<p>This is the problem, now you are assuming we are dealing with at 18 year old college student. I could not be confident with a room mate I had never met, and the kids on the other side had already started to use the shower in the condition that it was in. I simply wanted to give them a clean basis. She has a box full of cleaning materials in order to do her share going forward.</p>
<p>I know that I do not need to explain myself to you or anybody else, but I was overwhelmed with the condition of the shower, she is under usual age, and I wanted her to feel comfortable with her dorm room. For the record, when the room mate did arrive, with her Dad, he got right in with helping her set her stuff up.</p>
<p>For the record, I will take my steamer when she moves into the Fall dorm. It’s in the same hall, so I don’t expect it to be clean. And I will not be travelling down to clean it, I am out of state. She cleans her own bathroom at home.</p>
<p>Forgive me for my ignorance, but what is a steamer? The only thing I can think of is the little hand held thing I used to use to steam my wrinkled clothes when I traveled. I like cleaning as much as the next gal (but never cleaned my kids’ dorm rooms or bathrooms) but I just use old fashioned Pinesol and elbow grease. </p>
<p>I have to laugh about boys and bathrooms. In June, my son spent 2 weeks as the only occupant of a 3 bedroom suite. He was the only one using the bathroom. After the other kids arrived in week 3 he actually complained about them being “pigs” and leaving their junk all over “his” bathroom! He’s been home a week and, unfortunately, his neatnik tendencies have not stuck. :(</p>
<p>We had a funny cleaning experience in an off campus apartment. My sister, her friend and I rented the place which seemed big and decently clean. After we moved in we smelled a really bad smell coming from the kitchen but we couldn’t locate it. Finally we invited our mom to come because she has the “refined” sense of smell. She finally tracked it to the hot water heater blanket which was embedded with a combination of oily indian cooking residue and bug spray (along with dead bugs :eek: ). Mom to the rescue!! We put on rubber gloves, tore the thing out and hauled it to the dumpster. Our friend and her boyfriend continued to work on the kitchen because the smell was still there. Finally, when they pulled out the stove they found the same cooking residue in a deep, greasy layer on the floor and wall. They cleaned all night. It turned out to be a good apartment, but it was forever known as the indian cooking smell place.</p>
<p>Our son had a vacuum cleaner that he used in his freshman dorm. It was a Christmas present from his sister who found out that the dorm rooms were carpeted. He was very happy to have it!</p>
<p>My parents helped me move into the dorm my freshman year of college. They set things down and once the van was empty, we went to get some lunch. Then they left. The three of us guys took care of everything else. When one of my roommates and I moved into a new room after Christmas break, there were no parents there to help; the two of us moved everything ourselves. At the end of the semester, my sister brought her car down and we moved my stuff out. My sophomore year my dad made the trip down to school with me and helped me move some stuff in. We went home that night after unloading everything and I took at least that much with me the next day. My junior year my parents were only in the apartment like twice and my senior year they never even saw my apartment. My senior year I wouldn’t have wanted them to see my apartment because they would have thrown a fit… it was junk, but it managed for 4 months…</p>
<p>The corridor bathrooms I observed at Ohio State during my daughters orientation looked kind of gross but to be honest I would not offer to clean. I have this picture of moving D in and seeing a lone mother cleaning the community bathrooms and it makes me laugh. Sorry I truly don’t mean to offend anyone but if my mom would have stayed and cleaned community bathrooms I would have been mortified.</p>
<p>That being said, if my kid had a bath she shared with one other roommate I would help her clean it if she asked me to.</p>
<p>But there is no way I will touch those community bathrooms at Ohio state!
Plus, she is 18 and needs to learn how to do things on her own.</p>
<p>Americans are obsessed with cleaning. I’m with Annasdad. I’d love it if the OP could swing by my house once in awhile with her cleaning supplies! God knows my bathroom could use the attention :)</p>
<p>When my son moved out of his apt., he admitted that none of the 4 guys had cleaned the bathroom once in a year. The tub was pretty spectacular. It obviously didn’t bother them, so why should I care?</p>
<p>With the amount that colleges charge for dorms, the least they can do is provide sanitary bathrooms for Move In Day. Community bathrooms should be well-maintained on a DAILY basis if not multiple times per day.</p>
<p>As for en suite bathrooms that the students have…I just wish colleges offered some kind of cleaning service that students could pay for. I know that many of you have students (sounds like most are girls) that routinely clean their en suite bathrooms. But, after having a second son go thru college, and seeing how badly one son and many of their roomies kept the en suite bathrooms, many of us parents would have gladly paid for at least a weekly bio-hazard clean-up.</p>
<p>Sorry, but the only ones in this family who have a cleaning lady are the parents. We would not have paid for this for either of our kids and I very seriously doubt they would have paid for this themselves.</p>
Not just the community bathrooms but also the other common areas (hallways, stairwells, etc.). The R&B fee has increased right along w/ sky rocketing tuition but the dorm facilities have not changed. Except to now find 3 students in a room designed for 2.<br>
<p>I remember the bathrooms in my dorm freshman year. At the time I didn’t think anything of them, they were clean enough, now, however, I don’t know that I would think that :D. I just cleaned DD’s bathroom as we were having guests and she was out of town, I don’t think any dorm bathroom is going to bother her.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t pay for the service either. But I did just send the link for Dormmom to my son. He’ll be in university apartments for the second year, sharing two bathrooms with three suitemates. Only DH went down to pick him up at the end of last semester, so I didn’t see the condition of the apartment. But based on his bathroom cleaning schedule and techniques at home this summer, I’m sure he’d be better off with a service. I plugged in some numbers and the cost was $700 for the semester. So for about $175 each, their entire apartment could be cleaned twice a month. I think that’s a deal.</p>
<p>I know that my older son is now living with a co-worker in an apartment in SF and they have a cleaning person. Makes sense for them as they are working 60+ hours a week and also have the big salaries to support it. Me? I’m still working/commuting 60 hrs a week and then spending my weekends cleaning bathrooms,vacuuming, shopping. I’d think I had died and gone to heaven if I ever had a cleaning service. :)</p>
<p>While I never used the service I did consider giving a one-time gift to my son as a holiday gift, or instead of some box of cookies or candy. Its much more practical. He had a roommate whose hygiene habits left much to be desired. The best gift I gave that year was an automatic air freshener dispenser. They finally had a little “chat” and roomie’s hygiene improved a bit. Still left much to be desired. My DS is a slob, but he is always clean and well groomed.</p>
<p>Whoa- I just looked at their pricing. Its jumped a lot since I previously looked into it. I pay less for my bi-weekly cleaning service for a much bigger house than it would cost to do a one time cleaning of DS’s duplex. Then again- I am not a slob like my DS.</p>
<p>Student keyboards probably have more dangerous germs on them than their bathrooms. You can kill yourself cleaning the bathroom but if you ignore the doorknob, you’ve wasted your time. </p>
<p>The overuse of Clorox is probably more dangerous than what you’re trying to clean. Exposure to Clorox is not healthy to start with and you may just be teaching the bugs to be more resistant.</p>
<p>So who is supposed to do this university funded twice daily cleaning at rates that are acceptable to taxpayers and tuition payers? Every other college life querry seems to elicit the response of “they are adults, they can certainly handle it” . . . even administrative challenges that are not of the student’s own making. If an 18 yr old is adult enough to go to bat against a college administration, professors and registrars certainly they can clean their own hair out of the drains, toothpaste residue out of the sink and not pee on the seat (or find a way to deal if they do).</p>