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Posted Feb. 21, 2016

Spring Cleaning Your Postgrad Student House

ISpring cleaning your student houset doesn’t have to be spring to indulge in a bit of spring cleaning, in fact there is no time like the present to spring clean your student house.

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And if you keep on top of the cleaning in your student home you should be able to ensure you get your rental deposit back at the end of your tenancy.

It can be tricky to clean a student house properly – there can be a limit on how much you can move things around, and there’s always that worry that you might accidentally bleach something you shouldn’t. So let’s look at the most efficient way to keep your student house clean.

Natural products for deep cleaning

When you want to deep clean your student house, bear in mind that not all the best cleaning products have to be full of chemicals. Yes, it’s true, sometimes you do need to use a bit of Mr Muscle, but more natural products can help you to

1. Rubbing alcohol – seriously, this is an absolute lifesaver. If you've got food stains on your couch, hair dye stains in the bath, or other assorted problems, rubbing alcohol can make a huge difference. Don't be tempted to think you can just use any old alcohol in its place though - using wine will definitely not help.

2. Vinegar and baking soda – you don't need to invest in really expensive supplies in order to do a thorough deep clean - vinegar and baking soda can often do the trick. However, be warned when looking up internet advice on these - they can and do react badly with other cleaning products, so make sure you're being safe. Bonus points if you live with a chemistry student who can keep an eye on what you're mixing.

Where to begin?

So once you are armed with your cleaning products, what is the best way to get on with the cleaning?

Clean your oven 

Seriously, if there is one thing you go and clean right now, make it the oven. Having an oven not up to your letting agency’s meticulous standards is the easiest way to lose your precious deposit, cleaning it regularly rather than trying to grind down the layers of grime and burn at the end of your tenancy is a good way to avoid this. Don’t just give the outside glass a quick wipe down though – this is something that needs intensive cleaning. Get yourself some rubber gloves, some dedicated oven cleaner and go to work. Make sure you warn your house mates they might not be able to cook for a few hours before you start though.

Do the windows 

The outside of your windows are often forgotten about. To be honest, if you’re like most students you’ve probably forgotten about the inside of the windows too! Get yourself a squeegee, wipe it down in-between strokes and you’ll have glass so clean the local birds might fly into it!

Just because they’re not yours...

We’ve mentioned the cooker, but things like toasters, microwaves, fridges and washing machines tend to get overlooked too. Give everything a once-over with soap and water to get rid of the worst parts, and then rinse it down and dry it off. This should leave everything looking as good as new – or at least, as good as it was when you moved in.

It's curtains for you...

Are they your curtains? If so, it’s up to you what you do with them. Are they your landlord’s curtains? Then you should probably clean them. Don’t just bung them in the washing machine – spend the time actually reading the care instructions. Some will be fine to be washed and dried in a washer-dryer, but some will need professional dry cleaning. Yes, it’s an expense, but it’s bound to be cheaper than losing half of your deposit at the end of the academic year.

Protect the mattresses 

Once again – is it your mattress? If it is, great, you don’t need to worry. If it’s not, you should probably take those sheets off and check for marks. You might think you’ve been pretty clean, but you’d be surprised what can leave marks on there. Get some stain remover and go to work. A great way of cheaply avoiding this risk is to get yourself a mattress protector – it doesn’t need to be particularly fancy – in fact you can get them pretty cheaply from value stores like Wilko and Primark, just make sure it’s thick enough that any accidents stay on it and not your mattress.

Unusual locations 

The trick to doing a really good deep clean of your student house is to clean all the places you wouldn’t usually don't bother with. Get behind the washing machine, wash blinds and curtains, clean the inside of the oven doors, all of those odds and ends you might usually be happy to leave. These are the sort of things some landlords know won't get cleaned, so by paying attention to the unusual locations, you can make sure you get your deposit back in full!

Keep an eye on your fridge

Keeping your postgraduate fridge in tip-top shape is an essential part of keeping your student home clean. Try and empty the contents on a regular basis and give the shelves a thorough wipe-down at least once a fortnight.

Extra fridge advice

Cleaning your fridgeSet the temperature – fridges need to be set at a certain temperature to regulate the food properly. Too warm and everything will spoil! The optimum temperature of your fridge is between 1.7C and 3.3C. As a rule, it should never be higher that 5C as you run the risk of harmful bacteria growing on your food.

Use the fridge door properly – contrary to popular belief, storing your milk in the fridge door is not the best idea. Due to the door constantly being opened its temperature fluctuates dramatically. Ideally you should keep any products that have a short shelf life in the centre of the fridge where the temperature is more likely to remain constant.

Storing leftovers – it may sound silly but how you store leftover food makes all the difference. Use clear containers, preferably glass or Tupperware, as this way you can see exactly what's inside. Meaning you're less likely to forget that they're in there! Whatever it is, don't let it hang around any longer than four days, max.

Decluttering – if you've got a small fridge and a large household (or appetite) decluttering your fridge can be a little tricky. The problem is, when you pack your fridge full of food, warm spots are created by surrounding items acting as insulation. In an ideal world your fridge needs circulation. Try to make some space by storing things that don't necessarily need to be in the fridge elsewhere.

Food rotation – so you've just got home from your weekly shop and you're about to put everything away. Before you do move everything from the previous week, as well as anything that's been lingering around at the back of your fridge to the front. This way you'll know exactly what needs eating up first.

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