Laundry 101: A required course for freshmen

College freshmen across the country are registering for their first semester of classes. But there's a course they should take before arriving on campus—laundry lessons. It's not rocket science, of course, but by developing a few good habits, your student can avoid stepping out in pink-tinged shirts and dingy socks.

Getting the wash clean is in large part determined by what you put in your washer and the way you put it in. Separate darks from whites and wash anything that might bleed by itself or with a similar color. Don't wash fabrics that shed lint, such as terry cloth and fuzzy sweatshirts, with fabrics that attract it, like corduroy and velour. And don't cram everything into the washer at once—make sure there's enough room for the load to agitate freely.

Clothes will be less likely to wrinkle if you keep the dryer load to less than half full. Combining items of similar fabric weight will help them dry more evenly. Remove dry items promptly to avoid wrinkling. It may be too much to ask your teen to decipher the clothing care labels that the Federal Trade Commission requires but let them know they can look them up on Wikipedia.

There are also some free smart phone apps that'll save your son or daughter a call home. Tide Stain Brain, for android phones, has solutions for even the most stubborn stains and Laundry Pal for iPhones solves common quandaries. Students headed to Carnegie Mellon or Case Western Reserve can take advantage of eSuds, a service that connects washers and dryers to the Internet and then e-mails or sends a text message when the load is done.

You won't need to send your freshman off with rolls of quarters—most colleges now allow students to swipe a cash card instead. But you should provide them with a good laundry detergent. In Consumer Reports tests of laundry detergents, we found two Best Buys that produced clean clothes for pennies a load. All's 2X with Oxy Active, a liquid, and Gain's Original Fresh HE, a powder, were near the top of detergents we tested for front-loaders or high-efficiency top-loaders. Tide 2X Ultra with Color Clean Bleach Alternative HE topped that category but cost a bit more.

Don't bother packing the Shout Color Catcher or Carbona Color and Dirt Grabber, which claim to trap what the textile industry calls "fugitive dye." We washed white cloths with red shirts and neither the catcher nor the grabber lived up to their claims. With or without the products, the white cloths turned pink. And that will get any student a failing grade.

—Mary H.J. Farrell