A day in the life of a college student is a hectic one. When you’re attending classes throughout the week, working a part-time job, taking part in extracurriculars, and throwing one back with friends on the weekends, who has time to clean their off-campus apartment?
The sad reality of adulthood is that the cleaning never ends. There’s always an object to be dusted, a surface to be wiped down, and a floor to be vacuumed and swept. Even as a busy college student, you’ve still got to find time to clean your student rental down the road from campus. Maintaining a clean space in your OU rental apartment is essential. After all, you spent a ton of time searching for a great rental near Ohio University—you need to keep it tidy. A clean living space is linked to your mental health more than you might realize. Here are some of our favorite tips for cleaning on the go—even when you’ve got a full day of classes, exams, and plans with friends.
The Power of Cleaning as You Go
Who here has ever felt personally victimized by a days-old stack of dirty dishes in the kitchen sink that rivals Mt. Everest in terms of sheer size and scale? Finding the motivation to clean dozens of dishes in one go is challenging to say the least. If it’s your roommates’ dishes in the sink, that’s another issue to be resolved. But what if we told you that it could be so much easier? Instead of letting dirty dishes linger in the sink, clean your pots and pans once you’re done with them. By practicing this one tip, you might just find yourself with one of the cleanest student homes in the area.
It’s simple psychology. If you’re confronted with a massively dirty Ohio University apartment rental, cleaning up is going to feel like a gargantuan task. Instead, break it up into smaller, bite-sized chunks. Once you’re done cooking dinner, clean the dishes and pans you’ve used then and there. By cleaning as you go, you avoid the daunting feeling of a huge mess to clean. And there are ways to make cleaning as you go even easier:
- While cooking, fill one side of the sink with warm, soapy water. Pre-soak your pots and pans before scrubbing them to make cleaning a breeze.
- Wipe spills or splatters as they happen. A fast wipe is easier to tackle before the offending food or liquid has dried.
- Budget your time while cooking. If you have something cooking on the stove for a few minutes, take that time you’re not actively cooking to clean up your prep tools or measuring cups.
Control Your Clutter
As a student, your college rental near Ohio University’s campus is bound to get cluttered with all sorts of belongings. Books scattered on the desk haphazardly from late night studying, the pile of clothes that just barely missed the laundry basket. Clutter can quickly consume an entire floor or surface, making it feel difficult to simply exist even in a spacious Ohio University apartment.
When it comes time to clean up the clutter—much like the dish scenario above—it becomes a massive undertaking. And you certainly can’t manage excessive clutter quickly. You have to carve out a chunk of time to clean up around your off-campus home for rent. Thankfully, even when you’re strapped for time, there are still ways to make the most of it and keep your Ohio University student rental pad clean as a whistle.
- The 5-Minute Pickup: Set a timer for 5 minutes. Look around your living space and start putting items back where they belong. By the time the 5 minutes is up, you might be surprised to see what can be accomplished in such a short time. Do this repeatedly over the course of a week, and your college apartment will be spick and span.
- Give Everything a Home: Make designated spots for items in your university rental. When most items have a home within your home, it becomes easier to track them down, and it reduces clutter.
- Storage Bins are Your Friend: You can’t have a chic rental apartment close to campus if it’s constantly a mess. Invest in a few decorative storage baskets and containers to hide extra clutter and give homes to objects and items.
- Clean Surfaces First: Clean and wipe down flat surfaces first. Clear surfaces can help make everything feel that much more organized.
Tools for Quick Cleaning Around Your OU Rental Apartment
What good is an Ohio University apartment in a great location if it’s never clean? To keep things looking pristine—and to make tidying up easy on yourself—you’ll want to invest in a few tried-and-true cleaning items.
- All-purpose cleaner: A versatile workhorse of any undergrad student rental. A good all-purpose cleaner will tackle counters, stovetops, sinks, and more with ease.
- Disinfectant wipes: Any student living in a rental down the street from Ohio University’s campus that’s big enough for you and a few roommates will want to keep disinfectant wipes on hand. Not only do they remove lingering bacteria on surfaces, but it also doubles as an effective cleaning wipe in a pinch.
- Microfiber cloths: Good quality microfiber cloths are a must in any home. The microfiber material effortlessly lifts dust and debris off surfaces and keeps them trapped. Most are washable and can be reused to extend their lifespan.
- Bathroom and toilet bowl cleaner: Please, for the love of everything that is good. Find a solid cleaner that works for bathrooms and toilets. They help remove soap scum, mildew, and stubborn stains around the toilet. No shared bathroom in a spacious rental home for college students is complete without them. And a resident who commits to cleaning the bathroom, of course.
- Baking soda and white vinegar: These everyday items can double as effective cleaning agents. White vinegar excels in disinfecting surfaces and lifting odors from clothing and carpet. Baking soda, when mixed with water to create a paste, is a powerful deodorizer and scrubber.
Don’t put off learning an essential skill to carry you through adulthood. You’ll end up cleaning your rental when it comes time to move out anyways, so consider it an investment into future you. By embracing these quick cleaning hacks and prioritizing consistency, you’ll create a memorable Ohio University rental that you can enjoy. You’ll also learn habits that will contribute to a less stressful, more productive life well past graduation.