March 17, 2016

By Conor Patterson

It’s that time of year again! Spring break is starting to wrap up, midterms are nearly over, and we can all take a deep breath just for second. In the chaos in the weeks prior, you probably scattered clothes on your bedroom floor, left dishes in the sink, and let your bathroom counter run amuck. It’s time for Spring Cleaning! It’s important to take time every once in a while to really deep clean your apartment, home, or dorm room. It sounds boring and exhausting, but a clean area to live in can help you relax, focus, and improve happiness. Here are a few Spring Cleaning Tips to keep this year’s session full of good, clean fun.

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Plan A Day! If you live alone, set a day and time to start cleaning and stick to it. If you plan a specific time to clean, you’ll have a better chance of actually doing it rather than just getting to it when you can. If you have roommates, talk to them and find a day you can all agree on. This not only holds you accountable, but also everyone else.

Assign cleaning areas! This is a great tip for multiple roommates. Create a spring cleaning checklist that you can divide up between the roommates. If everyone has a specific job beyond their bedroom, every corner in your home can be reached. Double up on the assignments too if you have large rooms. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Break it up! If you live in a huge apartment or home, taking just one day to clean it all may be a bit overwhelming. Spread it out across a couple days. Clean your bedroom today, your kitchen tomorrow, your living room the next, and so on. By breaking it up into tinier pieces, you won’t get overwhelmed or stressed out.

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Make plans before and after! Cleaning is hard and you deserve to treat yourself when it’s completed. Go get some drinks with some friends, see a movie, or have some people over for a night in. Whatever you do, set a time you need to be finished by. This will keep you motivated and on track to finish.

Rearrange! It’s always good to mix things up and rearranging your apartment, dorm room, or home can add a little spice to the second half of Spring. It sounds stressful, but moving furniture around changes up the monotony in your home to keep you from getting bored or anxious. Also, moving all the furniture around will reveal and dust and grime in places you never thought to look. And at the end, consider redecorating a little bit too. Could be fun!

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Clean, clean, clean! Don’t be superficial in your clean. Really dig down deep and scrub out the dirt, especially if this is the first time you’ve done it in a while. Having a clean space to live in is very important to your health and happiness, so don’t skimp on your approach. Here are a few last minute notes to consider when cleaning a dorm room, apartment or home:

Play music while you clean. It increases productivity and distracts you from the work.

Don’t forget your desk! Your drawers could be filled with papers and junk that need to be thrown out. Think about your backpack and computer desktop as well.

If you have too much clothing, consider selling or donating them to make more room. This also works great for old textbooks.

Don’t forget about the small areas you never think to clean. Microwaves, garbage disposals, air filters, ceiling fan blades, and toilet bowls are among the most forgotten. And be sure to beat out your door mats!

Wash, vacuum, dust, sweep, wipe, and repeat. Spring cleaning is incredibly important, especially for messy or cluttered college students. These tips for cleaning your room are fantastic, but we want to hear yours. Feel free to share any additional cleaning comments or advice on Facebook or Twitter.

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