This has been an ongoing issue for the past year, My cousin moved out because of it. The problem is I cannot get my room mates to clean, the one is so lazy he doesn't even have a job. He is currently living off of an inheritance. He doesn't want a job and has never had a job, he is 21 that is sad. Once he runs out of money he will be kicked out. My other room mate won't clean because he "doesn't use those dishes" or "doesn't go out in the living room very often". Which in itself is just such a [censored] way to say it. It is true he uses his own dishes which he keeps in his room, and he stays in his room most of the time. However he still uses the bathroom & the kitchen on a daily basis. for some reason my room mates think cleaning is washing the dishes and sweeping the dirt into a pile in the corner. It is obvious to me that they had absolutely no responsibility growing up. When I clean I do the dishes, wash the stove, countertops and sink, sweep, mop, clean bathtub/shower, and sink. I also wipe all of the walls down so they don't get so grimy. When my cousin lived here we made a fair cleaning daily list that rotated jobs. Me and him followed it perfectly but my other room mate refused to do anything. This room mate avoids confrontation at all costs, if I even start to argue or fight (all conversations with him always devolve into a fight) with him about it he will lock himself up in his room and not talk to anyone for days or even weeks on end. So what are some ways that I can get them to do it? I have tried every nice and aggressive way I can think of. I could call my landlord and get them kicked out at any point, I have lived here 3 years they have lived here going on 1. I just can't afford rent and internet by myself, I also lived here by myself for 3 months, I couldn't stand it. I am a social person, I need people to be around me or else I go insane.

Call their bluff.

Don't clean either, it would be interesting to see what state it gets to before they have to do something.They'll also realise that it was your previous cleaning efforts that made the place halfway imhabitable.

...Or get new flatmates, these guys sound like ass hats.

Kick them out, move somewhere else, or deal with it. When you have so many roommates, inevitably some will slack and some will do most of the work. In the end its either worth it or it isn't, and your job isn't to be their parent.

Don't give up. Like properly regrowing hair, easy and long-term weight loss, and punching people through the internet, getting your roommates to clean is one of those elusive problems you'll be able to sell billions of copies of the solution of if anyone ever finds it.

It's sort of your fault for not setting proper terms and not looking into them from the get go. I understand it might be hard to find people that fit the description and that you're an extroverted personality, but perhaps instead of seeking room mates you should seek more activities in your spare time? I know a dude who rents alone, is one of the most social people I know, and hardly ever spends time at his room. At mornings he wakes up, goes to work, goes to either A) A friends house, B ) The hobby store to play Magic or C) An internet cafe to play LoL with some buddies. And then he goes home to sleep. Pretty much never goes straight home after work.

If your keeping the place clean so they can live in it, kick em out, or tell the guy with money to pay you, and just tell the other guy to not use any part of the house he's not wiling to clean, but honestly id kick them out, i have no idea what the tenancy laws are there but if there anything like in any states of Australia, then keeping a house clean is usually part of your contract with your landlord, and if their not keeping to the contract then get them booted, im sure theres a nice clean gutter or cardboard box they could live in.

Steal there money or sell there crap
and hire a maid

Start looking for new roomates and let them know you are doing it.

I used to be in the oppersite position to you with my house mates, I was originally graduating at the end of this year from university, which meant I spent most of my time doing nothing but course work. I lived with three other people, one who had no job and just sat around, one that only went to university occasionally and another that was only a part-time student but had no job.

They frequently got up me for not doing any cleaning or going out to various events with them, by the end of the year they just left me out of everything they did and then all buggered off and left (with one giving up on study and the other graduating and moving away).

It was great once they left, I only had to clean up after myself and therefore I could keep the place tidy....I quickly learnt that they made most of the mess and spent way to much on the food they were eating(which I had helped pay for), only then I had to move out since I couldn't pay the rent by myself.



What can I say? If you have [censored] roomates it is very possible to live by yourself, if uou have a full-time job (like I do now) you only really spend about 3 hours in the evenings by yourself and the whole day your at work and talking with people.

Warn them about moths.

This also depends upon the landlord. I've lived in houses with very hands-off landlords, and they didn't want to have to deal with any inter-house-mate issues (like one person not pulling their weight with cleaning). So while you can ask the landlord to kick out your housemate, bear in mind that they may drag their heels and not really do anything about it. It's also worth bearing in mind that even your housemates aren't super clean, it may still be within what the landlord considers "reasonably clean"---if the landlord is just renting the place out as a sharehouse, they may not care if it is super-clean, so long as they can get people to live there and pay rent (and there's no shortage of people with low standards of cleanliness).

Nevertheless, you should contact your landlord and tell them that you are concerned about the state of the house, and that while you try to do your part, it is difficult for you to do everything by yourself, and your housemates aren't doing enough. At the very least, the landlord's reply will give you a sense of how concerned they are, and how willing they might be to back you up if you want to find new housemates.

Otherwise, your best bet is just to find somewhere else to live. Unfortunately this is the way most sharehouse situations work. If you end up with [censored] housemates, the most efficient and effective way of getting better housemates is just to move yourself---it's pretty hard to force out other people.

Moths? What's so threatening about moths?

Start releasing spiders into their rooms. If that doesn't teach them a lesson it'll at least make you feel better.

Because moth larvae eat clothes and crap and there can be an infestation .

You should count yourself lucky that they clean their own dishes, I've lived with far, far worse.

I have just let it get dirty, they don't care. Their Idea of clean is still dirty for me. I see no reason why a place should not be kept spotless. All I have to say is one word to my landlord and I can have them out. He will tell me to handle however I want and he will back me up. He is a very very very patient landlord, I have been late by a whole month before on rent and he is just like "it's fine get it to me when you can". No way I would ever release spiders anywhere I am terrified!

I have known these guys since high school, that is the only reason I have put up with it for so long. I wouldn't want some people I have never met living with me. Thank you guys for the advice.

Oh trust me they used to never clean their own dishes, Then I flew off the handle and yelled at them, punched a hole in the wall and told them to get out or do their dishes. They started doing their dishes. I don't get that angry often, its hard for me to be angry.

fly off the handle again -just don't punch holes in walls, since it worked the first time.

Tell your roommates that until they shape up you'll be flying off the handle every damn day at them.

Tell mr. money bags inheritance that his rent just went up by 100,- bucks a week to pay for the maid he's sponsoring from now on.

Tell the other to keep all of the cups and dishes he uses in his room, and that as soon as he enters another room that that comes with cleaning responsibilities.


Then tell both of 'em that if they don't like it they have a week to move out.

period.


A house is kept to the highest standards of the people living in it, not the lowest. If they can't effing grock this basic understanding of living to gether, that they need to grow the [censored] up.. They ain't high school twerps anymore and mommy ain't gonna wipe their asses for them...

Wait till they are all out, put all their stuff on the curb and change the locks.

Ya know.. for an evil alien cyborg overlord.. I would've expected more 'zapping-people-into-green-goo'... yer kind of a softie, huh?

Nooo, noooo, we need more lemon pledge.

Ever seen the movie Training Day with Denzel Washington?

People like that will never change until they're forced to do something for themselves. You're like a replacement mother for them. As long as you're there cleaning up they won't bother. Probably when they get their own place it'll remain a dump until they get a girlfriend who kicks them into shape.

Unless the place is no worse than 'reasonably clean' there's not much you can do. You say you can't stand living by yourself but you're going to have get over that, because otherwise you'll have to put up with this sort of crap forever. Trust me when I say having total control over your environment amd not having to share a house with people is a major luxury. When I moved out of a house share into my own place it was like I'd stepped into heaven.

Ask them "Would you kindly clean up this room?"

Professional slobs do not need clothes.

Which of course makes the spiders even funnier.

Tell them this isn't grade school and you're not their [censored] mommy. If they breathe the air, it's their responsibility as well.

Shout at them, throw around stuff, tell them that they are going to clean or they are going to cry and clean.