“Cleaning”? I don’t know her. It’s surprising how much effort goes into keeping a living space clean. When you’re busy with classes and part-time jobs and socializing and extra-curriculars, it’s hard to remember the importance of dusting or vacuuming. I made a handy to-do list just for you—yes, you specifically. You can thank me later.
Every Day
Hang Clothes
Can you see your desk chair? Your floor? Your windows? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you’ve probably left your clothes lying out. Putting them away in the closet or in drawers can keep them looking fresh and wrinkle-free.
Make Bed
This may seem silly but making your bed can improve the look of your room by about 31%. That’s a very scientific number that comes from lots of scientific research. I promise. Just take my word for it.
In all seriousness, peeling back the covers and slipping into bed is so much more satisfying than struggling with a pile of tangled sheets.
Throw Out Trash
If there’s one thing I forget to do on a regular basis, it’s taking care of trash. It’s not until I try to throw out my thirteenth Fruit by the Foot wrapper of the day that I realize my trash can is overflowing. To prevent ants and other unsavory creepy-crawlies from creepin’ and crawlin’ into your room, dispose of your trash properly. In addition, avoid putting apple cores or sugary snack residue in your room’s trash can. Take that junk out to the hallway—unless you really want your room to smell like rotten fruit.
Wash Dishes
No matter if you live in an apartment with a kitchen or a regular dorm room, it’s never a good idea to leave dirty dishes sitting around. Grab some dish soap and a sponge and hit up the nearest sink. For added fun, try drying them with a hand-towel! I mean, I guess it’s not fun, technically, but if you’ve got a spare minute or two, it’d be a good use of your time.
Every Week
Do Laundry
This one is a little more obvious, especially if you wake up on a Monday and see your drawers are empty. It’s best to do laundry once a week, so your loads aren’t too big. E-town even has a handy web app that lets you see how many minutes a machine has left. You can receive notifications when your laundry is finished, too!
Vacuum/Sweep
This one is a little complicated. E-town dorms don’t offer a community broom or vacuum, so you’ll either have to bring your own or borrow from a friend. Still, it’s extremely important that you keep your floor clean. If you walk across the room and the bottoms of your feet are suddenly a different color, you should probably run a vacuum or broom over the floor.
Every Two Weeks
Wash Bed Sheets
I was at a high school grad party with a few friends, several of whom were already in college, and we decided to grill one of the freshmen on his cleaning habits. The first question we came up with: how often do you wash your sheets? To our surprise, he had the same answer that we did—every two weeks. While you can get away with leaving your fitted and regular sheets out of your weekly laundry, you should definitely clean them regularly. If you sweat a lot during the day and take showers in the morning, it’s probably best to move this to every single week.
Dust
I’m pretty sure I’m the only E-town student who actually does this, but I swear dusting all the surfaces in my room improves my ability to breathe. I’ve never really dealt with allergies, but when I go for a long period of time without dusting my room, I get a little sneezy. Call it coincidence, but dusting can literally improve your quality of life. It probably won’t add 10 years to your lifespan, but at least you’ll be able to recline in your bed and breathe in clean air instead of dust bunnies.