Step one: buy Clorox wipes. Graphic courtesy of Getty Images.

SILAS OWENS | OPINION CO-EDITOR | szowens@butler.edu 

Keeping a clean space in college isn’t easy. We might not have a parent telling us to tidy up or do chores. Most college students are just busy, and cleaning takes time and energy. 

As much as it’s a pain, cleanliness is important. It helps focus and productivity. Many students have a hard time studying if their messy room is a distraction.

Max Haley, a sophomore sports media and strategic communication double major, described why he values a clean space.

“When you have guests over, or even somebody that lives in the space with you, it not only makes yourself happy to have things clean, but it makes an impression on others that you keep your space tidy,” Haley said. “It shows a sense of respect.”

Letting your sink get sludgy, your shower turn different colors or your room smell like old Cheeto dust is not just gross, but inconsiderate of anyone you are subjecting to these conditions.

Cleaning sucks, but living in a dumpster sucks more. So, I calculated the requirements needed to stay tidy with the least possible effort. 

Taking trash out

Taking out the trash is a difficult task to put off. A full trash can is one of the most obvious messes if it gets left for too long — you can only smash the trash down so many times.

What’s the bare minimum? There are two important guidelines for trash. First, if your trash smells, it must be removed immediately. Second, if it’s overflowing, you have to take it out.

Making your bed

Having a made bed is nice, but it is also purely an aesthetic issue. It might look a little sloppy unmade, but it doesn’t really affect anyone in the sense of actual cleanliness.

What’s the bare minimum? Bed making should be left up to personal preference. Many people make their bed every morning and believe they are better for it. They feel like the rest of their life can’t be organized if the bed isn’t made. But if that’s not you, it’s not a big deal if your bed isn’t made.

Changing your sheets

Changing sheets is another issue that typically only affects you. Unlike making your bed though, unchanged sheets can become gross after long enough, especially if you don’t always shower at night. It can be a frustrating task, but one with satisfying results when you go to bed.

What’s the bare minimum? In an ideal world, sheets would be changed biweekly. With two sets, you’d only have to wash one load of sheets a month. There is wiggle room here, though, since the state of your sheets doesn’t affect others. The bare minimum is monthly, although more often is recommended if anyone else will ever be in them.

Dusting

Dusting is very easy to overlook as a college student. It never seems urgent and isn’t a huge hygiene issue. 

Since dust isn’t particularly disruptive, it is tempting for lazy people like me to ignore it for as long as possible. But all you need is a rag or Clorox wipe and about three minutes of time, so it has to happen occasionally.

What’s the bare minimum? A whole semester or school year of dust buildup is too much. If you dust two to four times a semester, the dust will stay in check, and it will take a total of fifteen minutes.

Sweeping and vacuuming

Sweeping and vacuuming are musts. Nobody wants to see dirt and crumbs on the floor. If you have a roommate, you need to be extra mindful of these tasks because they affect communal space.

Jonathon Dowding, a senior journalism and marketing double major, explained what happens if he doesn’t clean the floor well enough.

“I’ll casually clean up stuff that’s on the floor, but then I’ll see the corner of my room with a dust pile,” Dowding said. “I’m like, okay, I probably should have done this [already].”

What’s the bare minimum? If you spill food, clean it as soon as possible. Otherwise, I recommend sweeping and vacuuming at least monthly. If you don’t have a vacuum, consider sharing equipment among suitemates or borrowing it from a friend. 

Cleaning the bathroom

For most Butler students, this is a shared space and the one where a little extra grime is the least tolerable. You can’t let it get gross.

Senior music performance major Rene Eaton, who has worked professionally in house cleaning, explained that cleaning a bathroom can seem more intimidating than it actually is.

“When I was in house cleaning, they told us we shouldn’t spend any more than 15 minutes in a bathroom,” Eaton said. “I probably [take] 30 minutes at most. I feel like a lot of people think it’s something that’s going to take them all day.”

What’s the bare minimum? Wipe down the sink and counter with a Clorox wipe weekly. This can take under a minute. For the rest of the bathroom, you must deep clean monthly, which means disinfecting the shower, sinks and toilet, as well as cleaning the floor. Then you can do periodic maintenance every week or two if you notice any grime building.

Basic cleaning does not need to be a burden on your money or time. The most basic supplies are a Swiffer, hand broom and vacuum for the floor; toilet bowl cleaner and a toilet brush; disinfectant spray for bathrooms; and Clorox wipes and basic rags for almost anything else. 

Supplies are cheap and last a long time, so if you don’t have them, a Walmart run is in order. With a deeper clean at the start of each semester and then just a few minutes a week, there’s no excuse for a dorm to look — or worse — smell like an unsupervised prepubescent boy lives there.