Tag Archives: cleaning

Sharing Spaces…and Chores

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Having a lot of roommates seems like it could come in handy when it comes time to clean up and do chores around the house, but don’t be too quick to lessen your own workload because of that. Everyone is different and has different habits, so working towards taking care of the same thing (your home) can get tricky. You all need to be mindful of the fact that you’re living with other people, and be responsible with doing your share of the household chores.

We’ve all seen friends and we all know that Monica and Rachel are the classic example of roommates who are very different, but they always made it work. Just because you and your roommates go about doing things differently doesn’t mean that there need to be any issues! Take a night of the week where you can all sit down and figure out which chores you all need to partake in and figure out how to divide them. Make some sort of a “master list” with all of the chores that need to be done every single week (or day) and divide it up. Make sure you have things like dusting, mopping, sweeping, wiping fans, emptying the dishwasher etc. You can all try and compromise to pick chores you prefer, and then divide up the rest of the work. This way everything is split up equally and one person isn’t stuck taking care of your home. Maybe you can set “standards” of some sort as to how things are done so that everyone can be happy. For example, you can all agree on loading all the big dishes on the bottom of the dishwasher, or making sure not to use pure chlorine when cleaning sinks. There all kinds of little things like this that people do differently, so setting a standard way to do this keeps everyone happy. If you aren’t happy with something, speak up! It’s silly to keep these things to yourself because you’re going to have to deal with them alllllll the time.

It may seem a bit excessive, but you and your roommates should consider putting things on a sort of list that you keep up for all of you to see. This can help when you start forgetting who was responsible for what chore, and whether your own was done. Having it as a constant reminder will make you more inclined to do it so that you can check off that you’ve done it. A chore list can also serve as a way to get a routine going; who knows, you may end up not needing it after a while!

TLDR; do your chores.

chores

Keep it Clean

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As someone renting a home, you’re not liable for all of the same maintenance things that a homeowner is. Because of this, you’re responsible for a different set of things, as stated in your lease. One of the most important things in the lease agreement (aside from rent, duh) is making sure that you take good care of your property and leave it as your landlord first rented it to you. A huge component of making sure that your property is maintained well is by keeping it clean.

Appliances pretty much fall into the group of things that we use regularly, so they should be cleaned regularly. Though it depends on the specific terms of your lease, it’s usually your landlord’s responsibility to make sure that your appliances are working well, and repair or replace them when they’re not. However, your landlord is not responsible for the daily cleaning and daily maintenance of said appliances. Things like microwaves, refrigerators, ovens, etc. are used pretty regularly, so you should be cleaning them often, too. If you don’t clean these things regularly, you’re gonna have a whole lot of cleaning to deal with when you move out. While they probably get more dirty than others, kitchen appliances aren’t the only things you should be cleaning. If you want to make sure that your dryer is functioning right, make sure you regularly remove the lint from it. Not only does this allow it to work properly, but it also helps prevent a fire happening from the buildup.

Spring Cleaning in the Fall

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There’s a constant notion that spring is the time of year when we’re supposed to clean up our homes and make a totally fresh start. What a lot of people don’t realize, though, is that fall is also an awesome time to clean and change your home!

What is it that sets fall apart for this kind of thing?

Well, fall is when college classes start up for the year, and when kids are packing up all of their stuff to move into their new dorms and homes. For this reason, this is the time of year when you’ll find more organization systems, cleaning supplies, and furniture in stores than any cleaningother time of year. College students need to stock up on stuff for their dorm rooms, so stores take advantage and of this and fill up their shelves with these items. Thinking of redoing your closet? Wait ’till dorm season starts and you’ll probably have way more to pick from than if you decide to look at a different time of the year. Stores will highlight cleaning supplies especially (parents want their kids to clean!), so a lot of the time you’ll find things like multi-purpose cleaning wipes and scrub brushes on sale. Stores like Target and Walmart are great for these kinds of finds, making it super easy for you to establish a totally new cleaning season for yourself.

Another often unnoticed benefit of cleaning is your relationship with your landlord. When a landlord notices that you care about keeping your rental clean, he/she will see you as a tenant that will protect the property owner’s investment. So, be sure to let your landlord know when you intend to spend some time cleaning, maybe even ask if the landlord can provide some cleaning supplies or tools for you to use.

To take it a step further, your landlord might be willing to pay for paint or other supplies if you agree to do the work. So, let your landlord know that your really care about your rental home, and the next time you need a favor from your landlord, you might have some additional leverage.

If you are really busy, and can afford it, maybe you should hire a cleaning service to do the work on a weekly basis. BE SURE to let your landlord know about this, because it is not a good idea to let just anyone into your apartment, and you could be violating your lease conditions. Besides, giving someone your key could get you into other trouble or end up with you losing some possessions if the cleaning person is untrustworthy. By the way, that is a good reason you should have renter’s insurance!

Additionally, there are cameras that can monitor the inside of your apartment (via phone), and they are usually under $200.00. This way you can keep an eye on anyone inside your rental, and also comes in handy if you have an unattended pet.

At tenant.rentals, we are busy setting up relationships with reputable companies that provide cleaning services in your area. Here are some suggested companies.