Do you live in student accommodation or a large houseshare?

Do you live in student accommodation or a large houseshare where some of the others aren't pulling their weight in regards to the cleaning?

Over the next couple of months we have a massive amount of student let properties booked in for the end of year clean where many students are in their last year or are moving on to other student premises so I thought I will try to give you some cost effective tips on cleaning certain rooms along with a checklist of what needs to be done throughout the property especially for those who are moving out and for those that don't want to lose all or some of their deposit because of all the cleaning that needs to be done.

I have been cleaning many houseshares and student let properties for a number of years now so have plenty of experience in these types of cleans and also have the knowledge of what the landlords or letting agents expect to see when you leave your property or what they expect to see when they inspect the place.  This is because I work for many landlords and letting agents and have a good reputation as a first class cleaning company in Chester as well as surrounding areas including Cheshire, Wirral, NWales, Merseyside, Greater Manchester along with other surrounding areas too plus a large number of landlords/letting agents, etc, from across the UK, use my companies services for all their cleaning requirements.

Knowledge is key with these cleans as they aren't what you call your normal cleans in majority of cases because of the number of people living in the properties all sharing bathrooms, kitchens, etc plus the many parties quite a lot of the students have I fully understand what its like trust me!  

Some of these student properties can range from an average 3 bed semi detached home to a large 10/11 bedroom detached property with 2 kitchens and sometimes up to 4 bathrooms!  So as you can imagine a number of these student lets and houseshares can get rather unclean and also in such a short space of time.  If these homes aren't kept on top of cleaning wise then things can get really out of hand and the build up of grime, germs, dirt and rubbish can be quite overwhelming.

These problems can also bring other serious problems such as serious illness with the amount of germs breeding.  I have stated in other blog posts that it only takes 1 germ to multiply into 8 million in under 24 hours!! Thats a serious amount of germs for that amount of time so I think you can now see the importance of keeping on top of these properties with there being so many people from all different types of backgrounds and different personalities, and the need to work between yourselves and possibly set up a cleaning rota would work wonders for your home and more importantly your health.

My first little chat is regarding your kitchen!

Keeping your kitchen clean shouldn’t be a horrible job.  You definitely need to work in teams on set days during the month and keep it up regularly so the germs and grime won't build up!

It’s best to give the kitchen a good clean at least once a week with a large amount of people and fortnightly with the smaller lets. Pay particular attention to your fridge, oven, microwave and bin. Here’s some cheap, cost effective and eco-friendly ways to deal with your kitchen nightmares:

1.  If the kitchen is starting to give off some unusual odours, try adding a stick of cinnamon, orange peels and cloves to a pot of water and leave to simmer.  Don't just leave the actual problem of the smell though! Make sure you deal with this first and use my tip as an after clean!

2. Make sure the fridge has a good clear out once a fortnight and throw away any food past its best.

3.  Microwaves in large houseshares and student lets can become really grotty.  Simply mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice with 2 cups of water and pop into a microwaveable dish. Microwave on high for 3 mins, remove the dish, wipe with a damp cloth and then towel dry. Repeat if the stains are more stubborn!

4. Use vinegar when cleaning taps and descaling kettles as you’ll find it so much easier to remove dirt

5. Germs are more likely to breed if your clean glasses are kept upside down so keeping them upright is best.

6. If your windows are in need of a good clean, try mixing lemon juice with water to make a handy cleaning solution. This works wonders!  Even cleaning with newspapers leaves the windows stain free!

7. To make sink cleaning simpler, try sprinkling baking soda and cleaning with a damp cloth and buff the taps up with a dry tea towel makes the kitchen sink look gleaming.

8. You can also shine up chrome fittings with a bit of baking soda, or flour works too [how amazing is that]

9. If you use the frying pan a lot and you are struggling to shift burnt on stains off your frying pan from last night’s dinner then add 2 tablespoons of baking soda, half a cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water and boil for 10 minutes. This should bring it up as good as new!

10. Little things like getting the cheese of a grater can even be a technical challenge. I recommend getting a pastry brush to get in those tiny holes!

So why not create a cleaning rota for you and your flat/housemates? That way everyone knows who’s responsible for what job each week, and you’re less likely to have problems with 1 or 2 or many more of your house mates not pulling their weight!

Good luck.

Adele.

Email me for any advice or if you just want a chat I always get back to everyone within the same working day www.cleanqueen.co.uk/contact 

www.cleanqueen.co.uk