8 Cleaning Tips for House Sharers

House sharing is a fact of life in Dublin. With rental prices among the highest in Europe, most people in the city spend at least part of their twenties or thirties living with housemates in a terraced house in Rathmines, a flat in Phibsborough, or a converted property in Ranelagh.

The challenge is that shared spaces — kitchens, bathrooms, hallways — need everyone on board to stay clean. Here are eight practical tips that actually work in shared houses.

1. Set Expectations on Day One

The most common source of tension in shared houses is not that someone is dirty — it is that nobody agreed on what clean means. What one person considers acceptable, another finds unacceptable.

Before anyone unpacks, have a 10-minute conversation about:

• How often shared spaces get cleaned
• What clean means for each area (dishes washed immediately, or within 24 hours?)
• Whether you rotate responsibilities or each person owns an area
• What happens if someone consistently does not pull their weight

Writing this down in a house WhatsApp or a note on the fridge removes the awkwardness of having to bring it up later.

2. Use a Rotating Rota for Shared Spaces

The fairest system in most Dublin shared houses is a simple weekly rota for common areas: kitchen, bathroom, hallway, and bins. Rotate so nobody is permanently stuck with the bathroom.

Keep it visible — a whiteboard in the kitchen is more effective than a shared Google doc that nobody opens.

3. Clean as You Go in the Kitchen

The kitchen is where most house-sharing friction happens. The single habit that makes the biggest difference is cleaning as you go: wipe the hob after you use it, wash your dishes before you leave the kitchen (or within a reasonable agreed window), and put away anything you took out.

This is not about perfection — it is about not leaving a problem for the next person.

4. Deal With Limescale Regularly

Dublin has hard water. Limescale builds up on taps, shower screens, and kettle elements faster than in many other Irish cities. If you leave it for a few weeks it becomes genuinely difficult to remove; if you deal with it weekly it takes about 30 seconds.

Keep a small bottle of white vinegar under the kitchen sink and one in the bathroom. A quick wipe around the tap every few days prevents a bigger job later.

5. Assign Individual Bathroom Shelves or Drawers

Bathroom clutter is a persistent problem in shared houses. The simplest fix is physical separation: one shelf or drawer per person, used strictly. Everything that is not on your shelf is not your problem and not your right to move.

This also makes cleaning the bathroom faster — each person clears their own shelf before cleaning day.

6. Have a Shared Cleaning Kit

A shared cleaning kit that everyone contributes to prevents the situation where one person buys all the products and everyone else benefits. Agree a small monthly kitty (EUR5 per person usually covers it) or take turns buying:

• Washing-up liquid
• Multi-surface spray
• Bathroom cleaner
• Limescale remover
• Bin bags
• Toilet cleaner and brush

Brands like Method, Ecover, and Earth Breeze are available in most Irish supermarkets (Dunnes, Tesco, SuperValu) and work well for most shared house tasks.

7. Do a Weekly 15-Minute House Reset

Set a recurring time — Sunday evening works well for many Dublin households before the working week starts — when everyone spends 15 minutes tidying their own belongings out of shared spaces. This is separate from cleaning; it is just a collective reset.

Shared spaces that are tidy are also faster to clean when it is your turn.

8. Book a Professional Clean Periodically

Even with the best rota, shared houses benefit from a professional deep clean a few times a year. It gets to the areas that weekly surface cleaning misses: behind appliances, grout, skirting boards, and inside the oven.

Splitting the cost between housemates makes it very affordable. eMop offers same-day and next-day cleaning across Dublin — a three-bedroom shared house typically takes around 4 hours.

Get a quote and book online at emop.ie

Final Thought

House sharing works best when the systems are clear and nobody is relying on everyone else to pick up the slack. A rota, a shared kit, and a clean-as-you-go habit in the kitchen will resolve most shared house cleaning issues before they become arguments.

Frequently Asked Questions