10 Great Housekeeping Tips For College Students To Stay Healthy This Winter

Posted on November 10, 2009 with 2 Comments

As the cold days of winter come, so does sickness to that college campus.  To those of you college kids out there reading this blog, or to you concerned parents who wonder what their kids dorms could really ever look like before you come to visit, here are a couple of helpful hints to keep in mind or pass along the way:

1. Always keep a set of disinfectant wipes by your sink.  Use nightly to get rid of any germs that could be spreading.  You wipe your face and brush your teeth here, keep that sink clean!


Creative Commons License photo credit: scatterbrained

2. Always have paper towels set up for emergencies.  Always know where they are located.  This is in order to avoid the “spill-over” (no pun intended) from spills.  When something spills clean it up at once, don’t let it dry out and become a messy, sticky bug-drawing force on your dorm room floor.
3. Make it a daily concern to clean up loose articles of old food and beverages.  This includes all opened water bottles and half eaten bottles of chips.  Even if you don’t realize it, you feel better without all that unnecessary clutter around your room
4. Always have water available.  Be it by the means of drinking out of cups, a Brita, or bottled water, it is necessary as a college kid to be well hydrated and happy.
5. Have that ibuprofen bottle full at all times (especially weekend mornings).  This is a number one tool for all quick fix headaches, minor pains, and hangovers.  Having Nyquil and Dayquil in that top-drawer can’t hurt either.
6. Keep a broom in that room.  You’d be surprised at how much dirt one can sweep up during a quick sweep of the room.  It’s vital to sweep up these parts of the room 2 or 3 times per week.
7. Do not drink or share food with your friends. (Beer pong is a definite no-no)
8. A cup of tea a day or a bowl of soup always feels good on the throat.  Sounds old fashioned, but its true.
9. Go to your local customer value store and purchase a Neti-Pot.  It relieves all reoccurring sinus pains during the winter.  This, and always having tissues handy is key.
10. Change your sheets at least once a week.  Wash your towels/hand towels intensely. We know this may seem like a terrifying adjustment in your life, but it is worth it.  If necessary, have 2 or 3 extra pairs of sheets for quick changing and being able to still avoid doing that laundry.

Integrated Pest Management techniques are also essential. Keeping a clean room is essential. If you spot any bugs or insects it is recommended that you bring it up with your Resident Assistant or Resident Director of your complex.

Dorm Rooms and Bed Bugs? Oh No!

Posted on August 5, 2009 with 1 Comment

Everyone that has lived in a college dorm room knows that the colleges like to fit as many people as they can in close quarters. Two beds in a room half the size of your bedroom when you buy a house. Some rooms can have even three or four people in a very close proximity. Next door, you have the same thing, and some floors can have over 100 students living.

With the recent resurgence in bed bugs, they can thrive in this type of environment. There are a few precautions that can be made to prevent your child or you as a student from contracting bed bugs. Bed bugs are usually brought into the rooms by students.

Bed bugs travel usually by luggage. While packing ensure all your clothes are washed and that you’re current home does not have any evidence of bed bugs.

When you get to your room, take a look at the mattress for small brown spots or small crawling bugs. Look in seems of the mattress and in the small cracks in the bed. Bed bugs only come out at night, so spotting activity during the day is rare.

Special bed bug mattress covers should be used as a preventative measure. These covers will prevent bed bugs from coming from the mattress to the body. It will not prevent an infestation, but will help with it.

If you, or your child spots bed bug activity in their room, or a neighbors they should report it to the resident director immediately. This is a very serious issue and must be handled properly. Student must be relocated to other rooms, and all of the items in the room must be inspected and treated if activity is found.

FOR COLLEGES: It’s smart to monitor for bed bugs on a constant basis. K-9 bed bug inspection dogs are efficient, accurate and inexpensive. If you implement an inspection schedule into the dooms, you will be able to spot an infestation early, and keep it from spreading to the entire floor, and even other buildings. Bed bug lawsuits are on the rise, and you should protect your business from having a widespread problem. There have already been reports of bed bugs appearing in dorm rooms, and the cases we small, because the students caught the problem early.

If you would like more information on how bed bugs live and what exactly they do, we would like you to watch a great bed bug documentary