If you’re on your own for the first time, here’s a laundry kit you can put together ahead of time to make doing your laundry hassle-free:

Steps

Start with a laundry basket and/or a drawstring laundry bag. The bag is handy for throwing your dirty duds in and hauling them to the laundry room, while a basket is better for carrying your neatly folded (yeah, right) clean laundry. The basket also is good for toting your detergent and other necessities.

Pick up a box or bottle of laundry detergent as ingredient No. 1 in your kit. Note that powders may not dissolve well in the super-cold water supplied by dorms during winters in chilly climates, so a liquid detergent may be a better choice.

Add a liquid stain/spot pretreatment product.

Toss in a box of color-safe bleach/presoak.

Pick up a container of fabric softener. Dryer sheets are usually the most convenient form.

Include a bottle of chlorine bleach only if you want to deal with the dangers and hassles of using bleach.

Buy a couple of rolls of quarters for those coin-operated machines; keep them with your laundry kit.

Consider adding a sewing kit that includes replacement shirt buttons, various thread colors, a needle and small scissors.