Life happens, especially in college, and there may be a couple of times (okay, probably lots of them) when cleaning your dorm room is the very last thing on your mind. Things may get a little out of hand, and you can be sure that as soon as that happens, your parents (or worse, your crush) will surprise you with a visit. The worst thing you can do is panic-clean, which is basically just throwing things in random places. So take a deep breath, center yourself, and then leap into focused action, completing each of the following tasks in this order:
- Gather up all the clothes that are strewn about. Put them in your hamper.
- Grab a garbage bag, and toss all of the trash in the room. Empty the bin under your desk. Empty the fridge in case your parents are bringing snacks. Run the full bag out to the heap, or hide it in your roommate’s closet.
- Collect all of your dirty dishes, and put them in your dish tub. Put the dish tub somewhere inconspicuous.
- Make your bed. Don’t worry about hospital corners.
- Tidy up your desk. Stack up loose papers and notebooks, corral your pens, straighten your devices.
- Sweep or vacuum—whichever is fastest.
- Flop down on your bed with a magazine, and act nonchalant when they come in and compliment you on how tidy your room is.
Achoo! My dorm room gets really dusty. What can I do to keep it dust-free?
Dust doesn’t just come in from outside. It’s a collection of dead skin cells, food particles, textile fibers, pollen, hair, insect parts, and other unpleasant artifacts of daily existence. Dust is constantly being generated, settling on surfaces long before it’s visible to the naked eye. But don’t worry — you can control it with a few easy tasks:
Keep clutter to a minimum.The less flotsam and jetsam you have piled up on surfaces, the less dust will be generated, and the easier it will be to remove it.
Dust weekly. Use a damp cloth, electrostatic duster, or microfiber duster, which trap dust rather than just move it around.
Vacuum weekly. A broom can leave a lot of dust behind, but a vacuum will remove the majority of it. Invest in a small vacuum cleaner, or better yet, program a robotic vacuum to remove dust while you’re away.
Wash your bedding each week. You shed an alarming number of dead skin cells each night as you toss and turn. And we won’t even mention the hundreds of thousands of dust mites that feast on all that dead skin in your bed. Keeping your bedding clean will help reduce dust — and the allergies that come with it.
Invest in an air purifier. An air purifier removes dust and allergens from the air before they land on your stuff.
Peee-Yuuu! My dorm room stinks. How can I stop it from smelling?
Odors are volatile chemical compounds that emanate from a source, and in smaller spaces, they can become overpowering.
The first thing to do is figure out where the odor is coming from. Is it dirty laundry? Old food? Stale air? Mildew? Once you know what’s causing it, figure out what’s needed to mitigate it. If your room smells because you only take out the garbage every two weeks, take it out more often, and the problem should resolve itself. If you notice a moldy smell without a source, contact the maintenance department.
If there’s no single, identifiable source for the odor, you have a few options:
Open a window. Exchanging old indoor air for new, outside air will help keep your dorm room smelling fresh.
Absorb odors. Place a container of charcoal or baking soda in places that tend to become odoriferous — the closet, the fridge, where you hang your towels.
Mask the odor. Always avoid synthetic air fresheners, which are rife with toxic chemicals. Instead, use a natural air freshener or essential oil diffuser to envelop your stinky room in a fragrant mist that’s free of harmful substances.
Ugh! My roommate is a total slob. How can I get some help with the dorm chores?
It’s no fun living with someone who slimes all manner of messes in their wake, but dealing with a filthy dorm mate is good practice for working through roommate conflicts later on. The first step is to talk to your roommate:
- Talk when you aren’t feeling frustrated.
- Don’t accuse your roommate of being a terrible slob, even if it’s true.
- Make it about you: “You’ve probably noticed that I like things tidy…”
- Choose your battles. What makes you the most crazy? Is it the stacks of dishes? The clothes strewn across the floor? Bring it up: “…so I’m wondering if you’d do me a big favor and keep your clothes off the floor.”
If that doesn’t work, maybe your roommate just needs a helping hand. Suggest a short, communal tidy-up session a few times a week, wherein you put on a rockin’ playlist and see how much tidying up you can get done together in 15 minutes.
If your roommate is totally not into that, but yet refuses to change those slovenly ways, you may have to abandon trying to make it their problem, and just take care of your own business. Make it clear and easy: Divide the room in half — use tape if you have to — and ask your roommate to limit messes to their own side of the room. Whenever their stuff encroaches on your space, gently place it back over on their side. Maybe they’ll learn, maybe they won’t, but try not to let it ruin your life—or your relationship.
