Words by Jessica Raskin, a Deerfield mom of three
Jessica Raskin and family.
You know that overnight-camp send-off feeling, North Shore mamas? Last week, I put my daughter on the bus to Chippewa, and it hit me all over again. One minute she’s hugging me a little too tight, the next she’s sprinting toward her bunkmates without a backward glance, friendship bracelets already halfway up her arm. My heart did that bittersweet flip every camp mom knows.
And then, somewhere in the back of my mind, the familiar dread crept in: here comes the duffel full of gross camp laundry.
If you’ve survived a camp summer, you know exactly the bag I mean. The one that comes home damp and smelling of lake water, bug spray, and three weeks of mystery. Last year I had all three kids at camp at the same time, and the laundry pile they hauled back could have qualified as a biohazard. So before the kids come home, I have to tell you about the thing that genuinely rescued my reunion week: Drop & Dash Laundry Service.
Sadly, I Used to Just Throw It Away
For years, my end-of-summer “system” was the garbage can. The towels, the socks, the once-white t-shirts that came back the color of the camp parking lot. I’d take one whiff, decide they were a lost cause. Somewhere along the way I’d just accepted it as part of the cost of camp: every August, I’d throw away hundreds of dollars in clothes, bedding, and gear.
Last year a friend tipped me off about Drop & Dash’s camp laundry service, and I figured I had nothing to lose. They picked the duffels up from our garage, washed everything in commercial-grade machines, and delivered it all back to my door within 48 hours, folded, sorted, and actually clean. Not “good enough” clean. Actually clean. I kept almost everything I would have tossed, including comforters and pillows. It paid for itself the very first summer (I did the math, and yes, I felt a little silly about all those past Augusts).
Keeping Camp Germs (and Bed Bugs) Out of My House
This is the part that truly sold me. Bed bugs and camp crud are a very real North Shore parent fear. I did not want any of it anywhere near my washing machine, my floors, or my kids’ bedrooms.
With Drop & Dash, the bags never came close. Everything went straight from our garage to them, and everything came back professionally cleaned and packed in plastic. They even wash the duffel, which is huge, because it never actually fit in my washing machine anyway; in years past we’d just hose it down in the backyard and call it a day.
Drop and Dash Gave Me My Reunion Back
But honestly? The best part wasn’t the laundry at all. It was what I got to do instead of laundry. Rather than spending our first weekend back elbow-deep in sorting and scrubbing, I curled up on the couch with my daughter, Scarlet, while she walked me through every single photo and story. I took my boys out for the post-camp pancakes that have somehow become our tradition.
And Now I Use Them All Year
I’ve used Drop & Dash a handful of times since: when the holidays buried me, when guests were coming and I needed every comforter, pillow, and blanket in the house washed at once, or when I was simply in a bind. They handle the bulky stuff that would ruin my home washing machine, and bring everything back fresh and neatly folded and packed.
Here’s How Their Camp Laundry Service Works
- $2.50 per pound, including blankets, pillows, and sleeping bags
- Free pickup from your home
- Free delivery back to your door within 48 hours
- $20 off for new Drop & Dash customers use code CNSM20
Register at dropanddash.com/camp, hand over the duffels (yes, please), and let them do the dirty work. That’s it.
So this year, when my daughter steps off that Chippewa bus, the only thing I’ll be reaching for is her. If you’ve got a camper coming home this summer, do future-you the favor I wish I’d done years ago. You’ll thank yourself, I promise.
This story contains sponsored content by Chicago North Shore Moms’ partner, Drop and Dash.
