So you’ve been away at college for what? About six weeks now? If you haven’t taken the time already, it’s definitely time to clean up the grime. It’s amazing how quickly dust and dirt can accumulate and if you don’t get a handle on it, it will escalate exponentially. The feeling of a clean room clears the mind and makes you feel like you can breathe again. So turn up whatever music inspires you, ‘cause here we go, step-by-step.
1. Round up some cleaning supplies. You don’t have to spend a lot of money here and a little goes a long way. You’re basically going to need an all-purpose cleaner, a roll of paper towels, and a broom. Some toilet bowl cleaner would be nice, but not necessary – I’ll explain later. Some micro-fiber cleaning cloths would be nice, but also not necessary. Lysol, glass cleaner for the mirrors and pledge for any wood or woodwork would be nice luxuries, as would a mop and bucket. If you have dishes in your room, you probably already have dish detergent, we can use that too in a pinch. Beg and borrow, but don’t steal, as many of these items from others on your floor as you can, but be prepared to return the favor if need be. In most of the dorms I resided, we had a “dorm mother” who was basically a cleaning lady who kept the common areas clean. Be nice to her and she will probably give you some supplies, and might even come in and help you.
If I were going out to buy these items and had to start with nothing, I’d buy: A good broom, a large can of Lysol, all-purpose cleaner in a spray bottle, (aka – glass and surface cleaner), 2-3 rolls of generic paper towels, two micro-fiber cloths, a scrubber sponge, a laundry brush, some toilet bowl cleaner and a toilet bowl brush. Hopefully, you’ve been using trash bags, but if necessary, I’d buy those too. Got all that? Good. Let’s start cleaning.
2. Start at the top and work your way down. Check your ceiling - especially the corners. Any cobwebs? If there are, take your broom and knock down those cobwebs. If there is any dust on the ceiling, get it with the broom as well. Don’t worry too much about where it falls – we’re going to clean everywhere, but try to not let if fall like – in your roommate’s breakfast!
3. Next, go around the walls. Just really quick - no, I’m not kidding. Dust and dirt accumulate everywhere but this won’t take long. If you have any windows in your room, chances are there is some dust hiding in those corners as well. Again, go from top to bottom and get rid of any dirt you see. You can use a damp paper towel for this; wet it with either your all-purpose cleaner, or just some water.
4. Now it’s time to work on your furniture. Wipe down the head and foot boards of you bed. Remove everything from your desk and wipe it down. If it were me, I’d do the same with my roommates desks as well – just be careful with their belongings and, of course, respect their privacy. They shouldn’t mind your cleaning; my roommates always helped me. For this project, again, use plain water or your all-purpose cleaner. If you have any wood furniture, use either a wood cleaner and polish, like Pledge, or use a damp cloth and go back and dry. You need a damp cloth to really get the dust, but don’t leave any dampness on wood.
5. If you haven’t done so already, this would be a great day to remove your bed sheets and wash them. Wash everything that is washable – including comforter or bedspread. Check the care labels to find out. If anything is “Dry clean only,” it can probably wait until the end of the semester. If you have any spills or stains on a dry clean only item, you will need a special spot remover and a brush to remove them. That means a little extra work and money, but it is probably cleanable. In the meantime, just “air” the item by flipping it inside out, or upside down, as flat as possible. If you have bunk beds, you can hang something like a quilt or comforter over the edge to let it air. If everyone is cleaning together, you can probably get everyone’s sheets in one load to share costs. Don’t overload the washer, though. You’ll just end up with a sticky mess of sheets and detergent if you do. If there are four people in your room, you might have to settle for two sets of sheets per load. It all depends upon the washing machines you are using. By the way, when I was at Morehead State, I learned that taking my clothes to the Laundromat downtown was actually cheaper than using the pay-machines in the dorm. It was also faster, and I could count on getting enough washers. So if your dorm isn’t working, try somewhere else in town if you have transportation. A side note on airing – open the windows to your room if you can. Fresh air – even if it’s a little chilly – will make everything seem fresher than just cleaning alone. But do what you can.
6. Moving on to the bathroom now. If you have a cloth shower curtain, it too should be removed and washed in a washing machine. If you just have one of those plastic shower curtain liners, it can be laundered, but is probably just as easy to spray it with your all-purpose cleaner, let it sit for about 5 minutes, then wipe it down. If you and your roommates are using one of those bathroom cleaners that you spray every time you shower, you’re probably in good shape here. If not, you’ll need to spray your shower stall, tub, faucet fixtures, shower head, basically everything with that all-purpose cleaner and wipe it down. Follow the instructions for your cleaner, most say to rinse, then wipe dry – but do whatever they say. Run a damp paper towel over the shower curtain bar to get any dust or grime off of it. The all-purpose cleaner can also be used on the toilet; wipe it down completely on the outside, pour some cleaner on the inside and let it sit for a while – as long as possible if you don’t have a toilet brush. Be sure to raise the seat and clean the underside and all around the rim as well. (If this is the first time you’ve ever cleaned the rim of a toilet seat, congratulations, you are now an adult!) Now sweep the floor to get the dust out, mop if you have a mop, (for specific instructions on how to mop – see number 9 below), but if you don’t, use your all-purpose cleaner again. See, it really is all-purpose! You can also wait on the floor until you are ready to do the entire room if you want – it’s up to you. The last thing I would do in the bathroom is, if I had Lysol, I would spray the entire room down with it and let it air out, including the floor. Directions are on the can, but you basically wet the surface you want to clean and let it dry for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, if everything is not dry, just wipe it up, or let it sit a little longer. By the way, Lysol spray kills viruses, bacteria, fungi and germs. Chlorine bleach does too, for the most part, but is much more difficult to use. You do not need any chlorine bleach for cleaning your dorm room unless you or one of your roommates is HIV positive. If that is the case, please e-mail me so we can discuss what to do.
7. Most dorm rooms have a separate area for sinks, mirrors, and getting ready in the morning. Let’s look at that area next. Again, remove everything from around the sinks and the shelving. Working from top to bottom, clean the mirrors first, then the countertops, then the sinks. Here’s how. If you have the luxury of two micro-fiber cloths, just wet one of them with water and wring it out. Use it to clean the mirror, stopping to scrub any stubborn spots. When the cloths are new, you can sometimes get by with just letting the mirror air dry. My mirrors are spotless after I clean them this way. If you have streaks, go back with your dry micro-fiber cloth and rub them out. You’ll be able to tell when they are clean. You are not supposed to use any harsh chemical detergents on micro-fiber, but sometimes it can’t be avoided and you can’t control what other people do. Next, use your all-purpose cleaner to clean the countertops, shelving, sink basins, and faucets. Or use the damp micro-fiber cloth and no cleaner. Either way, go back over the entire area with your Lysol. Spray the area down, let it air dry. (Again, 10 minutes.) Put everything back, cleaning each item as you go. This doesn’t take long and helps keep everything dust-free longer. Dust attracts dust, so get rid of any little speck you see when you do these deep cleanings.
8. Now that you have clean surfaces to work on, gather up all glasses and dishes, wash and dry them, and put them away. Clean out the microwave; take the base plate out and clean it like you would a regulate dish, wipe the top, bottom, sides and door until they are spotless. Your all-purpose cleaner will work, as will dish detergent. This is where you might need that scrubber sponge.
9. If I’ve left out any other areas, get them next. Otherwise, we’re ready to do the floors. If you have carpet, I hope you have a vacuum cleaner and have been using it regularly. High-traffic areas should be vacuumed every day or as close to that as possible. Vacuum all areas once a week. Keep the vacuum handy so that it’s easy to do. Be sure to get any items out from under your bed and deal with them; dust it off, pour it out, throw it out, whatever needs to be done. My senior year, I had a roommate who was so clean she was inspiring. One Saturday when we were cleaning though, she checked under her bed and found a science experiment! It seemed she had a glass of Pepsi one night and fell asleep before finishing it. The next morning when she made her bed, she felt she didn’t have time to deal with it, so she stuck it under her bed to deal with later. Obviously, she forgot about it until we were deep cleaning. I’ve never seen that much mold outside of a science experiment in my life. It’s a wonder we weren’t all sick. Luckily, we kept everything pretty clean, used our Lysol regularly, and found it after a couple of weeks.
If you have a concrete floor with rugs, take the rugs outside and shake them out. If you have a laundry brush, that would be nice to use as well. Use the brush to get out spots and stains. You can use dish detergent for this, but if you can splurge on rug and carpet cleaner – even better. Do what you can. While the rugs are airing, or if you don’t have rugs, sweep the floor starting in the corners working toward the center. Working with one section at a time, pull the broom toward you and collect the dust and dirt in one common area. I like to gather up the accumulating dust as I go, but you can wait until you’ve swept the entire floor if you want. The most effective way to pick up floor dust is with a wet paper towel. Dustpans are okay, but there’s always that little bit you just can’t get or you fight with. Wet paper towels get it all. The new Swiffer products for floors are awesome, wet or dry, but you have to use them frequently or they gunk up. Of course, the Swiffer products would be luxury considering they are a little expensive. So, next, if you need to mop and have a mop and bucket, here’s how to do that. Make sure the bucket is clean, wipe it out, inside and out, if it isn’t. Pour either a little floor cleaner, if you have it, or dish detergent into the bottom. For floor cleaner, like Armstrong, read and follow the instructions for how much to use. If you’re using dish detergent, a little goes a long way. Depending upon the size of your floor, you’ll only need a dime to a quarter-size amount. Next, use the bathtub to fill the bucket half full with hot water, as hot as you can stand. This is why you want the bucket to be clean – you don’t want to get your clean bathtub dirty! You should now have some sudsy hot water to work with. Place the mop in the bucket and let the water soak it thoroughly. Pull the mop up, bend over and wring out the strands. Unless you have sticky spills, you want the mop to be damp, not wet. For sticky areas, use a little more water, so wring a little less. You might want to spot treat areas where pop or food have been spilled and left to sit. Use you all-purpose cleaner for that, or dish detergent. With your mop, start in one back corner and work you way to the door, keeping in mind that you don’t want to step on an area that you’ve mopped. As your mop gets dirty, you’ll put it back into the bucket and swish it around a little to loosen the dirt from it. Wring it out, and begin with the next section. It is possible, if your floors are very dirty, that you will have to pour out the mop water (into the bathtub) and start with fresh. That’s fine, just be sure to clean the tub again after you’re finished. For the under bed areas, it is best that you have everything up and off the floor when you start mopping. Again, be sure to clean everything off as you put it back.
10. Almost finished! Once the floor is dry – which will take 10 to 30 minutes, go back and do a spot check. Did you overlook anything? If so, get it now. If not, take the Lysol, if you have it, and spray all doorknobs and handles and any areas commonly touched. Let them air dry. Take your all-purpose cleaner and clean the door to your room and bathroom – just lightly – inside and out. That’s it – you’re finished! Take a deep breath. Does it smell fresh and clean? It should. If it doesn’t, you’ve missed something – keep looking until you find it, then clean it!
Don’t get discouraged if it takes you a couple of hours the first time you do this. You will get faster as you get your system down. If just one roommate can help you, your time will be cut at least in half. My first semester, I had a good roommate who would stay on a Saturday to help and we got our system down to where we could do a deep cleaning in 45 minutes. My senior year, I rented a house and had a roommate who helped me keep the place practically spotless and we never had to do a deep cleaning – we cleaned everything as soon as it needed it and took turns sweeping and vacuuming. That was nice, but with four people in a small room constantly using it, I’d be surprised if you could reach that level.
I hope I’ve covered everything. If not, e-mail me or comment below. I’d love to hear from any experienced housekeepers out there who can think of a better or faster way of doing things for these college students. Just keep in mind that time and money are somewhat limited for them – not to mention motivation! Have a great week – next Saturday I’m going to talk about how to iron those cargo shorts and pants everyone loves so much – until they wash them!