diff --git a/jc/parsers/free.py b/jc/parsers/free.py
index e4f582be..7585663f 100644
--- a/jc/parsers/free.py
+++ b/jc/parsers/free.py
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ Examples:
     ]
 """
 import jc.utils
+import jc.parsers.universal
 
 
 def process(proc_data):
@@ -110,19 +111,12 @@ def parse(data, raw=False, quiet=False):
     if not quiet:
         jc.utils.compatibility(__name__, compatible)
 
-    # code adapted from Conor Heine at:
-    # https://gist.github.com/cahna/43a1a3ff4d075bcd71f9d7120037a501
-
     cleandata = data.splitlines()
-    headers = [h for h in ' '.join(cleandata[0].lower().strip().split()).split() if h]
-    headers.insert(0, "type")
+    cleandata[0] = cleandata[0].lower()
+    cleandata[0] = cleandata[0].replace('buff/cache', 'buff_cache')
+    cleandata[0] = 'type ' + cleandata[0]
 
-    # clean up 'buff/cache' header
-    # even though forward slash in a key is valid json, it can make things difficult
-    headers = ['buff_cache' if x == 'buff/cache' else x for x in headers]
-
-    raw_data = map(lambda s: s.strip().split(None, len(headers) - 1), cleandata[1:])
-    raw_output = [dict(zip(headers, r)) for r in raw_data]
+    raw_output = jc.parsers.universal.simple_table_parse(cleandata)
 
     for entry in raw_output:
         entry['type'] = entry['type'].rstrip(':')