Learn to Clean.

Bissell 3-in-1 Vacuum 

For girls (I can't speak for the guys) cleaning might just be the biggest problem you will have with your roommates, We all have someone in our house that cleans the majority of the time whether it's mom or dad or a cleaning lady/guy. Some of you might even have to do it as part of your chores, but whatever the case is for you just learn how to clean everything!  Even if you have never cleaned a thing in your life, it still isn't an excuse for not doing your part to help keep the common area clean! In my house my mum did most/all the cleaning in the house, all I had to clean was my room (and I didn't do that most of the time anyway), When I got to college cleaning came naturally/was just common sense, but for other people like my old roommates, not so much. I found out very quickly that I really like having a clean kitchen/common room and cleaned it by myself or with Annissa (my roommate) every weekend. This meant that I vacuumed the carpet, and then swept and vacuumed the rest which is linoleum. Annissa took care of mopping because she bought Pinesol so she would use that. We don't have any fancy cleaning supplies like the spin mop or a Dyson vacuum or anything like that. We both have the same vacuum which was $20 at Walmart. It works well and it beats having to try and sign one out from Rez. I haven't seen them but I imagine its about 20 years old and barely works. As for broom and mop we got both at Dollarama (this store is a godsend for college). They both use the same handle which was probably $1.25, the broom head was $2.00, dust pan $1.50, mop head probably $2.00 and then $1.25 for each reusable mop head. We didn't buy a mop bucket because we just use our garbage cans from our rooms. They aren't dirty because we use bags in them and wash them out every time we use it to mop with. I know you can get Pinesol and all sorts of cleaning products from Dollarama as well but it might be worth it to check out other stores for sales. We also got a toilet brush from Dollarama so none of our cleaning supplies cost us very much especially because we bought it all with money from empties that we returned to the Beer Store.
The bathroom is one of those places that no one wants to clean so doing it in rotating shifts would be good practice. For the most part our toilet doesn't need to be scrubbed (Thank God.) so just a squirt of toilet cleaner around the bowl and then using the brush to give it a swipe is good. Lysol wipes are awesome for cleaning the top of the bowl, behind the seat, on the seat, and just the rest of the toilet in general. For the shower we have the scrubbing bubbles spray foam and then after spraying that and letting it sit I put a disposable cloth on the mop head (it's like a Swiffer where the cloth just clamps on) and then wipe down the walls and the tub. For the tub you might actually have to take the cloth off and wipe down with your hands. Don't forget to unclog the drain! Hair build up can get super gross and affect how the drain functions, you can use Drain-O or a similar drain cleaning product or just use a pair of tweezers and grab the clumps (its kinda gross though).
Wiping down the counters, stove top and table after you use them is just good practice in general and will help keep everyone happy. Note that this does not mean wipe it onto the floor, it means also the floor around your work space should be cleaned up too. You don't have to vacuum and mop every time but if things drop onto the floor just pick them up. Don't leave garbage on the counters and floor either. Speaking of garbage, take the garbage out! You can all pitch in and take it out as a group with one person per recycle, garbage and compost bin to alleviate the grudges that can be formed by one person always taking it out.
DO YOUR DISHES.
This was one of the biggest problems we had with one particular roommate. She would leave a sink full of dishes for DAYS, we're talking like 3-5 days on the regular, 7 days was the longest. She quickly became the least liked roommate and we had to have a meeting with management and her about it. Easiest way to deal with this is to not let it happen by doing your dishes. I have a rule of max 48 hours that we all abide by since it was set in the meeting by management. Leaving your dishes for 48 hours is excessive and usually only happens if we're really busy with school and homework etc.

TL;DR? You should just be clean in general. Your room can be as messy as you want so long as funky smells aren't seeping under the door, but keep areas you share to a reasonable standard of cleanliness.

• Wipe off counters, stove tops, and tables. Pick up any food/mess that you make on the floor.
• Sweep/vacuum and mop the floors once a week
• Lysol wipes are your best friend for the bathroom
• DO YOUR DISHES

Happy Cleaning!