Comments on: How to Encourage Teens to Clean Their Rooms

on 4/10/2007 As a teen I know how much we hate to clean. I have always been messy. But once i start cleaning, I can't stop! Creating a good atmosphere with music and sunlight always helps me. I sort my things into piles--clothes, books, jewelry, etc. And keep a large garbage bag close at hand for anything I want to throw away. Before I know it, my room is clean! But the number one tip: DON'T NAG OR PUNISH! Subtle hints usually do the trick. If your teen wants their room to be clean they'll do it. It's their decision.

on 8/8/2006 The way you get your kids to clean may vary, depending on the kid. I am 14, and I have no real social life, so my parent's can't do the "no friends until your room is clean!" thing. My parents nag me a lot to get my room clean, so eventually I will do it to get them off my back, or I'll get fed up with the mess and just clean.

Just let your kids clean the way they want. It's really dumb to keep nagging them while they are in the process of cleaning. Personally, I clean slowly. My parents always tell me to hurry up, but I think that doing that just leads to a poorly done job. If a kid is worried about getting it clean by a deadline, they'll panic and shove it all under their bed.

Let you kids clean at their own pace, in their own way. Let them set goals for themselves, and let them reward themselves in their own way.

Another useful tip is to get them things like storage tubs and closet organizers. They work quite well, actually.

on 8/8/2006 Don't use a lot of storage tubs. They take up more room. And if you put all different kinds of things in there, you just have to go through them all later to find what you want.

on 8/8/2006 I can see why the parents can be disgusted with teens bedrooms. As a fifteen year old girl, I completely understand where teens are coming from. The parents don't want to have the house be a mess, and the teens just don't want to clean it. Cleaning is very boring to me, and I don't like to do it. Even less, I dislike being yelled at to do it.
I clean my room every Saturday. During the week I have school, homework, and at least two hours of sports every day. There is no time for me to clean my room. However, the rule in our house is that on Saturday, you may not go out until your room is clean. This includes dusting, sweeping, dirty laundry, and such. Although it does not make me want to clean my room, it helps that I know I need too.

Tips for teens:
- Burn incense
- Listen to music that is kind of peppy, it makes you want to move around.
- Pick up ten things and then do something short, like a 3-5 minute activity that will let you take a break and regain you focus.

on 8/8/2006 I recently redecorated my room, and since then have had every incentive to keep it spotless. You'd be surprised how a new paint job, carpet, bed set, or window treatment that they pick out can make your teen feel like the room really belongs to him/her. My suggestion is that if your teenager's room has looked the same since they were 4, tell them that if they clean their room, you will be willing to help them redecorate. There are some really inexpensive ways to make a teen proud of their room, and therefore eager to maintain it.

on 8/8/2006 When my mom wants me to get my room clean she nags and nags, and usually forgets about all the school stuff that I'm working on, and that most of my time goes to school and work. But she finally hit on something that worked though. She bought me a few cheap snap-and-store containers for my school work. But in order to get all that stuff organized, I had to pick up parts of my room. It's not perfect but it looks a lot better and she doesn't nag. I've started buying more things for storage and it has helped to keep it less cluttered. Just a little positive nudge can go a long way.

on 7/25/2006 Think of something to reward them if they clean the room and then think of something that will happen if the don't (extra chores, do the dishes, mop the floor, and so on). Don't tell them till the consequences or benefits, and never take away things they already get (allowance).

on 6/30/2006 You can get a couple of friends, and have them come over and help you clean your room. It's more fun to clean up someone else's mess than to clean up your own mess. Also, you can alternate and help them clean up their rooms.

on 6/30/2006 For my entire life, I have had an extremely messy room. Why? My stuff has always seemed to hit the floor. But, after I renovated my room with new furniture and decided to throw out things that I haven't used in years, my room has finally stayed clean. So buying fun storage things, and finally, throwing out clutter may be your key to success.

on 6/30/2006 Don't use a lot of storage tubs, they just take up more room. And if you put all different kinds of things in there, you just have to go through it all later.

on 6/30/2006 First of all, my room is a mess and I always clean it on a day where I have nothing to do. And that is a bad thing, 'cause it wastes a lot of time.

A tip: Clean it regularly. Pick up things as you walk around.

Take a picture of what your room looks before and after you have cleaned the room.

Try these tips:

tip 1: Take everything and put it on the bed.

tip 2: Start vacuuming.

tip 3: Clean your mirrors, computer screen windows, and wipe the sticky juice stain off of that table!

tip 4: Wipe down the dusty places; like on top of the computer, shelves, etc.

tip 5: Now start sorting; all paper in a box, all dirty clothes in a pile on the floor, food and plates go straight to the sink and/or trash, trash in the trashcan.

tip 6: Pick up the clothes and put them in the hamper.

tip 7: Sort the papers out later.

tip 8: Take the keep boxes and put them where they belong; like pens, pencils, makeup, etc. If there are some trash items in the keep boxes throw it away.

tip 8: Trashcan must be full now, so take the trash out and put a fresh bag in.

tip 9: Sort out the papers.

tip 10: Put the papers in a folder.

tip 11: Look in your closet and see if clothes have fallen down, or trash and candy wrappers are in there. If so, hang the clothes up and and throw away the trash.

tip 12: Spray the whole room with an air freshener.

tip 13: Make your bed and/or change your sheets.

tip 14: Sit down and relax.

on 3/21/2006 Teens should volunteer at a homeless shelter. They may feel more motivated to keep their bedrooms clean. Keeping a trashed, filthy bedroom is not a sign of independence, but a reflection of being self-centered, lazy and immature.

on 3/2/2006 The last time I cleaned my packrat room, I filled 5 of those Rubbermaid tubs of things that wouldn't fit anywhere else in the room, and I filled 8 garbage bags full of papers and clothes that hadn't fit me in years.
your teen doesn't need punishment. The teens room is their room, so get over the crazy idea that the room and everything in it is yours. You bought them all of that stuff, and as far as high school vs job goes; i think your memory is a little fuzzy. You couldn't pay me thirty five dollars an hour to go back to high school. They'll move out, have a job, and have kids faster than you know it. Let them have a bedroom.
What you need to do, is get your teen organized. tell them you want to buy them stuff, and get them trapped in the car with you. Tell them you're going to go to WalMart or Home Depot or something and your going to get: a box of garbage bags, 4 Rubbermaid tubs, and as much organizational stuff you're willing to buy for them.
Find a suitable reward for putting what they don't want in the garbage bags. Have them put the things they want but don't use in the tubs. Have them put what they actually use away in their room. Put the tubs in some dark corner of the basement.
No food or dishes, no wet towels, no dirty clothes, and all lose papers have to be in folders or in a box. Don't worry about them making the bed or vacuuming, little things like that. That's reasonable. If they won't keep the room clean, they can't go out or have people over. And you aren't buying them anything unless the room is clean- no restaurants, no new clothes, etc. And no, don't nag them about cleaning the room. Because then they can't clean. It doesn't make sense, but it's true.

on 2/6/2006 As an adult looking back, I realize that the most valuable cleaning tip I got was from my Grandma. My room was always trashed; not even a path to walk on. Grandma came over and sat on my bed and told me to start in a corner and work my way around the room, kind of in a spiral motion. I know this seems like a lot of work, but once one corner gets clean, I get more motivated. Looking at the whole room as a mess was too overwhelming. I still use this cleaning method. Even when it isn't a mess, I start in one corner and work my way around.

on 1/18/2006 I really agree with setting a deadline for having the room clean, and then not nagging for the period of time until it's done. Nagging really turns me off and makes me not want to do what my parents are asking. Make the deadline reasonable - look at their schedule and make sure they have enough time before it to get the cleaning done. If they fail to finish it by then, ground them and set a new deadline - since they're grounded, they won't have much else to do except clean their room anyway. This method shows us that you're in control ultimately, but gives us a chance to choose exactly when and how to get our room clean - we don't feel so constricted.