Residential life and facilities have worked to ensure the clothing dryers in Uptown Hall are largely functional after over half of the machines were out of order this past week. 

On Jan. 26, residential life contacted the laundry service provider after 17 out of the 28 Uptown Dryers were reported as non-functional. By the next morning, almost all of the dryers were working again. According to Director of Residential Life Chris Rice, these issues arose mainly due to misuse. 

“The dryers are experiencing different issues, but many are related to user error,” Rice said. 

While the Uptown laundry room has been regarded as better than some of Loyola’s other residential buildings’ services, some students are skeptical that user error is the sole cause for the dryers malfunctioning. 

“Facilities using [misuse] as an excuse for their terrible dryers is … unacceptable,” said Akinseye Quinones, a sophomore marketing and finance major. 

According to Rice, the laundry service providers and manufacturers are not related to the machines being out of order, but rather the dryers being overfilled. 

“Dryers require adequate space in the drum to operate and dry clothing properly. When machines are overfilled, it can cause them to shut down or malfunction,” Rice said. “To help prevent these issues, students should avoid overloading dryers.”

Rice also advises that students submit a work order through Loyola’s housing and dining portal to ensure that appliances can be repaired in a timely manner. 

Quinones lived in Biever Hall his freshman year, and said that “Uptown is definitely better than the Biever experience” in regards to laundry, due to the overall quality and quantity of the machines.

While he prefers Uptown to Biever, Quinones believes that there’s more that Loyola should be doing for their students’ living experience.

“There was absolutely no guidance on how to use [the dryers] if that is [their] excuse,” Quinones said. “Loyola has to do better for its students. There is effort but not enough execution.”