As college students head back to school, many can leave one item off of their packing list — laundry detergent. Some can also expect to waste less time in the dorm laundry room. New software technology makes it possible for students to track the progress of their laundry from their dorm rooms, the gym or wherever they can access the Web
These innovations are part of the suite of Intelligent Laundry Solutions(TM) recently introduced by Boston-based Mac-Gray Corporation, the nation’s largest contract manager of college laundry rooms. This suite includes LaundryView(TM), which allows a student online access to the laundry room to determine first whether machines are available and then to receive alerts to his or her laptop, PDA, cell-phone or directly to a desktop.
“We are very excited about being able to offer our students the cutting edge technology that LaundryView provides,” added Philip Clay, Associate Dean of Students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “LaundryView is a perfect complement to the lifestyle of the technologically savvy WPI student.” According to Mac-Gray, LaundryView is the most widespread application of its kind and should be in most residential colleges by the end of the decade.
Mac-Gray also offers their PrecisionWash(TM) system, which injects the exact amount of Tide® liquid detergent directly into each washing machine at precisely the right time in the wash cycle. In addition to being a timesaver, PrecisionWash saves damage to clothing and wear and tear on machines from too much detergent.
According to Lynne O’Toole, Vice-President of Finance at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts, “Students love the convenience of PrecisionWash. They no longer have to lug around heavy containers of detergent. The cost is comparable to buying detergent in the store, and PrecisionWash is a pay-per- use system so there’s no need to buy and store family-size containers that may never be totally used. You simply buy what you need when you need it, no different than buying a snack or beverage. It’s a great concept, a real innovation for universities.”
State-of-the-art laundry rooms are quickly becoming a featured amenity of the student life experience for many competitive colleges and universities. LaundryView and PrecisionWash take some of the drudgery and wasted time out of a dreaded task-unless of course the laundry room is part of the social scene.
Source: Mac-Gray Corporation/Yahoo