Undoubtably there are items you brought with you to school and didn’t need – which are now taking up valuable space in your residence hall room. Learning what to bring to college has a learning curve. In order to ensure that you don’t make the same mistakes with cleaning supplies, here’s what we think you DO need and what you should LEAVE at the door.
What you NEED
- Disinfecting wipes – sterilize your door, dust your decorations, clean microwave explosions, and – if you’re desperate – use as a mop! These are by far the most diverse cleaning supply you will use in college.
- Swiffer – not only is this easy to use, but it’s easy to store! Swiffers can be tucked under your bed or away in your closet when not in use. Fun hack! The dryer pads can be used for dusting too.
- Dish soap (+ sponge) – yes, you do need to clean your water bottle every so often. Keep a small bottle of dish soap and a sponge around to wash any additional containers or silverware you may use.
- Paper towels – lets face it, you will inevitably need paper towels to clean up something you spilled or as a napkin when eating your easy mac.
- Laundry detergent – this one is obvious, but if you need a lesson in Laundry 101, we’ve got you covered!
What you DON’T
- Mini vacuum – just shake your mini rug off outside if you think it needs vacuuming.
- Ironing board – two weeks after school starts, you’ll probably revert to athletic or comfy clothes. Your bulky ironing board is likely to become a dust collector, which is an additional thing you’ll have to clean. If you insist on bringing something to remove your wrinkles, opt for a hand-held steamer instead.
- Small trash can – we can all agree that Target sells very cute trash cans that might match perfectly with your room decor. But every residence hall room is given a trash can and recycling bin. Having to take out two trash cans is extra work and it takes up much needed space.
- Duster – on the off chance you do dust your room, you can use wipes or the pads on the bottom of your Swiffer instead. Multi-functional cleaning products are the best in college and a duster (+ spray) doesn’t serve more than one purpose.
- Laundry basket – at home you may store your clothes in a separate laundry hamper and then carry them to the laundry room in your laundry basket. However, in college we use the hamper as the basket. Opt for a fabric hamper that can fold for travel at the end of the year and can hold more. Our personal favorite is this double laundry hamper – it has durable handles and pockets for your detergent.
