3 Tips to Keep Your Apartment Clean

By Kaitlin Hurtado on October 11, 2017

Between going to every class and committing to completing every assigned reading, the last thing you’ll want to do is to take a “break” from school work to clean somewhere in your apartment when you really just want to treat yourself to the latest episode of whatever show you’ve been watching.

Rather than pushing off all of your cleanings to one day prompted by a last-minute visit from your family or the sudden invasion of some household pests, take initiative into keeping your apartment in a clean state on daily basis by considering incorporating the following tips into your daily routine.

Image via pexels.com

1) Get into the habit of cleaning up messes as soon as they happen 

With a busy schedule, it’s easy to make a mess and tell yourself you could just leave it for later when you have fewer things to do. It’s understandable to leave pajamas on the floor when you’ve woken up late and get dressed in record time, but to leave several days worth of clothes on the floor of your bedroom, bathroom, or stuffed in your closet is unnecessary and will take you even longer to sort through when you need a specific garment.

You can leave dishes from cooking dinner until after you eat, but don’t let them sit in the sink or on the stove top overnight. It’s unfair to any roommate that wants to cook or wash their dishes, as they are going to have to maneuver around your mess before doing anything they actually wanted to do. Leaving dirty dishes out also helps attract unwanted pests to your living space.

Taking a break from your plans in order to clean up a few clothing items may seem unnecessary, but cleaning up messes as they form will save you plenty of time in the future.

2) Keep cleaning supplies nearby 

Think of the areas that get dirty the most. Is there a lot of hair on the bathroom floor? Or does the countertop always get sticky with everyone’s bathroom products coming into contact with it? Does the kitchen countertop get crusty/sticky with every meal cooked?

One of the reasons why messes are often left messes is that no one really wants to go out of their way to go through all the steps of cleaning. They have to find all the correct cleaning supplies, which can often be scattered throughout the apartment, clean, and then put it all back into place. Make cleaning easier for everyone involved. Stash a container of Clorox wipes or a roll of paper towels and cleaning spray to make wiping up messes quick and painless.

Cleaning with one swipe of a wipe right after a mess happens is much easier than trying to scrub at a stubborn spot with countless cleaning supplies when it has had days to set onto a surface (and possibly stain — goodbye full security deposit!)

3) Keep items/activities limited to specific spaces

College students are constantly on the go, and that may also transfer to how you act in your own apartment. You can move your study space into the living room to watch TV while you take an online quiz, take your dinner into your room to eat while you watch something on your laptop, or even try to study in bed with books and notes spread out on your blankets. While being able to move around your apartment may be convenient at first, it’s also how messes are created.

Moving a study session into the living room several nights in a row can lead to your school supplies being strewn throughout the apartment, making it a lot harder to keep track of and find when you need them. Your notes could go from always being on your desk to being shifted around with junk mail on your living room coffee table, or your laptop charger mistakenly being taken by your roommate.

Making a habit of eating your meals in your bedroom can make it easy to leave dishes piled in your room when you are full and too lazy to make the trek back to the kitchen and clean your dishes.

Try to make your spaces have specific functions to limit the number of messes you can create in every space. Try to keep cooking and eating limited to your kitchen and dining/living room area. Keep studying to your desk/study space. Keep your bed as a place to sleep (not eating or “studying”).

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format