine - would be a weird opening gambit though.

Just find a local cleaning service and talk to them, some will have the ability to do what you need.

Find a local launderette that does service washes or another equivalent laundry service, and use that.

I strongly advise against trying to take any kind of washing machine/dryer to halls (other than a drying rack, obvs). There will not be the plumbing or the space, and there will most likely be rules in place preventing this anyway. They aren't usually mad keen on drying racks either, tbh; condensation can build up and cause damage to the accommodation (eg mould) so she'll need to be careful if she decides to do lots of hand washing.

If the big concern is detergent allergies, would it be workable to hand wash the stuff and then take it to the launderette and chuck it in the dryer? There's often an app nowadays allowing you to see how long the laundry load still has to go, so she wouldn't need to hang around and could do a quick in and out. But honestly, with a PGCE workload, service washes would be better.

Maybe she should wash in the bath tub. I was thinking like pressing grapes for wine, walking up and down them. I googled it and found this instead. Although it says rinse in washing machine, she could use a shower attachment. It dies take 3 hours, so she'd need and understanding flat mate!

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/viral-washing-hack-strip-your-17562607

I've just had another thought, her allergies may constitute a 'disability' under the uni equality rules, the uni should be looking at making a 'reasonable adjustment' which could be locking one of the laundries so only she can use it, or allowing a washing machine, or something else.

She should write to the uni and lay out the options and give them an opportunity to solve the issue.

If desperate, for a long time growing up, we used a wash board in a sink and wringing it out by hand. It will be a bugger to get it to dry in winter, but the clothes will be clean. Extremely good for toned arms too!

I would see of there's any kind of laundry collection service in the area. Some around me will collect the washing from your home and return again clean and dry. Could still have an issue with wahing detergent contamination though if her allergies are very bad, I know exSil had to have a completely clean, safe machine, or her whole body would start swelling.

...her allergies may constitute a 'disability' under the uni equality rules, the uni should be looking at making a 'reasonable adjustment' which could be locking one of the laundries so only she can use it...

By no stretch of the imagination is depriving everyone else in the residence of laundry facilities for a year so one person can use them a reasonable adjustment.

She could potentially go down the route of requesting a reasonable adjustment if she provides sufficient medical evidence of her allergies but this might involve trade offs (for example, even if installing a washing machine is in theory a good solution it might not be physically possible to install one in the residence she's going to be living in, so that might require living elsewhere). It's very late to be looking at that sort of thing, though; especially given the accommodation pressure many unis will now be under following all the A Level shenanigans.

She would be better with a couple of collapsible washing up bowls and an electric spin dryer.

Stand-alone spinners are very efficient at removing water and very quiet if properly loaded.

Which would still leave the issue of actually getting the clothes dry, but if the flatmate uses the laundry room herself, perhaps she would be kind enough to take all the tumble-drier-proof items over and dry them off, just leaving 'delicates' to be dried in the flat somehow. Is there any outside space where clothes could be hung out to dry, weather-permitting?

You can get camping washing machines, you can,t do much at a time though, and not sure if any easier then washing in the bath. 9which would take more.

By no stretch of the imagination is depriving everyone else in the residence of laundry facilities for a year so one person can use them a reasonable adjustment.

The OP said there were 'laundries' so no it would not deprive everyone else.