He Said

You’re on the right track with this one in terms of making sure that this issue gets addressed now rather than let it become an even bigger problem next year. If you don’t say anything at all, it’s likely to keep bothering you and your roommate will probably continue to allow his neatness to slip further and further. If that happens, your roommate relationship will most likely suffer, and next year won’t be as good as it can be.


I’d try to approach this problem by instituting some sort of cleaning schedule.  Try setting a weekly schedule that rotates, where one week you clean, and one week your roommate cleans.  This will be fair, in that you are both cleaning, and by implementing a schedule it sets a deadline for when the cleaning has to be done.  If your roommate won’t agree to this, it may be time to reconsider your living options for next year.


However, you have to keep in mind that people have different definitions as to what ‘clean’ is.  Just because you don’t think he is ‘clean’ doesn’t mean that he doesn’t consider himself clean by his own standards. The more specifics you can include in your cleaning schedule in terms of what needs to get done, the easier it will be for you two to get along with each other. Be up front and work out some system rather than leaving passive aggressive notes or saying side comments about it that will only make your roommate feel insulted and upset. In the end, no matter how you end up approaching this, just try to be as friendly as possible, and be willing to do a little extra if you’re someone who likes your room especially clean.