Why Cleanliness Matters in College Dorms
Every academic institution should strive to provide student housing that makes students feel comfortable, safe, and happy in their home away from home.
College is a crucible of stress and deadlines. The stress means students have weakened immune systems and are more susceptible to cold and flu, and the deadlines mean the students just don’t have the time to get sick. This is a vicious cycle, and the more that can be done to keep students healthy, the better.
Any communal areas shared by a large group are going to get dirty and, let’s face it, a lot of young people living on their own for the first time are still learning how to clean up after themselves (on top of all that academic learning they’re doing), so it goes without saying that university and college residences can easily become a hotbed of germs.
One of the best things you can do to keep students under your care healthy and ready to learn is to maintain a high standard of cleanliness in dormitory common areas. Hire a reliable commercial cleaning company and make sure they are doing a thorough job of the following areas.
Dorm Kitchen Cleaning
The kitchen should be a clean, welcoming space where students can take a break from their busy lives to nourish themselves and connect with one another. Unfortunately, more often than not, communal dormitory kitchens descend into a grimy mess.
A good cleaning company will do a thorough job of any space where food is being handled and/or consumed. This means not just the obvious stuff like cleaning surfaces and floors, but also giving special attention to high-touch areas that often go forgotten and end up accumulating a ton of bacteria and germs. These include any communal appliances such as microwaves, toasters, and kettles, kitchen taps, and the outside of the fridge. Think about how many people touch the fridge handle every day (a whole lot, multiple times) versus how many clean the fridge handle every day (almost definitely zero).
Dorm Communal Bathrooms Cleaning
Obviously, bathrooms are a germy place where extra care is required to sanitize and disinfect. When a ton of people are using the same showers, foot fungus is super common. Who needs that on top of midterm stress? Yuck. Proper, thorough cleaning of the entire bathroom (not just the showers—remember, fungus spreads easily from surface to surface) helps prevent this.
Dorm Lounges and Study Areas Cleaning
Carpets are basically giant sponges for allergens and germs that only professional-level carpet cleaning can get rid of. Vacuuming alone only gets rid of surface-level dirt, which will make the carpet look a lot cleaner but will not remove deeper allergens that contribute to poor indoor air quality. Poor indoor air quality can cause allergies, asthma flare-ups, and other respiratory issues.
Lounge spaces usually have a television so students can hang out and relax while watching a movie or the big game. It’s easy to forget, but TV remotes are another high-touch object that are just covered in germs and other nasties. Disinfecting remotes regularly will make a big difference in stopping the spread of germs and reducing sickness in the dorm.
Anago’s team of professional cleaners know how important thorough cleaning is, not just in terms of aesthetics, but in terms of health and wellness. Trust our franchisees to keep your facility sparkling.