My apartment is always a fucking Pit and I can't figure out how to keep it clean. A little more about the situation I live in a two bedroom two bathroom apartment with 4 other guys. On top of this its also the sort of the recreation center for my circle of friends. Of the people who live here one is a total slob (and un-reformable, he isn't that way on purpose, hes just sort of a forgetful scientist type and leaves his crap wherever when his mind wanders off) Two are nutrals (they make a little mess, but clean up some too) and two (me and my room mate) are clean people (not anal, just not slobs) Were this the whole of it things could be managed, but several of our guests, though very nice people, have no idea how to clean up after themselves. After almost any meal they will simply drop there dishes on a convenient horizontal surface (sometimes even the floor) or if it was fast food they will just leave there trash on the floor/table. They also bring over a lot of stuff (which is great) making it really difficult to have "a place for everything" And they regularly take out and use a lot of things (and obviously don't put them back) The carpet also gets filthy very quickly (which is no surprise given that we have 10+ people in the house more nights than not) Now the place does occasionally get cleaned up... if someone gets a lot of energy and zest into cleaning everyone will pitch in, but it gets dirty again usually by the end of the next night. I have never been a big fan of Sisyphean tasks so eventually I stopped trying to ever get it clean. Here are some things that have been tried:
- beating people with a plastic fish for making a mess. This failed as too many people were getting beat too often, and none of us are assholes enough to be the "enforcer"
- Obsessively making sure that there is plenty of space in the trashcan. (this one is still being done, and helps a lot)
- Trying to get it clean, and keep it clean. (this is based on the observation that the dirtier it is the faster it gets even worse, unfortunately if you have even one day where you need to pay attention to something else it breaks and spirals down to being a pit again)
(side info: we do have both a vacuum cleaner and a dishwasher)
I'm looking for ideas that will make the place naturally stay cleaner, the sort of things that change the way people act in accordance with the "maximum laziness" Principal. Simple low effort things that will make staying clean seem like the easiest option. Really any advice would help though.