When you move into student accommodation, you might be surprised at how messy it can get so quickly. When you have a bunch of people all living together, probably for the first time away from their parents, they can forget that they have to do the cleaning up now.
But keeping your student flat clean and tidy is super important. You’ll get along with each other better, and it’ll be a much better and healthier environment for everyone to live in.
Cleaning up doesn’t have to be a chore. Set a rota so that everyone gets a task to do and nobody is saddled with all the work. Here are 5 cleaning tips every student should know to make their student accommodation feel like home.
Clean As You Go
One of the easiest and most effective ways to keep the student flat clean and tidy is to just clean up as you go along.
You might find that you leave dishes stacked up in your room or keep your laundry basket full for too long, but it all adds up. Before you know it there are no clean dishes in the kitchen and you have the clean everything, even the things that aren’t yours.
Before it becomes a big issue and you end up getting mad at your housemates, just clean your things up right away. Put your clothes in the wash whenever the basket is full, wash your dishes after using them, wipe down spills and messes as they happen. It will save you some time and energy in the long run.
Make Your Bed
A small but effective action you can take to make your space look tidier and more inviting is to simply make your bed each morning. A messy bed can make you feel like there’s a lot more mess than there actually is and can demotivate you from cleaning up.
But if you make your bed first thing in the morning, you can come home to a tidy-looking space that you actually want to be in. You should also be cleaning your bed sheets every week to avoid it becoming unhygienic.
There are so many reasons you should be cleaning your sheets on a regular basis, but a great reason is that it will help to quell any allergies you have and keep your skin clear.
Take the Rubbish Out
When you live in student accommodation with other people, you’ll quickly notice how fast the rubbish bin fills up. It’s a job that seemingly nobody wants to do, and you could go for weeks without taking it out.
Before you know it, you’re all playing Tetris trying to get the rubbish to balance on top without it falling off. But it’s something that has to be done, the sooner the better. Use recycling boxes and sort out your rubbish each day. Each week, nominate different flatmates to take out the regular rubbish and the recycling.
If you leave rubbish lying around, it doesn’t only make the place look a lot messier (and smell too), but it can invite rodents and insects into your flat and cause a lot more trouble.
De-Clutter
In student housing, you won’t always have the tidiest room in the world, but try to keep it free of clutter as best you can. Clutter can make even the cleanest place look awful and it can even affect your mood too.
If you find yourself collecting items and objects as you go out, just stop doing it. When you cease to bring clutter into your space, it reduces the amount you have. Make sure to only buy the things you actually need – this will help you save money as a student too.
When it comes to the clutter you already have, it’s time to sort through it. For things like documents and sentimental stuff, digitise it. Take photos and scan them and upload them to the cloud. Remove the things you never use any more and just let it all go. When you have a nicely decorated room that it clutter free, you feel much better about living there.
Remember to Dust
We know that dusting your flat isn’t your number one priority at university, but it will help to keep the place clean and tidy.
If you or your flatmates suffer from allergies, dust can make them even worse. Try to dust the flat around once per week and use a spray polish too.
Start with the highest parts of the room and get lower so that you don’t knock dust onto lower surfaces and have to do them again. Get your flatmates to help and the job will get done much faster. You’ll notice how much it makes your flat feel fresher and more inviting, so make an effort to dust every now and then.
These are 5 Cleaning Tips Every Student Needs to Know
If you’re moving into student accommodation or a shared house, these are just a few essential cleaning tips every student should know. They will help you keep your flat feeling fresh, clean, and healthy, and can help you get along with your flatmates much better too.
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