Laundry

Cost

Effective starting the 2025–2026 Academic Year, Hope College will provide free laundry at no additional cost to the students who live in on-campus housing.

Using high-efficiency machines

High-efficiency machines conserve energy and water and reduce the amount of detergent needed.

For better laundry results, follow these guidelines:

1. Do not overload the machines. It’s best to never fill the tub more than ¾ full. When putting clothes into the washer, don’t pack them inside the tub.
2. Use only 1/4 cup of liquid detergent (high-efficiency is best). Too much detergent often causes poorly rinsed, wet, soapy clothes and possible detergent stains.
3. Clean the lint filter in the dryer. A full lint trap can lead to poor dryer performance and your clothes still may be damp even when the cycle is complete.

Tips for Clean Laundry

• Stain removal – When it comes to stain removal, the first laundry tip is to act quickly. The second laundry trick is stop and think. Tending to a stain immediately after it occurs is your best chance of preventing lasting damage; however, acting too hastily can set a stain into the material with the heat of the water or dryer. Test all cleaning methods on an inconspicuous place to be sure the stain removal technique won’t harm the fabric. You can visit WASH’s stain treatment library for soil-specific laundry fixes, too!
  
• What temperature do I wash this in? — As a quick temperature guide rule, you can usually use cold water with most modern detergents. Our expert laundry advice: Cold water uses less energy while providing a powerful clean, as most detergents are optimized for cold water washing. That’s not to say warm and hot temperatures don’t have their uses. As a general temperature guide, hot water is best left for removing very heavy soiling or sanitizing fabrics.
  
• How to reduce wrinkles — Keeping clothing wrinkle free may seem like an absolute enigma to some, but proper laundry instructions and solutions can keep your clothing looking as crisp as they day you pulled it off the rack. There are two main pieces of laundry advice to follow when trying to reduce wrinkles. One, don’t overfill the drum – an overfull drum can not only decrease performance of the machine, but guarantees deep wrinkles. Two, to reduce wrinkles, remove clothing from the drum immediately after tumbling has completed for best results.
  
• How often should you wash your sheets? - One of the most commonly asked questions regarding laundry is, “How often do I wash this?” And with good reason — who wants to sleep on a bacterial breeding ground? Our bed sheets see steady day-to-day use and soiling, especially if you sweat in your sleep. That said, bed sheets are best cleaned on a weekly basis to avoid dust mites or fungal growth. Staying on top of your bed linens is especially important to those with sensitive skin issues. Follow this expert laundry tip: Try not to ever allow more than two weeks between cleaning sheets for sanitary reasons.

For more tips and tricks for doing your laundry visit the Wash Laundry’s College Student's Guide to Clean Laundry!

Service and Repair

WASH Laundry regularly visits all self-service laundry sites. However, with the washers/dryers in regular use, some machines may be out of order. We make every effort to identify and repair these promptly.

If you encounter a problem, contact your resident director (RD) or resident assistant (RA) and report the issue. Please provide the machine ID from the tag on the front of the machine. Your RD or RA will enter a work order to have the machine serviced. Hope College Physical Plant coordinates all work orders and will contact WASH Laundry.

How to request a refund from PayRange

If you have funds on your RayRange account, you can request your balance be refunded by following the steps below:

1. Login to your PayRange app
2. Tap the hamburger menu
3. Tap Contact us
4. Tap Funding
5. Tap I need my balance refunded back to my card
6. Write a brief message
7. Send email

If you have trouble requesting a refund, you can contact PayRange Support at support@payrange.com. Additional PayRange customer service support can be found by visiting PayRange Support.