Laundry day churns the stomach of many Fairfield students, who say that they hate dealing with dirty facilities, wait times, overused and too few machines.
There are eight washers and dryers for all fifteen townhouse blocks, and thirty-seven washers and forty-five dryers for all eight dorms. These numbers don’t seem to be getting the job done.
“Just the other day I waited hours for a machine to be free,” said Kristen Vissichelli ’06, who lives in the townhouses. “When I came back to check on my clothes in the wash, the machine had stopped after five minutes, and my clothes were sitting in a soapy puddle inside.”
The apartments hold eight washers and dryers, the same number as the townhouses, but for half the people.
“I never have to wait for a machine,” says Billy Kung ’06, a resident of the apartments. “The laundry room is pretty nice, actually. There is a lot of room and even a TV in there.”
Some Fairfield students venture off-campus to solve their on-campus laundry problems.
“I usually go to the Laundromat on Post Road,” says Meg O’Brien ’06, a resident of the townhouses. “It’s right up the street, and I only pay four dollars per load for each wash and dry.”
Still, students rely on other options as well. Marc D’Angelillio ’06 uses a door-to-door service called Limelight, located in town.
“I used to use them every other Sunday at the beginning of the year to do my laundry. For twenty dollars, they will pick up a full bag of laundry in the morning, wash it, dry it, fold it and drop it back off a few hours later,” he said.
The laundry rooms on campus lack a sufficient level of cleanliness. Spilled detergent covers machines and floors, as well as socks and dryer sheets, students say.
Liz Bae ’06 recalls her laundry days in Kostka, where she lived last year.
“Someone poured detergent all over the swipe card and it wasn’t cleaned for over two weeks,” she said. “The swipe thing and the floor were gross, I mean, who does that?”
In response, Gary Stephenson, director of housing operations said that an out-of-state vendor cleans the machines annually, but on-campus custodial staff cleans the facilities.
Another major problem, according to students, is that the machines and rooms are lacking in adequate maintenance.
However, when questioned how often maintenance is called to fix a machine, Stephenson replied, “Maybe once a month for maintenance. The off-campus vendor also provides inspections, which is once every six weeks anyway.”
Many students claim it is frustrating to do laundry, because even when there is the occasional open machine, the available ones are often broken.
“The laundry room in Kostka has been broken since we got here in September,” says resident Megan Flynn ’07. “The first week, we couldn’t even use the machines and were told to use the apartments.”
“It’s still not working now and there is a bow with duct tape covering the card swipe so we don’t have to swipe to do laundry,” she added.
Whitney Sayman ’08, a Jogues resident, says, “We have seven washers and dryers, but one washer has been broken for awhile, and it’s always too hot in the laundry room to stay there long anyway.”
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