What are some good tips for cleaning a teenagers bedroom, that looks like a bomb!?

Question

Please Help!

Answer 1

When I was a teen and shared a room with my sister, my parent's used to say it smelled like a boys locker room and it probably did. One time my mom tried cleaning my room without my permission and I felt violated. We discussed it, and she never did that again. Every once in a while on a Saturday morning the family would have a cleaning day. My mom would call us out of bed or my dad would play the trumpet with his voice in his fist to the tune of the soldier's wake up call. I was cranky then, but looking back it was kind of funny. We listened to music while we cleaned and before we knew it we were being silly and having a good time. Make it fun. Use a little reverse psychology. For most of my high school career I lived in my own clutter. My dad used to say our room was like artwork.
I suggest definitely letting your teen clean their own room.
You can show them how to dust and vacuum, but they should put their own stuff away. By 16, I was washing my own clothes. This will give them the sense that they are a part of maintaining the responsibilities of the home.

Answer 2

I think you have gotten really great answers though I would give him a time limit ...say : you have until the end of the weekend to have your room clean, if you don't do it ,I will and you won't like it. I think taking away all his game controllers is a great idea, I did this with my youngest boy. My older two boys were such slobs that they usually did a "Not so great job" and I still had to clean it but they helped. It was just too overwhelming , they didn't know where to start. And they also did their own laundry. I was so fed up with the laundry "search" every weekend that I bought each one their own hampers. If it wasn't in the hamper it didn't get washed, they were up early many mornings washing their own clothes before school because they wanted their favorite jeans (that didn't make it in the hamper). Good Luck

Answer 3

OMG, I'm laughing here! I just went through this with my 16 year old son! I took the power cords to his gaming stuff and told him I had to be able to get a Fire Marshall's approval before I returned them to him! He knew I wasn't serious but decided that it was pretty bad, especially while cleaning it he found some cat poop in a pile of what was supposed to be clean laundry in the corner of his room!

What I usually do when his room gets bad is tell him he has to work for one hour straight and make progress, like two bags of trash and complete an entire load of laundry (wash, dry, fold & put away), then he's allowed an hour of gaming time, then another hour of cleaning, and so on. By dinner time, his room is done and he's happy because he can spend up till bed time playing games.

Hope this helps you and your teen!

Answer 4

Go into the bedroom (if you can) taking with you a large plastic garbage bag. You put EVERYTHING that is not in its proper place, onto the bed. You then tell your precious teenager they have X amount of time to put the stuff on the bed where it should be (you decide the time limit) and if stuff is left ON THE BED you will consider it rubbish and into the bag it goes, and out it goes. I tell you this works. I have had 3 teenage sons!!)Good luck and dont back down.

Answer 5

1.Take a garbage bag, walk through and bag all garbage, set bag in the hall until you are done.

2. Pick up all clothing, dirty into a pile in the hall for washing, clean, hang it up, or fold and put in drawers.

3.Strip the bed and make up with clean linens (the made up bed makes the room look almost clean, because of its size).
Put the laundry in the hall on the laundry pile.

4.Sort the laundry, jeans in one load, colors in one load, whites in one load. Let the laundry wash while you are working.

5.Begin wiping all shelves with a damp cloth and furn. polish and replace things that are not trash, place trash in bag. Do all shelves and surfaces.

6.Vacuum or sweep and mop floors. Make sure under the bed is swept out and any trash is disposed of. Clothing in the laundry, shoes in the closet.

7.Hang and fold your clothing directly from the dryer and put it away.

8.Take the bag of trash to the outside trash can.

**********THAT SHOULD DO IT***********

Answer 6

tell the teen only once to get it clean (CLEAN) or you'll do it.
when you do it you leave 3 shirts, 3 pants, 3 pair of socks and undies on the bed that you make. everything (EVERYTHING) else goes to the trash.
chances are that you purchased that trash so you can do as you darn well please with it. once that teen has a job and can support her/himself then it's up to her/him to keep it - unless it's trashing your (YOUR) home. then you get to trash the trash.

food, shelter, and clothing is all that HAS to be provided. if the teen doesn't like it , then keep it clean. (to mom's standards because it's mom's house!)

Answer 7

tell them they cant go any where or do any thing or use the phone or cell phone until room is clean no matter how long it takes. and u have to stick to what u say

Answer 8

If you stand behind them with a belt then things really seem to cleanup pretty quick. In addition, it's very easy on the back.

Answer 9

Close your eyes and shut the door. Works for me. I gave up on my girls after a few yrs. They are both grown, and the oldest is a neat freak. She is going through it with her pre-teen. I keep telling her, shut the door. She still doesn't listen.

Answer 10

i won't let my daughter go out until she clean her bedroom .