7 Cleaning Products to Help Keep Your Dorm Less Gross This School Year

Cleaning wipes. If you’re in a rush/exhausted/lazy but still need to tidy your desk and dresser, cleaning wipes are your best friend. I prefer the smell of the Seventh Generation cleaning wipes, but any will do; no shame in getting whatever you can find on sale. Karina Carpio, a recent college graduate and senior digital marketing associate at Consumer Reports, says she “absolutely loved anything that made my life easier. Clorox or Lysol Multipurpose wipes were used to wipe down everything.” 

Note: Cleaning wipes aren’t the best for the environment. If you can swing it, get wipes that are compostable or biodegradable, such as these from Method or these from Biom.

Microfiber cloths and multipurpose spray. If you’re more budget or environmentally conscious than disposable cleaning wipes or paper towels will allow, you’re going to want a stack of microfiber cloths, plus a good multipurpose spray, to quickly clean your surfaces. Bonus: According to my husband, microfiber cloths are the best tool for streak-free countertops. Jodhaira Rodriguez, a writer and tester at Consumer Reports who frequently reports on cleaning products, recommends the Mr. Clean Clean Freak multipurpose cleaner, which is also our top pick for multipurpose cleaning spray. “You can use this multipurpose cleaner on so many surfaces in the bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom. Personally, my favorite scent is lavender,” she says. “The microfiber cloths I use are these Amazon Basics ones.”

A Swiffer PowerMop. When it comes to cleaning non-carpeted floors, it doesn’t get much easier than a Swiffer. The brand’s PowerMop sprays a cleaning solution when you push a button—no bucket and mop needed. In our tests, we found it does well at cleaning up sticky messes, in particular (bonus if one of your roommate’s friends spills a drink on your floors). “There’s no way you can store a bucket and mop in a tiny dorm, so this is a good alternative,” says Rodriguez. “It’s easy to store, works well, and the cleaning liquid’s scent isn’t too strong.”

Rain-X or Method Shower Spray. I’ve been committed to my Method Shower Spray for years, because I deeply dislike cleaning the shower, and this extends the length of time that I need to do it. You don’t even need to wipe or squeegee; after a shower, simply spritz it all over the tiles and door and walk away while it works to prevent soap scum buildup. Sarah Bogdan, a test project leader who graduated college several years ago, loves using shower spray to keep her tiles clean. “I just spray my shower and tub when I’m in the shower,” she says. “You eventually have to wipe it down, but it helps in the meantime.” It smells nice, too. 

Rain-X, which we’ve written about in our guide to cleaning the bathroom in 20 minutes or less, is handy for preventing water spots. Though it’s meant for car windshields, it works for shower doors, as well.

A vacuum or broom. Your Swiffer isn’t going to pick up everything, so you’ll need either a broom or a vacuum to get rid of errant hairs, crumbs, lint, and whatever else litters your bedroom floor. A vacuum is the obvious—and probably best—choice, and Shark Navigator Professional NV360, rated one of our best vacuums, is a solid choice at a budget-friendly price, relatively speaking, anyway. It has attachments that you can use to clean your mattress, which you might want to consider if you’re using a mattress supplied by your dorm (or you’ve bought a used one). 

But if a vacuum isn’t in the budget, a broom will do just fine if your new place isn’t carpeted. Consumer Reports recommends an angled broom, which makes getting into corners a cinch. 

A bottle of white vinegar. White vinegar isn’t a cure-all—you really don’t want to put it in your washing machine, for example—but it’s great for wine, juice, or soda stains in your carpet. It’s cheap, it’s easy to find, and combined with water and some dish soap can do great work if someone spills their Diet Coke all over your carpet. Granted, that carpet’s probably seen worse things than Diet Coke. But some memories are better forgotten, and that’s much easier to do with a white vinegar wash. 

A Grove Collaborative or Branch Basics cleaning set. Theresa McDermott, a business system analyst at CR, plans to send her daughter to college in the fall with a Grove Collaborative starter cleaning set. Dorms serve many purposes—bedroom, living room, dining room, even kitchen—but “if you tie the aesthetic together, it can help it look less chaotic,” she says. Plus, “personalization and customization can help eliminate decision fatigue.”

If you want an easy, one-stop shop for your cleaning supplies, Grove Collaborative has a set for each need, including a laundry set, a bathroom set, and even a daily shower spray set. The brand aims to keep cleaning more sustainable by avoiding plastic products whenever possible. You can subscribe, too, so that you—or, if you’re a parent, your kid—never run out of cleaning supplies. Branch Basics, which sells kits of concentrates that rely on plant-based ingredients, is another similar option to consider.