College is full of learning experiences, mostly how to live on your own and not burn your residence hall down. Some haven’t quiet grasped the whole independence thing; I’m looking at you guy who always breaks the microwave by cooking mac and cheese for 30 minutes. One part most college kids ride the struggle bus with is doing laundry.

Laundry day is about the worst day of the week, as proven by my procrastination and overly filled laundry basket. I always tend to put off doing laundry because it forces me to deal with my mortal enemy, the stairs. I lived on the 2^nd floor of Blackburn my freshman year and honestly I would kick my laundry basket down the stairs because I had completely given up on life.

I wish I had listened to my mother before I went to wash my clothes because for the entirety of my freshman year my laundry strategy was yolo. In other words, no matter what the color or type of material, all my clothes went into the same washer. The results were disastrous. My white jeans came out pink and my entire wardrobe took on a dingier quality.

In my defense, doing laundry at college has completely different rules than doing laundry at home. The unspoken rules of college laundry: Rule #1, you can’t use more than one washer. Everyone will call you a selfish jerk, and we all encountered that one day you really needed to do laundry, but none of the washers were open because ONE person took them all. Rule #2 If its done, move it to the next step, washer to dryer then dryer to table, and if you’re feeling nice, fold their laundry. Final rule, don’t leave your laundry unattended for too long or else anything could happen to it.

Now everyone knows these rules, but does anyone follow them? Of course not. I’ll be the first to admit to taking up more than one washer. I don’t have all day to wait on one washer full of my own clothes over and over again, sorry not sorry. Also, half the time somebody steals my washer once my load is done anyway, so what’s the problem of me using multiple washers when no one is doing laundry and I go get my clothes in a timely manner?

Rule #2 is near and dear to my heart because for some ungodly reason people think its okay to take wet clothes out of a washer and not put them in a dryer. Did your mother teach you any manners? That person was obviously there first, and what do you expect to happen to their clothes? They’re going to magically dry and everything will be handy dandy? Before you decide to be a jerk, consider waiting for a dryer to open.

The last rule hits home pretty hard for me since it reminds me of the day humanity gave me a cruel reminder. I washed my sweater and left it in the dryer overnight and poof it was gone. Never to be seen again. I know you’re out there Blackburn sweater stealer, I will find you. After that day I learned you can never leave your laundry unattended for very long because it will either get lost or get stolen.

Laundry hasn’t gotten any easier for me now that I live in a house with over 40 women and one laundry room. It also doesn’t help that I always save laundry for Sunday, like everyone else. Laundry will always be a pain, but there’s no escaping it, unless you don’t wash your clothes…gross.