A study from Birmingham City University once
revealed that 60% of students do not know how to do their laundry when they first arrive on a college campus. It doesn’t take long for students to realize that they’re going to learn just as much outside of the classroom as they are inside the classroom.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be a pro at doing laundry to win a scholarship from Tide and Downy, the king and queen of laundry supplies. In fact, there’s actually very little work involved in applying and increasing your chances of winning the Tide and Downy Back to School Scholarship.
Tide and Downy Back to School Scholarship
Since 1960, Tide and Downy have been teaming up to give Americans the cleanest, freshest laundry possible, and now they’re going above and beyond to help 150 of their youngest customers. At the start of this school year, you can be working toward winning one of the Tide and Downy
Back to School Scholarships.
How to Apply for the Back to School Scholarship
To apply for the Tide Scholarship, students must first register for PG Good Everyday Rewards. There is no cost to creating an account, and signing up helps students earn points whenever they purchase products by Proctor & Gamble. You’d be surprised at how many brands are represented under their banner.
Next, students must complete the multi-stage registration form. Throughout the registration process, you will be eligible to gain up to 15 entries into the national drawing for this
scholarship for undergraduates.
Finally, all applicants must submit their entry by September 30, 2023.
Back to School Scholarship Winners
Approximately 150 winners will be drawn at random on October 2, 2023. Winners will be notified by email and have three days to respond, or else they will be disqualified.
The Back to School Scholarship will award 150 winners a $10,000 scholarship that will be sent directly to their school.
Apply for the Tide and Downy Back to School Scholarship
Deadline: 9/30/23
Available to: Students ages 18 and up
Award Amount: 150 $10,000 scholarships
The Tide and Downy Back to School Scholarship is open to students over the age of 18. You may enter the Sweepstakes in one of five ways: visit
pggoodeveryday.com to log in and start earning points, receive an invitation to sign up, receive an invitation to take a survey, receive an invitation via an in-email survey response, or enter by email.
How to Do Laundry in College
Many students arrive on college campuses with little to no knowledge of how to do their own laundry. Washing your own laundry can seem overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time. However, you’ll find it’s easy.
Laundry Supplies for College
Doing laundry in college requires a few essentials:
Sturdy Laundry Basket
For most students, a washer and dryer will not be conveniently located in their dorm room. Rather, you may have to walk down hallways or a few flights of stairs to the basement.
For that reason, students need to invest in a sturdy laundry basket, or laundry holder, that can be carried around their residential building. Fortunately, retailers are pros at making and marketing items just for college students.
You can find
laundry hampers with handles, backpack straps, and even wheels.
Laundry Detergent, Fabric Softener, and Dryer Sheets
In addition to carrying your laundry back and forth, you’ll also need to bring your own detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets with you. While there may be a place to store these items near the laundry area, your safest bet is to keep them with you.
Why? Because not everyone in college practices laundry etiquette (see below).
Quarters – or Your Student ID Card
These days, most colleges allow you to keep laundry money in your student account, which can be accessed by swiping your Student ID. When doing laundry, always remember to bring your ID card along with you.
If your college is still using coin-operated machines – or you’re doing your laundry in a laundromat in town – you’ll need to bring some quarters. Though most places are cash-less, you want to do your research before lugging your laundry downstairs or across town.
Laundry Etiquette
Using a communal laundry room may be a first for you. If that’s the case, there are a few simple rules you’ll want to follow.
Bring Your Own Laundry Supplies
Always bring your own detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets. It’s extremely rude to use someone else’s, especially as most students are living on a frugal student budget.
However, just because you adhere to this rule of laundry etiquette doesn’t mean that everyone else will do the same. For that reason, you should take your
laundry supplies back to your dorm room with you after every laundry session.
Respect other people’s time.
Do not leave your clothes in the washer for hours at a time. If you don’t have time to change your laundry promptly, you need to find a different time to do laundry – maybe on a Saturday or Sunday.
Most other students are just as busy as you are, and they’ve built time into their schedule to do laundry. You need to
respect their time as much as your own.
Never move someone else’s clothes around.
There may be those rude – or forgetful – students who don’t pick up their laundry promptly. That does not give you the right to move their laundry to a dryer, or onto the floor. Instead, practice some patience.
Firstly, you don’t know whether that student wants all their clothes in the dryer; they may air dry a few of their clothing items. Second, it would be disheartening for that student to find their clean clothes on the filthy floor of the laundry room.
If you see a load of laundry that seems to have been forgotten, do the nice thing and find a container to keep it in, like a bag.
Clean up after yourself.
Sometimes, doing laundry is messy. You could get a little careless with your liquid detergent or have some really dirty clothing items from rugby practice.
Prewash items that are really dirty in a sink. You do not want to leave mud or dirt in any of the machines in your residential hall.
Clean up your spills, or the spills of others. And always, always clean the lint tray in the dryer after you’ve finished with your clothes.
How to Do Your Laundry
Once you get the hang of doing your own laundry, it’s a breeze. Follow these easy steps the first few times.
1. Sort your laundry.
Some people sort their laundry by color; others sort by following the directions on each clothing item’s label. Do whatever you feel comfortable with – or
phone a parent to get their advice.
2. Prepare your clothes to be washed.
This includes turning things inside out, pre-treating stains with a stain remover, and emptying your pockets. If you have clothing that you’d like to prevent from fading, or have items that have embellishments on them, turn them inside out to protect them during the laundering process.
3. Put the clothes in the washing machine.
Once you have a load of laundry ready to go, put everything in the washing machine tub. You’ll then want to apply your machine settings.
Setting options are as follows:
•
Load size – Some machines will have you indicate the size of your load – small, medium, or large. You’ll also want to use a detergent amount that matches your load size.
Laundry detergent caps are usually labeled with numbers, helping you decide how much to put in depending on your load size. Finally, don’t load the washing machine too much. If it’s too full, you could break the machine.
•
Water temperature – Then you’ll want to set your water temperature. Most laundry can be washed on warm; however, you should wash your delicate clothing items in cold. It doesn’t hurt to wash bed sheets and towels in hot water to help thoroughly clean them.
•
Pay for the load – Finally, you’ll use your student ID card or quarters to pay for the load. And this part is important: set a timer on your phone for when the load will be done. Leaving your clothes in the washing machine for too long while they’re wet can leave a smelly, mildew scent on your “clean clothes.”
4. Move your washed clothes to a dryer.
Once your timer goes off, move the clothes from the washing machine to the dryer. Always check the lint trap to make sure it has been cleaned by the prior user. If you don’t clean the lint trap, it could take a long time to dry your clothes.
Check for clothes that need to be hung up to dry. Delicate clothes, especially, can shrink if they are put in the dryer. While drying all your clothes can save you time, it’s not great for your student budget to shrink your nicer clothes.
5. Fold your clothes and put them away.
This last step may be the hardest of all. While it’s easier to let your clothes sit in a laundry basket on the floor of your dorm room, an entire laundry basket takes up a lot of real estate in those small rooms.
To stay organized – and keep your clothes relatively wrinkle-free, fold them and put them away right after you’re done. You’ll feel like you have truly conquered doing your laundry in college if you see the whole thing through!
