Northwestern officials hope to replace every washing machine in all on-campus undergraduate residence buildings by the end of Winter Quarter, according to Ryan Reinhart, the assistant director for residential life.
Many freshman dorms such as Elder Hall received new washers in the summer. Other buildings are scheduled to receive their brand new, front-loading, high-efficiency machines within the next few weeks.
But some students still complain about the laundry facilities on campus, including the locations of laundry rooms and the new washers.
The new machines are efficient but have a tendency to rip clothes, Communication freshman Sean Granseesaid.
“We got an e-mail through our listserv saying, ‘Avoid using this machine, it will eat your clothes!'” he said.
The University is installing the new machines as part of a larger plan to improve the laundry system.
Last April, the University installed LaundryView, an online monitoring system that allows students to see which of their dorms’ machines are not being used.
The University also reworked the machines’ payment systems, Reinhart said. On-campus laundry facilities began taking Munch Money. Previously, students could pay with money added to their WildCARDs.
LaundryView has been well-received by students, Reinhart said.
“Students have told me they have it on their phone, that they check it,” he said. “They’re taking advantage of the technology.”
Medill sophomore Alyssa Mercado said many residents in her dorm, Allison Hall, do not check to see what time they should remove their laundry.
“No one listens to the online reservataions,” she said of LaundryView. “I always feel a little guilty taking people’s stuff out, but it gets to a point where you have to.”
The hassle of doing laundry on campus was one of the top issues reported in the Undergraduate Budget Priorities Committee student feedback survey, a committee member and Weinberg sophomore Naveen Nallappa told The Daily in November.
The University is still discussing plans to improve campus laundry, but there are bigger issues such as space and electricity to worry about, Reinhart said. If funding is approved, dorms may get more machines, he said.
“Some buildings have far greater demand than others for more washers and dryers,” he said. “I know they’re looking at the need right now.”
