Cleaning Hacks for Lazy College Students

A week or two before fall semester starts, students flood into college towns.  Whether they are moving into their first year in an on-campus dorm of their last year in an off-campus apartment or house, there is always way too much time that needs to be spent on cleaning.  Here are several cleaning hacks for lazy college students that will save you time and money:

Use a squeegee to remove hair from carpet.

Image via Hella Wella

This is especially useful if you are in an off-campus living situation and have a pet.  Not that vacuuming is much of a pain, but having a ton of hair caught inside of your vacuum will make you toss out money on something you really do not want to worry about having to buy when you are a college student.  Spend twenty bucks on a squeegee and save yourself a hundred bucks on a new vacuum.

Use baking soda to remove carpet stains.

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Often times, when it comes to deep cleaning (carpet cleaning and so on), you are better off renting the supplies and/or doing it yourself.  If you spread baking soda over your carpet, leave it be, and then vacuum it back up after a while – your carpet should be as good as new.  However, if that does not do the trick, you might have to turn to renting tools.  Your first step should be double-checking to make sure that if you have any maintenance staff – that they do not already have the tools you need.  If you ask politely, they may either help you get the job done or lend you their equipment.  If they do not have what you need or if you do not have any kind of staff to turn to, take a quick trip to Home Depot or Lowe’s.  Renting a carpet cleaner can cost around twenty dollars for four hours, whereas hiring somebody to clean your carpet costs at least one hundred dollars per room.

Use a coffee filter as a duster. 

Image via Real Simple

Not many college students actually own dusters, but I can guarantee you that at least half of them own coffee filters.  When it comes to dusting your room (especially ceiling fans), instead of cheating out and using toilet paper or paper towels (which leave fibers behind), use a coffee filter.  It does a much better job of collecting the dust rather than just dispersing it around the room.

Use toothpaste to clean your shoes.

Image via Life Hacker

If you do not own toothpaste as a college student, then you are doing something wrong.  You can easily clean the rubbery, white sides or even the bottom of your shoes using toothpaste to take away the dirt and give yourself the pumped up kicks you originally purchased.

Use water and vinegar to clean your shower head.

Image in Life Hacker

Not many college students, much less people, think about cleaning their shower head – but if it is spraying in all directions, then it is either dirty or broken.  You can quickly and easily clean your shower head by mixing an equal amount of vinegar and water in a plastic bag and wrapping it around the shower head.  Let it sit for a while, take it off, run your shower, and it should be as good as new!

Use baking soda and oil to deep clean your mattress.

Image via Hire Rush

Regardless of where you are living, if you are a college student and you are using an already owned mattress – you are going to want to deep clean that without a doubt.  All you need is baking soda, essential oil, and a vacuum to give yourself a residue-free mattress to get the beauty sleep you need for the upcoming formal…or the two hours of sleep you will need for an organic chemistry final.

Use a toothbrush to clean your keyboard. 

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All kinds of gunk, whether they are food crumbs or dust particles, end up building up underneath our laptop keyboard.  Clean if out with a toothbrush – simple, quick, and easy.

Use newspaper to dry wet shoes. 

Image via According To Elle

Summer showers might leave your shoes all smelly – dry off your wet shoes quickly and effectively with newspapers.  Interestingly enough, newspapers can also be used to remove smells from a fridge (just please do not use the same sheets of newspaper for both of these hacks at once).

Best of luck to all those moving into their new (or old) places within the next few weeks.  Try to give some of these cleaning hacks a whirl before the semester gets too busy and especially before the fridge fills up with expired pizza leftovers.