Students and Muncie citizens will have to dig deeper in their pockets to find extra quarters to pay for possible price increases at local coin-operated laundry facilities.
Rising utility costs are affecting the local businesses that have to find a way to cut back on energy consumption or raise the cost for services.
"We had to turn the boiler down 20 degrees to help maintain natural gas costs, curtailed the lights a little here and there and other ordinary conservation things," said Diane Troxell, manager at American Cleaners and Launderers.
The business is trying not to raise prices until it is necessary, she said. However, in addition to increasing utilities costs, many of the products used at the business are becoming more expensive because of rising oil prices.
"Right now we are trying to hold the line, but you know, if the cost of everything keeps going up, anything that has to do with oil industry probably would have to raise prices," Troxell said. "If suppliers raised costs, to maintain what we are now, we would have to raise costs."
Manager Doug Stewart of the Laundry Basket is also trying to hold off increasing prices for services despite utility costs increasing 50 percent last month.
Any price increase will not take place for at least a month, he said.
"Right now we are just dealing with it as it comes because fortunately we are busy," Stewart said. "If we weren't we wouldn't be able to deal with it."
The last time the Laundry Basket changed its prices was two years ago after upgrading its equipment. He does not want to raise prices, he said.
If the prices changed it would probably be a quarter for some washing machines and drying time could be shortened from 10 minutes to 8 minutes per quarter.
"Our main concern is gas," Stewart said. "We heat water with gas, the clothes are dried with gas and our furnaces use gas. It's a quandary because the increases have been astronomical."
Concerns about rising gas prices will not affect laundry facilities in Ball State University residence halls.
Housing Facilities Associate Director George Edwards said all the residence halls relied on electricity for energy except in dining areas, which do use gas.
The laundry facilities are subcontracted, he said. According to the Housing and Residence Life Web site, Alliance Laundry Systems is in charge of Ball State University laundry.
Although he does not know of any increases planned for the cost of using the laundry services, Edwards said he hoped students would not be upset.
"I think the students would understand," Edwards said. "With rising utility costs, sometimes the utility costs are passed on to the user."
Ball State sophomore Beth Williamson works at the Laundry Basket and said she thought people would be react to the increased prices at first but would continue to use the facilities.
"I'm sure there will be people at first who will think it's outrageous and will be upset at first, but like everything else you do, you have to raise prices sometimes," Williamson said.
She suggested purchasing off-brand detergent and removing items from the machines as they dry to conserve money, time and energy.
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