One of the parts of dorm life I was not fully prepared for was sharing a bathroom with more than one person. I didn’t think much of it beforehand, but as I settled into dorm life, I realized there’s certain etiquette and practices that you should follow if you’re going to be a good room, suite and floormate.
Living with one or multiple people you don’t know is bound to result in disagreements here and there. Not being a courteous roommate? Especially when it comes to the bathroom? Now that’s just begging for serious drama. Prevent the added stress of roommate arguments completely by learning how to be a courteous one before you even get there.
How to Survive Suite Style Bathrooms
There are two common types of suite style dorm bathrooms. One is the type that’s placed in between two dorm rooms.
And the other is the type that only belongs to one dorm room. If you’re not sure which type you’d rather live with, then check out this post to get to know the difference between them.
The rules that you should follow when sharing a bathroom stays the same regardless of if you’re sharing it with one or six other people.
1. Make Sure It’s Unoccupied Before Opening the Door
Getting walked in on while using the bathroom, especially by your neighbor whom you’ll probably see everyday, is not an experience any of us want. One of the easiest ways to avoid this awkward situation is to knock before opening the door. If you’re the one using the bathroom, remember to close the door all the way and make sure it’s locked. Shared suite style dorms usually have two doors leading to each dorm room, so always remember to lock them both.
I know this sounds simple, but on days when you’re so burnt out and tired from school work that you basically stumble into the bathroom to use it, you might not pay attention to the fact that you pulled the door up without closing it all the way. Or you closed the door, but forgot to lock either one or both locks. If you’re going to remember anything on any given day, let it be to close the bathroom doors and lock them.
2. Share the Duties of Buying Supplies
Unless someone outright volunteers to buy everything that everyone’s going to need in the bathroom for the rest of the year, everyone should chip in to buy what they need. It’s good to take turns buying the basics like toilet paper, soap and paper towels. You’re going to need more than those things, of course, to have a fully functional bathroom.
If you want to keep things extra fair, keep track of who buys what and when they buy it. Make a log and put it in the bathroom so that you always know who’s turn it is to buy what product. Here’s an example of what that could look like:
3. Share the Duty of Cleaning
Unless your dorm hall has a service where other people clean your bathroom for you, it’s up to you guys to keep it clean. Don’t leave that duty up to just one or two of you. All of you should pitch in either weekly or biweekly to keep everything sanitary. Create a cleaning schedule and post it on the bathroom wall to keep everyone accountable. Your schedule could look something like this:
4. Be Hygienic For Both Your’s and Your Roommate’s Sake
After cleaning the bathroom, it’s everyone’s duty to keep it clean. This means not doing gross, unnecessary things such as relieving yourself in the shower, staining the toilet seat without wiping it off, staining the floor without wiping it up, staining the carpet without throwing it in the washer/dryer, etc. Remember that, even though this is your home, it’s shared by other people, so be courteous by staying clean and cleaning up after yourself.
5. Don’t Spend All Day in There
Remember that you’re not the only one who needs to use the bathroom. Be conscious of how long you spend in there. Don’t purposefully hog it. If you anticipate spending a long time in the bathroom, try to use the one in the lounge area or any other one that’s not shared by your roommates. If what you need to do for a long time can’t be done in the lounge restroom, then ask your roommates and suite-mates if they need to use the bathroom at all beforehand.
Btw, you don’t have to outright tell them what you’ll be doing in there. Just say you’re going to take a long shower or some other generic excuse to keep things from getting weird.
6. When Something Breaks, Say Something
There’s nothing more annoying than a roommate who breaks something and says “eh, not my problem” and leaves it at that. If something in the bathroom stops working and you have to call maintenance services to fix it, then make sure to let everyone else know what’s going on. This can be done through a conversation or you can leave a note in the bathroom so that no one tries using a broken shower or toilet.
7. Be Respectful of Each Others Belongings
Since multiple people share a bathroom, almost everyone’s going to be keeping something in there. It could be their face wash, toothbrush, towels, shampoo, or something else. Since this stuff is theirs, don’t take it and don’t use it unless you ask them first. If you knock it over, pick it back up. If you move it for a second, remember to put it back afterwards. Just try your best to be respectful, you know?
How to Survive Hall Style Bathrooms
Since hall style bathrooms are shared by everyone on your dorm hall floor, there are a different set of rules to follow.
1. Organize Your Toiletries in a Shower Caddy
Having everything you need to take a shower in one convenient bag is a time and effort saver. It’ll keep you from having to collect all of your shower things one by one, carry them all by hand to the bathroom, collect them all when you’re done and hand-carry them back to your dorm, realize that you forgot your shampoo in the shower and walk back to the bathroom to get it, and other annoying occurrences. Every product you need never has to leave the caddy unless you’re using it, and then just pick it up and be on your way.
2. Keep Yourself and Your Stuff Hygienic
Since the bathroom is used by your entire floor, you need to be mindful of how to stay clean in a place that’s used by many other students. You also don’t want to contribute to the already existing dirt. Some of the best practices to keep yourself clean are to wear shower shoes, use a toilet seat cover (or toilet paper if they don’t have any) and always wash your hands before you leave.
Some other tips are to keep everything in your shower caddy instead of on the sink or on the floor and keep the shower caddy off of the floor if you can help it. If you can’t help it, remember to wipe down the caddy every so often when you take it back to your dorm. To help keep the communal bathroom as clean as possible, you can simply remember to clean up after yourself before you leave.
3. Stay Decent When Sharing a Bathroom
Since you have to take a shower in a shared space, remember to cover up properly before you leave the bathroom. Especially if you live on a co-ed floor. You can do this with the help of a robe or one of those wrap towels with velcro on it. Using these will give you handsfree coverage, that way you can carry all of your stuff back to your room in one trip instead of multiple!
4. Figure Out the Schedule
Asking an entire college dorm floor to share one or two bathrooms is just begging for a busy time. Especially if the floor is filled with all girls (we have to get our hair and makeup just right). You don’t want to be stuck in the bathroom at rush hour. you also don’t want to be stuck waiting in a long line when your first class starts in 20 minutes. For future reference, dorm bathrooms are usually the busiest from 7am – 9am and 9pm – 11pm. You’re welcome.
5. Don’t Stay In There For Hours
If you’re the type to take a shower for an hour, or get caught up in the song that you’re singing while getting squeaky clean, then this message is for you. Everyone on your floor needs to use this bathroom, so be courteous by not lingering longer than you have to. If you need to spend a long time in there every now and again, then do that, but don’t make a habit out of it. Develop some time management skills over the summer so that everyone can get their fair use of the bathroom.
Related Questions:
What do people share in a dorm?
When living in a dorm, you’ll most likely share a mini fridge, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, a vacuum, a microwave, some books and/or school work, and snacks. Make sure to communicate openly with your roommate about what you do and don’t want to share.
Are dorm rooms always shared?
Dorm rooms are not always shared. Many colleges offer the option to live in a single dorm, which is only occupied by one person. Single dorm rooms are usually more expensive and smaller than double, triple or quad dorm rooms. They are also often harder to reserve than any other type of dorm room.
