It’s about damn time laundry was free in all university halls

This week Leeds University announced it was going to start giving people living in their halls 20 free washes per year, making it the first uni in the country to do so.

This would be a significant saving for freshers living in halls, as it is estimated we pay over £100 a year for the privilege of keeping our clothes clean, but this is based on the average fresher doing 14 washes per year. But what about the clean-freaks? Twenty washes is less than one wash a week in the uni calendar.

Why should we have to pay to use the washing machines? Halls are already over-priced, charging a whole lot more for a room than it is worth because we have no choice in the mater. To make matters worse, freshers up and down the country have to deal with the pain that is Circuit Laundry. The money-grabbing bastards who will only let you top-up your card using PayPal, because they’re still stuck in 2007.

The average fresher struggling to understand what he did wrong in his life to be forced to deal with Circuit Laundry

Laundry is already the bane of every fresher’s life, it’s the first time they’ve had adult “responsibilities”, but this responsibility is made worse by paying nearly £3 a wash, and then the added cost of using the dryer because the heating in your room is dreadful.

Let’s not forget the stress that begins when the shitty card gets a little scratch and becomes unreadable in the machines, even though you still have money on it. But do Circuit Laundry do anything about this? Of course they don’t, because you need to have over £5 on your card. Well thanks a bunch, but I’m a student and trying to give you as little money as possible.

Is it any wonder everyone saves up all their washing to take home at the end of the semester when this is the kind of overpriced shit you have to deal with?

We pay £9,000 a year plus sometimes over £4,000 a year for accommodation, we shouldn’t have to go into our overdraft to keep clean. I’m sure Celebrity Big Brother star Kim Woodburn would be appalled if she heard how often students washed their clothes, but it’s not our fault, promise.

It is about time other unis followed in the footsteps of Leeds and made washing free in their halls of residence. No one should be profiting from our need to keep clean, especially not universities already over-charging us for lecturers to read off a PowerPoint.