<p>Here is an article that was in our paper this morning. I think it's a good idea. I wonder if lots of other schools do this now?</p>
<p>Dorm laundry fee is washout</p>
<p>Colleges are scrubbing coin-op facilities, to students' delight
Matthew Daneman
Staff writer, Democrat & Chronicle </p>
<p>(January 31, 2005) PITTSFORD A college education teaches you a lot of things.</p>
<p>It teaches you to be a well-rounded citizen-scholar. It teaches you skills that you will use in work and home the rest of your life. And it teaches you how to hoard quarters like a fiend. </p>
<p>Tricia Bell, a senior at Nazareth College, used to begin the semester with a bag of $20 in quarters for laundry. Pocket change went into a bowl for harvesting of more laundry quarters. </p>
<p>But no more.</p>
<p>The coin-operated laundry machines in the dorms across campus are gone. At Nazareth and a growing number of area colleges, laundry is now freelaundry room....</p>
<p>Nazareth began offering free laundry this school year. St. John Fisher College made the switch during 2003-04. The State University College at Geneseo offers free laundry, while it has been discussed at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. ....."</p>
<p>There's no such thing as a free lunch-- or free laundry.:( It will just get folded into room and board, probably at higher cost (for processing). Some colleges use laundry cards. Yale students use their ID cards for laundry.
What I really would like is free ironing service. Now, that's a thought. :)</p>
<p>Yeah, as far as the quarter "problem", at my D's school, you swipe your ID card which you can load money onto for incidentals like laundry or vending machines. </p>
<p>But when I saw the heading of your thread, I got a different impression with "free laundry". All I could think about was how I met my hubby while doing laundry in Hill Hall at Tufts University and he has gotten free laundry duties out of me ever since!
Susan</p>
<p>Stanford has also started this type of laundry setup. The card swiping system eliminates the need for quarters, but some students will still overstuff machines to avoid paying for extra loads. With the "free" (added to regular bill) system, the incentive to overstuff the machines, which tends to break them, is removed.</p>
<p>D gets free laundry service (athlete). They come and collect the bags and return them within a day or two. However, it's athletic clothing only, and sometimes the service is delayed, so she engages it only during serious time crunches.</p>
<p>so I would imagine the parents of the kids who are enjoying free laundry service at their colleges are not the same parents who are bemoaning lack of life skills in another threa?
;)</p>
<p>I could put laundrist down for my profession with the laundry I have don int he last 25 years. I don't like my kids doing it, because it messes up my system, and there is always work in progress at every stage. We are putting in a second floor laundry room which would give us two sets of washers and dryers, which will change that situation. I may keep the 1st floor laundry open for self service. </p>
<p>My son, sadly, did not learn to do his laundry, and I don't know what he is doing now. He was an athlete and had the service do all of his laundry though it was supposed to just be athletic apparel. They never checked the stuff so he took advantage even though there is a card swipe system and ample facilities at his college. He had been in a house with 5 other guys that had a washer and dryer in the basement, but I would not have touched that set up unless I was going to sit right there through the wash and dry cycles.</p>
<p>Same with my son jamimom. He too is an athlete and they have the laundry service for all their stuff. And they also have the "free" laundry. No coins, no cards to swipe, just really nice washers and dryers with a folding room and ironing room in each dorm. He says it works out great.</p>
<p>I think it's a great idea and should simplify life for many students.... but this did make me smile:
[quote]
"It was an ongoing challenge for students to find quarters," Broberg said, "which led to people not doing laundry as often as they'd like to or should."
[/quote]
.......because, I am sure many kids will now need to find another excuse for not doing their laundry!! No soap? :)</p>
<p>Hey, shame on you moms!!! Unfortunately, same deal in my house. Wife is master of the laundry and doesn't like the boys messing with it, so maybe once every other year I walk them through a load.... Young man friend of ours called home after 2 months away at college and told his mom he needed new clothes....... he had run out of clean ones!</p>
<p>In theory at least, my kids have done laundry since kindergarten. They learned to sort into "light" and "dark." The big problem with this system though, is what happened today. I go to start my laundry and, there, in the washing machine is eldest son's load (wet -- moldy??) and the dryer has another load sitting there (also his). He evidently started it last night too late to finish. So now in order to do my laundry I have to do something with his half finished job. My other son's problem is that he does loads that are too small. His clothes are REALLY big (he's super tall) and several times had the machine doing that really loud off-center banging. It worried him, and now he puts like two things in so it takes him forever to finish his. Of course the "folding" has never been to my satisfaction, but I try to remind myself that they're NOT MY CLOTHES! (Thank gawd!)</p>
<p>My daughter has free washer and dryer use at her school. They have a big laundry room in every dorm (her school has 4 years on-campus housing) with shelves on the top to hold detergent. Most people label their stuff. My daughter doesn't and says she doesn't care if someone uses her stuff once in a while. Well, that was her freshman year. She might be labeling now since she's the one that pays for that stuff.</p>
<p>When she came for the first break after freshman year she said that it was enjoyable(!) to do laundry at school and she came home with all clean clothes. Strange kid.</p>
<p>At Davidson College basic laundry service (wash, dry and fold) is provided as part of the student fees for students...they even press dress shirts...</p>
<p>I guess the pinnacle of 'free laundry' is here at Davidson; all students have a laundry number that is inscribed on each article of clothing; the clothes are dropped of at the on-campus laundry and returned-clean and folded for you; dry-cleaning also done at a nominal charge. Now, this is lving..</p>
<p>My school has the swipe cards... money on them also good at campus vending machines and many area stores (Wawa, dominoes, chinese, etc). Also has another kind of money that can used to buy extra meals on campus and such, also serving as the meal card, picture ID, and allows access to dorm buildings, and academic buildings after hours.</p>
<p>My sons both do their laundry every summer as their jobs "school" are completed and they need to learn how to do laundry. Unfortunately, my oldest is at Davidson where he doesn't have to do his laundry. At Christmas he was lamenting all those summers of having to do his laundry. I cannot wait for him to go abroad for a semester where his laundry knowledge might come in handy. :)</p>
<p>One day he will hopefully move out of your house and laundry knowledge will become helpful :). Daughter does laundry swiping her ID and was very proud of the fact that she already knew how to do laundry and even taught a few others</p>
<p>""Free"/ pre-paid laundry is the most practical thing for college students. Imagine if they asked you to pay individually for every meal you eat, every shower you take, and every night you "rent" your room. Since laundry, like all the other room and board expenses, are generally standard for all students, they should be included in the fees. And $20 per semester isn't <em>that</em> great an increase in the college cost.</p>
<p>my daughters school now has the cards that cover laundry/library/meal/dorm key
just don't lose it!
but on the other hand if someone does, then it is easy just to cancel that code and issue a new one.</p>