Circuit Laundry

I don't know how they do it, but how are their machines so bad? I did some quick maths, and it's going to cost me £170 a term if I followed their advice and put both colours and whites through two cycles to get them dried and clean.

Reply 1

Charlotte's Web

Original post by BennyD

This is something you could potentially raise to the students union, they may have some power to do something about this.

Reply 2

University of Bath

Official Rep

Original post by BennyD

Hi there,

I'm currently in my third year, so I had to suffer through using Circuit Laundry in my first year too! Here are a few of my tips for saving money on your laundry - these are all things I did in first year:

•

Get a drying rack and let things air dry in your room. These are super cheap, and not only does this save electricity (so more eco-friendly), but it also saves time. You can just whack your clothes on the rack and leave them, instead of waiting around for a tumble dryer. This is especially easy in spring-summer when it's a bit warmer, but in the winter they will still dry as the central heating gets turned on. If you're already putting your heating on in your room, you may as well get more from it and air dry your clothes in there too!

•

Hand wash certain items. Hand washing is honestly not as much effort as it sounds - you literally just fill up a tub (like the ones people put in sinks to wash dishes in) with hot water from the tap and laundry detergent. Put your clothes in, swirl and squish them about for a bit, leave for an hour then take out and rinse. This is slightly more effort than using a washing machine, but it saves you a lot of money in the long run. I used to hand wash items that weren't that dirty (like t-shirts), gym wear and delicates (as machine washing gym wear and delicates can damage them). I would then put dirtier or thicker items like socks, jeans, jumpers and underwear in the machine. Since you have fewer items in the load, what is in the machine will be washed better (so you won't have to run 2 cycles).

•

Wait until you've got a full load to do a wash. Don't pay to do a wash if you've only got 5 things to put in, as that's obviously a waste.

In short, I would hand wash less dirty or delicate items. I'd then do 2 machine loads - my remaining clothes in one(having waited till I had a full load), and my bedding and towels in another. I would air dry everything on a clothes rack, but would tumble dry my bedding and towels (as these take a while to air dry). That resulted in me only doing 3 loads (2 wash, one dry), as opposed to maybe 6 (3 wash and 3 dry).

I hope this has helped :smile:

Jessica, a third year Natural Sciences student

Reply 3

TheShieldNewcastle

Original post by BennyD

Hi Benny!

Could you split this with your flatmate? Circuit Laundry machines are usually large enough to fit 2 loads in - so you and a flatmate could share the cost.

Alternatively, is there a local laundrette nearby? Often they will drop off your clean laundry for a small cost too.

Thanks!

Christy

The Shield - Fresh Student Living