Cleaning Tips for Students

Moved in to your room in residence and wondering when it gets cleaned? The good news is your room can be cleaned as often as you like... you're responsible for cleaning it!

Everyone knows time is money, and students tend to have neither! But when it comes to cleaning, it’s important to understand the golden rule is to clean up spills or marks as soon as they happen.

Crusted on food, mould – or goodness knows what other substances – will take you longer to get off surfaces if they have been left for days. Being quick to mop up messes, and consistent about doing a general once-over clean, will honestly help you save time in the long run.

The best way to avoid conflict over cleaning duties is to create a cleaning rota and stick it up somewhere for everyone to see (based on our calculations this means less cleaning for you):

1. Decide that everyone is individually responsible for the upkeep of their own room and any other storage areas that might be individually designated.
2. Make a list of all the tasks that need to be done to keep communal areas (the kitchen, bathroom, lounge, and hallways) clean.
3. Instead of filling your rota with general tasks like ‘clean the kitchen’; break chores into smaller parts like: ‘wash the kitchen floor’, or ‘clean the fridge’ – that way cleaning doesn’t seem so daunting!
4. Forget about designating tasks to specific days – no one wants to be held to account for not vacuuming the hallways on Tuesday, if there was an essay deadline that day! Instead, rotate responsibilities on a weekly basis.
5. Remember to find out the days the bins are collected and mark this on the rota. The person responsible for taking out the rubbish will have to do their task on a specific day.