washing

[madman1042002]

I wanted to know about washing your clothes while in boot camp?

Do we do our own laundry or is it done for us, how often is it done.

and when you hit the fleet how is it done

[devilbones2]

At boot camp you have two dirty laundry bags, one for whites and the other for colors. Its sent to the laundry every week and you may or may not end up on a laundry detail. In the fleet you will do your own laundry. There is a laundry room in the barracks you will be able to clean every field day.

[MOS4429]

At boot camp you have two dirty laundry bags, one for whites and the other for colors. Its sent to the laundry every week and you may or may not end up on a laundry detail. In the fleet you will do your own laundry. There is a laundry room in the barracks you will be able to clean every field day.

Point of clarification: I know on Parris Islands you all had that little luxury of mamasans doing your laundry every week.

However, we at MCRD San Diego did not. On Sunday, during your free time, you did your laundry outside on a concrete slab washing area with Wisk and a brush and hung it out to dry, which it never did because there was more laundry than the line could hold.

Anybody graduate from San Diego recently who can update on whether that is still the case or not?

[Old Marine]

Don't really kinow if its true, but I heard that these days at SD they have washers and dryers in the barracks.

[MOS4429]

Don't really kinow if its true, but I heard that these days at SD they have washers and dryers in the barracks.

Did a little research on this out of curiosity, and found as of 2003, "In 1995, the Depot did not follow suit when MCRD Parris Island put automatic washing machines and dryers in the recruit barracks. The Depot is now the only American military installation that still hand-washes clothes," said Guillemete."

But then in November 2006 found a blog entry where an individual, in reference to what has changed indicated, "The only thing I saw differnt was there were washing machines and dryers in huts between the barracks. That's it."

So...sounds like you're right about the washing machines and dryers.

[iamspartacus]

Anybody graduate from San Diego recently who can update on whether that is still the case or not?

I went through MCRD SD a little over 5 years ago. I seem to remember we had a couple laundry recruits who were responsible for the platoon's laundry. We did the bag method devilbones described above. The whole bag would get thrown in the washer/dryer with all our cloths intact so they didn't get mixed up with other recruit's crap. It kind of sucked because, as you can imagine, the cloths wadded up in the middle of the bag would never get completely dry. So you'd wither have to set your cloths out on your footlocker after lights out to dry (and make sure to get up before the lights came on to put them away), or end up with musty skivvies.

I do, however, remember during second phase up at Pendleton we washed everything by hand out back in the cement wash basins.

[madman1042002]

when your on deployment and out in the field do they give you a class on how to wash your stuff or is it something you pick up from other Marines

[devilbones2]

when your on deployment and out in the field do they give you a class on how to wash your stuff or is it something you pick up from other Marines

Dont worry, you will learn to do everything all over again. From the way you walk to the way you talk there will be a period of instruction teaching you the correct way to do things you have been doing wrong your entire life. I am not going to spoil it for you, you will see soon enough. Good luck and remember to do the best at what your doing. It doesnt matter if you are raking leaves, taking out the trash, PFT or rifle qualification. Make sure that you do it the best. Its 13 short weeks and then you have the rest of your life ahead of you.

[Old Marine]

At the last Drill Instructor Reunion I attended an active duty Drill Instructor told me about the washers/dryers that they now use in SD.

When I attended Boot Camp I had the bucket and ky aye brush and by the time I left recruit training my herringbone utilities were almost white from scrubbing them.

[Mxzero]

when your on deployment and out in the field do they give you a class on how to wash your stuff or is it something you pick up from other Marines
We never got an actual class on it but it'll depend on where you're at for deployment. Larger bases have people there that do laundry for you, some small little outpost in the middle of nowhere you're gonna be doing it by hand or just saying screw it, depending on the time you're there. A bucket, water and a line work just as well as any other method. Not that anything actually gets clean though.

[SGT7477]

Wisk and a scrub brush on the wash bay, clothes pins on your cover,lol,Semper Fidelis.

[Phantom Blooper]

Back in the day.....a cast iron kettle....a stir paddle....lye soap....hot boiling water.....wash board...rinse wash tub....clothes line

Upgraded from the rock and river model.

[Marine1011]

They are implementing a new system whereby everything will be dry cleaned. Recruits will present their dirty laundry to a civilian in a truck, it will be picked up, dry cleaned and and delivered to the recruit a day later. It's brand new and is in the experimental phase at both MCRDs.
Cost to the recruits is nothing.
The same company offers chow delivered to the barracks rather than have to fall out in formation and march to chow. This, again, is no cost to the recruit.

[Mongoose]

They are implementing a new system whereby everything will be dry cleaned. Recruits will present their dirty laundry to a civilian in a truck, it will be picked up, dry cleaned and and delivered to the recruit a day later. It's brand new and is in the experimental phase at both MCRDs.
Cost to the recruits is nothing.
The same company offers chow delivered to the barracks rather than have to fall out in formation and march to chow. This, again, is no cost to the recruit.You have to be sheting me!

[SGT7477]

You have to be sheting me!
I thought the same brother,lol, Semper Fidelis.:evilgrin:

[Old Marine]

Has to be the roach coach.

[madman1042002]

They are implementing a new system whereby everything will be dry cleaned. Recruits will present their dirty laundry to a civilian in a truck, it will be picked up, dry cleaned and and delivered to the recruit a day later. It's brand new and is in the experimental phase at both MCRDs.
Cost to the recruits is nothing.
The same company offers chow delivered to the barracks rather than have to fall out in formation and march to chow. This, again, is no cost to the recruit.

dry cleaning sounds great :banana::thumbup:

[Omegaham]

When I went through boot camp, (PI - 2009) we used this system: Every recruit got a laundry number. You wrote this on the inside breast pocket of your cammie blouse, inside the left pocket of the trousers, and on the felt tag of your laundry bag.

Cammies were turned inside out and put in large canvas laundry bags about once every three to four days. Blouses went in one bag, trousers in another, laundry bags full of skivvies went in the third. The laundry bags were then carried over to the quarterdeck of the barracks to be put with every other platoon's bags. Recruits on Team Week would run them through an industrial-sized washer and drier. Later, those bags would be returned to the quarterdeck. After evening chow, the laundry detail would grab them and bring them back to the squad bay while everyone else was drilling.

The platoon would then wagon-wheel all of the clothes. You check the laundry number on the clothes and go around the squad bay until you find the footlocker with that laundry number on it. If you weren't fast enough, you'd then throw the laundry in the middle of the squad bay, and the DI would call out the numbers. You and the unlucky bastard whose laundry you were holding would then get smoked on the quarterdeck.