University is a time for enjoying a little independence, for taking charge, and for doing your own thing away from the watchful eye of Mum and Dad… and that includes cleaning! Read on if you are looking for top cleaning tips for students!
University accommodations don’t clean themselves (wouldn’t it be nice if they did?) so having a basic understanding of what needs to be cleaned, and the best ways to do it, is a good starting point for your new adventure as a student.
Perhaps the most important tip of all is this… just pause! If you’re faced with a giant stain and you really don’t know how to tackle it, the worst thing you can do is start rubbing and scrubbing and throwing all sorts of potions onto it. If you’re unsure, it’s always best to call in a student accommodation cleaning service but generally, you should be able to get by with these 10 fantastic cleaning tips for students. 5 tips on how to clean your own student room and 5 tips on cleaning communal areas with your housemates.
Let’s take a look at how to keep your room fresh and clean, and some great ideas for communal areas.
5 Cleaning Tips for Student Rooms
Your student room is your own private haven away from the long lectures and seminars, so keeping it clean and tidy can really help you to relax and unwind. After all, they always say ‘tidy house, tidy mind’!
1. How To Clean Your Bed
Did you know that the majority of 18-24-year-olds only wash bedding once every 3 weeks (and it’s often a lot longer than that)? That’s a long time collecting dry skin and absorbing sweat! Try to swap your sheets every week, and if you do notice a bit of a smell, sprinkle some bicarbonate of soda onto the mattress, leave for a few hours, and then vacuum. Bicarb is very absorbent and can soak up the odours.
2. How To Keep Your Wardrobe Organised
Moths love nothing better than a cluttered wardrobe, so if you don’t want to have to go shopping for new clothes, it’s a good idea to try to keep your wardrobe well organised. Donate anything you don’t wear and have a laundry bag or basket set up so that you have somewhere to put your dirty items. Try to get to a launderette regularly so that your basket doesn’t overflow. Dirty undies everywhere? Not great.
3. How To Maintain a Tidy Desk And Drawers
It’s no secret that student rooms aren’t exactly spacious and sprawling, so even the smallest amount of clutter can have a massive impact. A rubbish bin is absolutely essential in a student room so that you have somewhere to dispose of papers and bottles, and if you’ve got your tidying head-on then don’t be afraid to be a little ruthless. Got books, notepads, or stationary you don’t plan to use? Give them away!
4. How To Keep Your Floors Clean
Research by Aston University shows that the average carpet contains all sorts of germs, including Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (staph). Yuck! Be sure to vacuum carpet and brush laminate once a week, and if you have a spillage try to get it cleaned up as quickly as possible The longer you leave a stain on carpets and other types of flooring, the more difficult it will be to clean up.
5. How To Wash Your Windows, Doors, and Surfaces
Windows, doors, and surfaces are actually much easier than you may think. In fact, all you need is a multi-purpose cleaning spray that’s suitable for all three, and you can clean away as much as you need to. You’ll use less cleaning product if you spray onto a cloth rather than directly onto the surface, which makes your cleaning stuff last a little longer and helps keep your spends down. Every little helps!
5 Shared Student Accommodation Cleaning Tips
Cleaning tips for students shouldn’t just focus on individual rooms… there are common areas to think about, too! Make sure everyone does their part, and draw up a cleaning rota if it makes things easier.
1. How To Clean The Bathroom And Toilet
According to the NHS, the bathroom is one of the parts of the house where germs are most easily spread, so one of the best student accommodation cleaning tips we can offer is to keep the bathroom as hygienic as possible. Discourage your housemates from leaving personal products in the bathroom which creates clutter, and keep a toilet brush and cleaner next to the toilet to encourage everyone to use them.
2. How To Keep Kitchen Surfaces Hygienic
With an estimated 10 million bacteria per square inch, the BBC reports that the average kitchen sponge is 200,000 times dirtier than a toilet seat! Wow! This means that the worst thing you can do is wipe a dirty cloth along your kitchen surfaces. Instead, use a clean cloth and an all-purpose kitchen cleaning spray to wipe up surfaces, especially if you’ve been preparing food, or are about to make a meal.
3. How To Clean an Oven
Ovens can start to smoke heavily if they’re not cleaned regularly, so if you don’t fancy the fire alarm going off when your housemate tries to drunkenly cook up a pizza at 3am, encourage everyone to keep the oven clean. Cleaning an oven is never fun, but all you need is a spray oven cleaner and a sponge to tackle the insides, while the shelves can be taken out and given a sink wash with washing up liquid.
4. How To Clean a Fridge
Cleaning the fridge is simple. Empty it out, remove the shelves, and give them a good wash with washing up liquid. Allow them to dry and pop them back in. And if your fridge has a bit of a nasty smell, a bowl full of bicarbonate of soda left inside will soak up all the odours. When cleaning your fridge, remember to wipe out the handgrip in the door, which is where all sorts of germs and bacteria can end up.
5. How To Clean Carpet Stains
A good carpet cleaning spray is essential for student accommodations, and they’re very effective. However, removing stains is as much about the technique as the product. The first rule of carpet cleaning is don’t wipe! That will spread the stain. Instead, dab it gently, keeping it confined. The second rule is to dab using durable cloth. There’s nothing worse than trying to pick paper towel fibres out of the pile!
Still Unsure? We’ve Got You Covered!
Research shows that university campuses breed germs, and they breed them quickly! The very best way to keep harmful bacteria at bay (and simply enjoy a nice bit of uncluttered student living) is to regularly clean your space. As a leading professional student accommodation cleaning company, we have cleaned over 500,000 student rooms each and every year and have come across rooms that are in very poor cleaning conditions.
It is highly recommended that you clean and declutter your accommodation on a regular basis rather than wait until the end of the term. The impact of cleanliness on learning can be enormous and there are lots of studies and articles written about how cleanliness can have an impact on learning.
