Fear no more the pile of dirty clothes growing with a life of its own. Hours at the laundromat, rolls of quarters and lugging bags of laundry can all be things of the past.

For an average cost of $20 a month, Keystone Student Company will pick up a bag of laundry, wash it, fold it and deliver it back to the customer's door within 48 hours.

Keystone's principal owner Keith McKeon describes the newly formed laundry service as convenient and quick.

Vincent DeCamillo (senior-health policy and administration), who was one of Keystone's first customers, said he is still in awe of the whole inexpensive and speedy process.

"I'm telling everyone about it . . . it's beautiful," he said.

McKeon said he believes like DeCamillo that there are an "awful lot of people out there who will appreciate this kind of service."

McKeon remembered how as an undergraduate at Notre Dame he enjoyed and took for granted the maid and cleaning services the school provided. He didn't appreciate the services until he told his friends from other universities about them and noted their jealousy.

McKeon then made it a goal to take such laundry services offered at other schools and copy them, but in the form of an independent company.

The response so far has been positive, especially among off-campus students and fraternity members, McKeon said.

Nicole Gardner (senior-world literature), who saw the service advertised on a flier, decided to engage the laundry service out of desperation. She said she was very pleased with the results despite being a demanding customer.

"I gave them a million special instructions and they followed everything," she said.

McKeon said Keystone's advertising has been basic so far, consisting mainly of fliers, classified ads and word-of-mouth references.

Currently, limited monthly contracts are available, in which students submit a $20 fee with their first bag of laundry. This fee is the balance that per item charges (ranging from 10 to 15 cents) are deducted from. McKeon said most weekly bills average $3 to $5.

DeCamillo said he thought the service was very cheap and wondered how McKeon could be making any money from it.

"I feel like I'm ripping this guy off," DeCamillo said.

McKeon explained that the service is in a starting phase and Keystone is especially trying to gauge the demand for its services and more efficiently plan for business in the fall.

But McKeon explained his primary goal for the future is to make Keystone Student Company "a student vehicle in every sense of the words."

He wants students to not just be customers, but workers and participants involved in making business decisions. He currently has less than six workers involved in the laundry process, but McKeon said it is important to him to begin soliciting any students interested in working for Keystone.

McKeon said he thinks that by "spreading the wealth of knowledge of not only business, but hands-on know-how of running a corporation," he will be giving back to the community.