Tips for Apartment Cleaning

In this Apartment Essentials blog, we cover advice on apartment cleaning. Personally, I’d describe myself as messy, not dirty. I’m the type of roommate that has clothes everywhere but is able to figure out where to throw away a cup of microwavable mac & cheese once I’m done. That being said, sometimes messy can turn into dirty—that stack of papers and mail I didn’t touch all semester might house a few bugs by now. If you’re not already the type to ritually clean every week or month, it might be hard to schedule in time between workes, clubs, extra circulars, social life, and sleep to really take a crack at your living space. Whether it’s to clean up for a good study environment, or because you threw a apartment party and things got sticky, below is a guide to what needs to be cleaned ASAP and what can be left until your move out date.

TRASH

This is the easiest one and yet somehow the quickest to accumulate and ruin the air in the room. Make sure all drinks and food items end up in the trash rather than floating around the room, and make sure to throw that shit out once it’s full! Bugs have the most heightened sense of smell, and once they find where your empty beer cans are they will turn that into their favorite frat house where they will hang out every day and procreate more than you get laid.

What we recommend: Mesh Trash Can, Febreze, Trash Bags

BEDDING

I grew up in a home where we took our shoes off at the door—and when I went to apartment and lived in a small 2-person room, it wasn’t practical to have a space at our 3-foot entrance to leave shoes. Even though I’ve never brought shoes up onto my bedding, I’ve noticed that the apartments, apartments, and houses in which I keep my shoes on, the sheets need to be changed faster. Everyone’s different, some of us get night sweats, and other get laid as much as the flies floating over the trash. Ideally you’re stripping the bed—I know the fitted sheet is the devil’s creation—at least once a month, maybe every two.

What we recommend: Multiple sheets, Mattress Protector

SURFACES

In theory you can leave surfaces that are higher towards the ceiling and untouched alone all semester if you wanted. But, for those that are within your eye line, just invest in a Swiffer and run that over surfaces to pick up dust—AKA dead skin cells that found a resting place. While the Swiffer Company does not sponsor me, I will say they are one of the most fun cleaning tools I’ve ever used, and after one swipe, I guarantee you’ll agree. (I can say guarantee, because once again: no sponsorship—yet.)

What we recommend: Swiffer, Wet Swiffer Pads, Lysol Wipes

BASEBOARDS & CREVICES

If you’re just living in your apartment for a year, you can probably skip the deep, deep cleaning of running down baseboards and cracks in the wall. I’d only really check these out if there’s clearly an ecosystem of dirt around it. For example, if you spill your 7-11 Slurpee on the ground, wipe up where splash back could have landed or else the ants will surely find it. Conversely if you see ants coming out of one hole in your room, you might want to take action before they find your other stashes of food. Otherwise, you can leave this to the end of year cleaners who douse the rooms with bleach and call it a day.

STORAGE

A lot of cleaning is in-fact re-organizing. Using apartment storage solutions will help you feel like you have more space and remove clutter from the apartment.

With an idea of what to clean in mind, the last step is to try to plan and keep to a cleaning schedule, like the example below: