While some of us might be willing to live with life’s ills, without investing time in cleaning during quarantine, there might be some who are desperately trying to find an antidote to the shelter-in-place situation.

“When all else fails, cleaning the house is the perfect antidote to most of life’s ills.”

Sue Grafton

The tricky part about staying at home 24/7 is REALLY getting to know your roomis. Things you might have been willing to overlook before, come entirely into focus when you’re staying in to flatten the pandemic’s massive curve.

One of the aspects: coming face to face with each other’s cleaning habits. There are different species of the human race when it comes to cleaning. There are the slobs, the indifferent ones, the ‘wish I were cleaner, but I don’t want to do anything about it’ ones, the excessively paranoid ones, and the ones who do it once in a while as a form of therapy.

If your roomi is diagnosed or shows signs of OCD, you should be gentle and mindful about their condition.

But if they don’t, and are suddenly bent on endlessly performing house cleaning during quarantine, then there are some things you could do:

Cleaning during quarantine isn’t bad. Figure why it’s annoying you and talk to them about it.

Feels simple, doesn’t it? We all know it isn’t. But if their ways of cleaning during quarantine are acting as an obstacle to your peaceful dwelling at home, you need to talk about it instead of sweeping it under the rug.

If you don’t like confrontations, you could look at their display picture in the eyes and text them your issues to sort them out.

Find a middle ground between both your cleaning habits.

If you’re bothered by their cleaning habits, there’s a possibility they might be bothered by yours. Try and meet at the clean middle ground. Even if you like a messy room to yourself, clean up after you use the shared spaces in your house. Keep the kitchen, pantry, bathroom, and living area tidy. If they still don’t loosen up when it comes to cleaning, it’s on them. At least you did your bit.

Their cleaning during quarantine could be a coping mechanism, let them have it.

If your room is a mess and you like it that way (despite the worried stares from the squeaky clean roomi), it’s best to keep your mess out of their sight. Shut your door when you come out of your room, or hide your mess like you would from your mom.

Respect their cleaning habits!

You know how you can’t help binge-watching on Netflix for hours on end as a coping mechanism; similarly, your roomi could be cleaning during quarantine as a coping mechanism too. While both of these are good in moderation, you should check yourself and the people around you if it becomes an excessive habit. Tell the other that it’s all going to be okay, and they don’t need to indulge in unhealthy habits to avoid reality.

Divide your quarantine cleaning among all roommates!

This might sound like work, but it will make your life easier for them and you. Take the initiative, make a list, and share it with your roomis. The advantage of taking the initiative? You get to choose what you like and leave the rest for them! Your cleaning-obsessed roomis will be happy that you took the effort and might even thank you for leaving the dirty bits for them!

Try avoiding a fight. No one should be fighting over cleaning during quarantine.

If you’re laidback and don’t care much about how your home looks when no one’s visiting, try being laidback about their preferences as well. Don’t pick a fight or let it go, even if they start it. Invite them to hang out with some beer or wine and let them pour their grievances all out.

Find some inspiration in their cleaning habits.

If you’ve been thinking of cleaning up for a while now, without ever getting to it, take inspiration from your cleaning-obsessed roomi and give it a try. It will help you judge them less for their cleaning habits, and who knows, you might get obsessed too!

D’you know what else Roomi does outside of helping its readers understand why their roommate is obsessively cleaning during quarantine? With our ever-increasing lists of rooms and roommates across the world, we help you find your perfect match! Download the app here and hop on the easiest ride home, ever!