Conveniences of Campus Laundry Facilities Across the State

By Rebekah Skeens

On March 29, 2018

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A part of every college experience is realizing you must do your laundry all on your own. Colleges and universities across West Virginia have on-site laundry facilities for their students to use. Some colleges and universities are implementing new devices to take away the hassle of laundry. Others are making changes to their services to help cater to student’s needs.

At Concord University’s Athens campus, all residence halls have laundry rooms located on a designated floor. New washers and dryers have been implemented to further the convenience for students. The updated machines include both slots for quarters and a card reader for those who choose to use a credit or debit card.

The washing machines and dryers on Concord’s campus are pay per use machines. Each wash costs $1.50, and to use the dryers, there is another charge of $1.50. For one load of laundry, this adds up to $3. Many students tend to have more than one load of clothing or towels to wash. In this case, the fees can add up very quickly.

Students using the campus facilities can keep quarters on hand or exchange up to five dollars in North Tower Lobby, or the main desks of Wilson Hall or Wooddell Hall, according to Residence Hall Services. Otherwise, students have the option to swipe their bank cards for each wash. Unlike other campus laundry facilities across the state, there is not an option for a pre-loaded student card.

According to Housing and Residence Life of Marshall University, located in Huntington, West Virginia, students can load money onto their student ID, which can be designated specifically for laundry services. Students also have the option of using quarters if desired. If the students choose to use their ID as a form of payment, the cost per wash is reduced. Students can save a total of 75 cents on each full service, by using “Herd points.” Although students must carry their student card with them when they use the facility, they are given a savings reward for doing so.

At the West Virginia University campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, they have a similar system to Marshall University’s. According to their university housing office, all machines use a card system called Mountie Bounty to pay for their laundry services. By going to mymountaineercard.wvu.edu, students are able to do a variety of tasks.

The website, also available in an application for Android and IOS, makes doing laundry convenient for their students. The application allows them to check machine availability, reserve machines, check waiting times for an available machine, and get notifications when the machine is finished. On their residence life website, students share how this is a much easier experience than having to worry about keep spare change with them at all times.

Located in Fairmont, West Virginia, Fairmont State University’s residence halls have one or more laundry facilities, which are all available to students for free.

Students can go into laundry rooms with only their clothes and detergent. Cash or campus IDs are not required to wash and dry clothing on campus. The fees for the service are incorporated into their room fees for the semester. There is an extra charge placed on student’s accounts, but it is one less thing students must worry about throughout their college years.

Like Fairmont State University, Glenville State College in Glenville, West Virginia, also offers free laundry facilities for their on-campus students. The fees are tacked onto the base price of housing. This way, students can use the laundry facility at their leisure without the worry of having spare change for the service. Other universities are in the deliberative stages of perhaps doing the same thing.

Colleges and Universities across the state all have diverse ways to cater to their students needs when it comes to doing laundry. While all the listed ways to pay for the service allow students the same outcome, updated technology has been found to work best. Laundry services are no longer a hassle with new techniques and services for students living in residential halls.

Concord University student Allie Sears shares how she feels the card reader makes doing laundry much easier. However, she shared that she would rather have the cost included with tuition and fees.

“I just wish there was some way to factor [the cost of laundry] into our housing, and put it on our student ID. We already pay so much for housing, it’s crazy that we have to pay so much for laundry.”

As Concord has previously updated the laundry rooms across campus, other schools in the area are improving their facilities as well. With the new card readers on machines, doing laundry has never been easier, but could there be potential to make it more convenient?