Laundry

A few days ago I did laundry for the first time!
So it wasn't as big of an adventure as I thought it might be. I had to buy these coins from the convenience store in our building which was four kuai per coin(!!) and some laundry detergent. Marketus had said we should buy liquid detergent but all they had at the convenience store was powder and it was too late to walk to the supermarket. Anyway, so I bought two coins and went back to my floor.
So I can read next to no Chinese and this is what I'm confronted by:

 Thankfully, Devin walked out of her dorm and I knew she was familiar with the washer. She told me to just turn it on, put a coin in, and press the "start" button. So that's exactly what I did- I manged to press the correct button to turn it on, out a coin in, and found the start button. Just as I was walking back to my dorm I realized I had forgotten to put in the detergent I was still carrying in my hand. Luckily I was able to put some in. I don't think I put in enough however because my pants still smelled like smoke after the wash.
There's supposed to be a dryer around her somewhere but I just decided to lay out my clothes to dry in the window since it was sunny out and there is the ledge and, of course, it's free. I'll have to check to see if my pants still wreak of cigarette smoke once they're dry.

Once Dry:
So I now understand the importance of fabric softener... my clothes are really stiff and certainly don't feel soft... question is.... where am I going to find it in China and how do I use it?!