Living with a group of people can get pretty messy really quickly if nobody is cleaning. It’s pretty much common sense to clean your own rooms and make sure your stuff isn’t all over the common areas, but what about cleaning the shared rooms such as the living room, bathroom and kitchen? Usually it only gets cleaned when it is reaching the point of annoying the “clean freak” of the group and that is not how you want to go about this. After trying to evenly split cleaning without having a conversation, my roommates and I voiced to each other that we thought the chores were not being split evenly. Our solution: A rotating chore chart. We agreed that being stuck with one chore all year would straight out suck, so rotating would be the best option. This way one person isn’t having to clean the toilet all year while the other simply gets to wipe the counter. Rotating weekly and splitting it up by room worked best for us, but it honestly is all dependent on your situation and what compromises you make with your own roommates. We are adults meaning we have to act like adults and actually dust, just deal with it and do your share.
Planning the chore chart was a task in itself and honestly probably the part with the most thinking involved. Set a date to all sit down when everyone is free to figure this out in person. I do not suggest planning it over text or with one person missing, both of these can be problematic in their own ways that I am not going to go into. First things first, make a list of all the chores by room that everyone expects to be done weekly. Then you can decide on things that perhaps can be done less frequently or more frequently such as taking out the trash. Kitchen:
- Wipe down counters, fridge handles and shelves if there are any missed spills
- Wipe down stovetop and microwave (both outside and inside)
- Vacuum and mop
- Empty dishwasher (Note: we all agreed we load our own dishes into the dishwasher)
Bathroom:
- Wipe down counter, sink, and handles/faucet
- Clean the mirrors with glass cleaner
- Take out the trash
- Clean the toilet
- Wipe the outside of toilet
- Clean inside of shower (less often)
- Vacuum and Mop
Living Room:
- Vacuuming
- Dusting
- Cleaning windows/patio door
- Tidying up pillows, blankets or other decor in the room
Another place to clean are the handles of EVERYTHING, it is cold and flu season so make sure to be using antibacterial wipes to kill those germs. Executing: This part is hard because it will be on the honor system, so make sure to do your part. Set who’s doing what room first and what their task is for the next two rotations of rooms. We made sheets of paper to switch out in order to help us remember what we are each doing each week. We also did not set a day that we all have to get it done because are schedules are so hectic.
If someone obviously didn’t do their part by the time it’s time to rotate who does what room, simply ask them casually, “hey did you have time to do blah blah?” Again, I wouldn’t text your roommates about it because text messages can come off as accusatory and angry. Also, if you can make it into an “I statement”, even better. Nobody wants to live in a dump, but nobody wants to have to do all the work to keep it clean. It’s important to get this conversation done early in the year too, that way arguments or resentment doesn’t start up if the neat freak gets to their last nerve. Good luck and happy cleaning!