Laundry Doesn’t Have to Suck That Much
Content:
Table of Contents
1. I Once Used a Pizza Box to Carry My Laundry
2. Why Dorm Laundry Is the Ninth Circle of Hell
3. The Coolest Thing I Never Knew I Needed: Collapsible Baskets
4. Laundry Turtle: Is It a Ninja Turtle? (No, but it slaps.)
5. Real Talk: What Actually *Works* in a Tiny Dorm
6. Fast Laundry Tips That Might Save Your GPA
7. My Roommate Brian’s Sock Fiasco: A Warning
8. TL;DR: Laundry Sucks, But It Doesn’t Have To
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1. I Once Used a Pizza Box to Carry My Laundry
Okay. Confession time. During my freshman year, I moved into my dorm on the hottest day of August while holding exactly zero reasonable laundry gear. No basket, no bag, no clue. Cut to me three weeks later trying to carry two weeks’ worth of sweating, smelly T-shirts using… a flattened Domino’s pizza box. It *did not go well.* I dropped a pair of boxers outside the elevator and didn’t realize until someone hung them on the dorm’s vending machine like a little, cotton flag of shame. We don’t talk about it anymore.
Anyway, all that is to say—I wish I’d known better *sooner.*
2. Why Dorm Laundry Is the Ninth Circle of Hell
If you know, you know. Dorm laundry rooms have this energy—like haunted house meets gym locker. There’s always that one dryer that sounds like it’s percussively tapping out Morse code. And somehow, in a building of 300 students, only two machines ever work *at the same time.* Bonus: when you forget your laundry for 14 minutes? Boom, your stuff is now in a damp pile on top of the machine with someone else’s sock stuck to your hoodie.
Just thinking about it makes me shiver. Cold wet jeans? TORTURE.
3. The Coolest Thing I Never Knew I Needed: Collapsible Baskets
So here’s what I’ve learned: *if it folds and carries your clothes, marry it.* Okay fine, maybe just buy it. Enter: collapsible laundry baskets. Specifically, something like the Laundry Turtle, which sounds like a kids’ cartoon character but is actually wildly helpful.
It folds flat (so like, it won’t take up half your closet), holds wayyy more than you’d think, and even helps grab laundry out of front-loading washers without you needing to *crawl halfway inside like you’re doing laundry spelunking*. Which totally happened to Brian, btw. More on that later.
There’s also the totally underrated fact that collapsible baskets are just straight-up better for tiny spaces. Like, not only are they lightweight and foldable, they help you reclaim your floorspace for, you know, actually walking? If you’re living in a dorm, RV, or your childhood bedroom now turned into a “multipurpose storage den,” these things are clutch. Seriously, they work in all kinds of cramped situations—from micro-apartments to spring break Airbnbs.
4. Laundry Turtle: Is It a Ninja Turtle? (No, but it slaps.)
Okay, the first time I heard “Laundry Turtle,” I was like… did Donatello bootcamp his way into dorm essentials? But it’s real. And weirdly genius.
You know when you’re trying to scoop out damp clothes and they just keep falling, and suddenly you’re wrestling one wet sock like you’re in a wildlife docuseries? Laundry Turtle literally wraps around the opening and acts like a chute/bag/scooper thing. I used it once in Kayla’s apartment (she’s one of those off-campus folks with *gasp* in-unit laundry) and was like, “EXCUSE ME?? THIS THING IS MAGIC??”
I mean, I still folded everything on her kitchen table while we binged Love Is Blind, but the Turtle made the hard part easy.
5. Real Talk: What Actually *Works* in a Tiny Dorm
Look, not everything marketed “for small spaces” is actually helpful. Some of it is stupid, like a lint roller that “doubles as a phone stand” (WTF?). But here are the handful of things I swear by if your dorm is roughly the size of a walk-in closet:
1. Collapsible laundry basket (duh)
2. Mesh zippered bags for socks and underwear (because *sock purgatory is real*)
3. Detergent sheets instead of heavy bottles (lighter + leak-proof)
4. A drying rack you can hang over a door (yes, that’s a thing)
And no, you don’t need one of those $90 foldable ironing mats. Just don’t.
Honestly, I went down this rabbit hole of dorm hacks and learned that organizing laundry gear isn’t just some Pinterest-fueled fever dream—it, like, actually helps. Small tweaks to your setup can make a dorm feel more like a functional space and less like a laundry apocalypse. I didn’t believe it until I started folding my basket flat and sliding it behind my dresser. Wanna know more space-saving ninja moves? This breakdown of laundry storage ideas totally changed how I use my closet—and kept my roommate from tripping over stuff every morning.
6. Fast Laundry Tips That Might Save Your GPA
I’m not saying laundry is *directly* correlated to academic success, but… you ever try cramming for chem 101 in a hoodie that smells like stale tacos and sadness? Exactly.
Here are my top questionable but moderately effective laundry tips:
– Put a dry towel in the dryer with your wet clothes. Somehow it makes them dry faster (don’t ask me how—it just *does okay?!*)
– Keep one emergency “sweatshirt of power” clean for bad days and exams. Mine’s this XXL blue hoodie with a mysterious bleach spot.
– Set a timer on your phone, so nobody throws your jeans on top of the dryer like they’re garbage.
Are these *scientific strategies?* No. But like… they’ve worked for me (and Brian, after The Incident).
7. My Roommate Brian’s Sock Fiasco: A Warning
So Brian (name changed to protect the tragically clumsy) once leaned way too far into the washer trying to grab a rogue sock and literally got ***stuck.*** Like, I heard yelling from across the hall and walked in to find him halfway inside the machine like Winnie the Pooh in Rabbit’s house.
Eventually, we used a Swiffer handle to knock the sock loose and free him. But that’s exactly why I tell everyone to get a frickin’ Laundry Turtle. You want dignity? It’s in the laundry equipment, my friends.
8. TL;DR: Laundry Sucks, But It Doesn’t Have To
If laundry feels like an unnecessarily hard adulting task (because it is), just… help yourself out with the right stuff early on. There’s no trophy for struggling every week to haul your socks in a reusable grocery bag.
If you’re living in a dorm, the Laundry Turtle is kind of a game-changer. It’s not going to help you pass bio or actually sort your colors (*lol who does that*), but it will legit make laundry suck less. Which counts for a lot.
So what do you use for your laundry setup? Do you have any weird hacks that shouldn’t work but do? Tell me yours—seriously, I still kinda use Febreze as a “laundry alternative” more than I care to admit.
And hey—if you liked this rambling mess, maybe check out my other stuff? No pressure though. 😅
Keywords: compact laundry baskets, dorm room laundry, collapsible laundry basket, laundry hacks for students, laundry accessories, small space living, Laundry Turtle
Clusters Selected:
1. Collapsible Laundry Baskets for Different Uses – https://laundryturtlefoundation.org/why-collapsible-laundry-baskets-are-life-changing-seriously-2/
2. Laundry Storage & Organization – https://laundryturtlefoundation.org/why-does-my-laundry-room-feel-like-a-black-hole/