Corps Contributions: Laundry Services

At Virginia Military Institute, there’s a top team providing high-quality services, support, and supplies to keep the Corps of Cadets running smoothly and looking sharp. In this series, Corps Contributions will take a look at VMI Auxiliary Services, and the people that power VMI behind the scenes.

Bins can be seen in the alcove off of Daniels Courtyard. They’re nearly empty in the summer, but come fall they’ll be filled with bags and bags of laundry. Cadets at Virginia Military Institute can drop off their dirty laundry and pick it up just a day or so later. This service is included in their annual fees, and is just another part of what makes VMI not an ordinary college.  

All items cadets wear have a tag on them with their assigned laundry number, which they keep until they graduate. Laundry is sorted by that number so everything is tracked and each cadet gets their items back.  

Gregory Bowman has been the laundry services manager for four years. He’s in charge of the laundry and the dry cleaning for VMI cadets. 

How does it work? First, it’s dropped off on the third floor of the facility, which is just off of Daniels Courtyard. The laundry facility is three levels — two of them can’t be seen from barracks, they’re underneath. It’s taken downstairs to the first floor, which is technically the basement level. That floor is where everything gets separated, weighed, and washed. 

They have a designated washer who operates all the machines, Bowman said. They have washers with capacities ranging from 100 to 600 pounds. On the first floor, it’s washed or dry cleaned, then it comes up to the second floor where each piece is dried and pressed — depending on what the item is.  

The second floor has stations where shirts and pants are pressed. Three people work one press machine for shirts. There’s a board for the sleeves, the shoulders, and then the front and back of the shirt. It’s a simple assembly line. One person presses the sleeves, then the shoulders, and then the front and back are pressed simultaneously.  

When it comes to the third floor each piece is separated by its number, hung or bagged ready for the cadets to pick it up. 

Each cadet is issued four pants, four shirts, three pairs of ducks, two pairs of wool pants, three black shirts, a blouse, and a duty jacket. Overall, it’s 16,000 pieces to wash, plus another 1,500 laundry bags.  

“It’s mostly important so the cadets don’t have to worry about their clothes … they can use their five minutes of spare time to study or whatever,” Bowman said. “It’s a very important part. Plus, I want everybody to look clean and presentable. They have the uniform and that’s a representation of VMI, so they should look good and they should look neat.” 

The laundry facility is impressive, to say the least. On average, laundry services do about 3,000 shirts a week.  

They have a combination of seven chemicals they use, but not all are used on every item. For example, lots of starch goes into the duck pants, which are the white dress pants that are used for special occasions like Ring Figure. When those are completed at the laundry they look like a piece of thick white paper; that’s how stiff they are. Bowman said the cadets have to peel them apart in order to put them on.  

Some tips Bowman has for cadets: don’t wait until the last minute to turn in your laundry. Don’t turn it in on Friday afternoons, as it won’t get done until the following week. He suggests turning it in on Mondays, so you’ll have clean clothes for the rest of the week. He wants cadets to not have to worry about doing their laundry. Drop if off and come pick it up later. If it’s not right, they’ll redo it.  

He offers a few kind words to the cadets who are more lax on their laundry habits, “You are paying for laundry, please utilize it,” he said.