Student life is tough at the best of times. It’s not all partying, fun and games. There’s a serious amount of work involved, not to mention everything that comes with living in rented accommodation during the academic year. If you’re living in halls of residence, then you may have cleaners and staff to help you with various aspects of university life. But if you’re living in rented accommodation, alone or shared, the likelihood is that you’re going to have to take care of everything yourself, and that includes cleaning and attending to the upkeep of your rooms.
1. Little and often will get the job done!
Ideally, you should house clean regularly so that the work doesn’t build up, and you should also give your house a final deep clean when you’re home cleaning in preparation for the end of the academic year and preparing to hand back the keys.
2. Clean as and when you see stains.
Let stains and dirt linger, and it’ll be a lot harder to clean when you get round to your end of lease cleaning. So get rid of mess as soon as you come across it, which will save you a great deal of time and effort in the long run.
3. Make a rota.
Things will go a lot more smoothly if you make a rota, and more importantly, if you stick to it! Making a rota for the cleaning of communal areas should mean that everything gets cleaned on a regular basis and will ensure that no one is left with the bulk of the work. Share the load when it comes to getting communal areas cleaned, and ensure that everyone’s responsible for their own room.
4. Get stocked up with supplies and equipment.
Before you get started, it’s well worth going to your local store and getting kitted out with basic equipment such as mops, brooms, sponges, antibacterial sprays etc. These will make move out cleaning a whole lot easier, so spend a bit of money, or alternatively, ask your landlord if there’re any supplies that you don’t know about stashed away at the back of a cupboard somewhere.
5. Get lots on hands on board.
Get all you flat mates involved in end of tenancy cleaning – that will reduce the workload and ensure that everything gets done a whole lot quicker. If you’re living on your own, get some friends around to help you, but don’t forget to buy them a drink at the end of it as a thank you!
6. Deep clean your bathroom.
Antibacterial sprays are a fantastic cheap and easy way to make your bathroom area sparkle. Apart from getting rid of all kinds of nasty breeding bacteria, these sprays will remove scum, stains and just make your bathroom a more sanitary place. Alternatively, a baking soda-vinegar paste will also give you fantastic results. But be prepared to put in some elbow grease and do some hard scrubbing.
7. Vacuum clean.
Get out your vacuum and clean all your floors and carpets. If you’ve got a decent vacuum cleaner, make use of all of the various nozzles and different attachments. These can be used to clean a variety of different surfaces, including carpets, hard floors, upholstery, and even curtains if you can reach up that far!
8. Call up a cleaning company.
With all the stresses of student life, sometimes it may be worth calling in the experts to do the job for you. Ask around or do a quick search on the internet, and you’re bound to find a range of affordable cleaning services to meet your needs.
