“Gosh, your student bathroom is just so nice!” Said no-one, ever.
There are lots of perks to student living, but sharing a bathroom with five other people is not one of them. To this day I am scarred by some of my third-year experiences, and remain somewhat convinced that some of my flatmates were only human until they crossed the bathroom threshold, upon which they morphed into farm animals.
It’s all life experience though, right? And it’s thanks to those baffling messy individuals (who, I reiterate, were perfectly charming at face value), that I quickly learned how to combat the most offensive problems the crop up in a shared bathroom.
1. It’s messy
Endless bottles of beauty products, stains and gunk on every surface and strands of hair everywhere – and that’s just down to the guys. When you’re sharing with multiple people, mess quickly escalates. Everybody seems to collect shower gels; nobody wants to claim the almost-empty tube that missed the bin, which is now getting stickier and fluffier, potentially forever.
To combat the clutter, you first need to hold a bathroom amnesty. Get all your flatmates to remove the items they do want to keep (give them a deadline), and then brutally discard the rest. Yes, I know it’s gross, but that’s what rubber gloves are for. Grab in some disinfectant wipes and get scrubbing.
Next, invest in some half-decent bathroom storage. The most practical option will depend on the size of your bathroom, but usually a standing rack or baskets that sucker on to the side of your shower are your best bet. These Edwardian-style bath racks tickled me while I was looking at options (in Antique Gold, no less), but there are literally hundreds of online articles crammed with budget-friendly ideas. Just make sure everyone has their own storage space and sticks to it.