Housekeeping

Housekeeping Information

You and your flatmates are responsible for keeping your accommodation clean, but each college has its housekeeping team who are here to offer you advice and support.

Housekeeping will clean your kitchen and any communal areas regularly throughout the year and will visit your accommodation throughout your time on campus to check in on you as part of their inspections.

You'll need to buy your own cleaning products (or share the cost with your housemates) except for a vacuum cleaner and bin liners as these are provided for you. Please do not use any products containing bleach as bleach is not permitted in accommodation.

If you need a little extra support we also have professional cleaning slots you can book.

Housekeeping Top Tips

Download our cleaning rota

Agree on a cleaning rota between yourselves so that everybody does their fair share and tasks are fairly divided.

Find your nearest bin store

Recycle responsibly. There are labels on each bin in the bin store to tell you what can be recycled.

Cleaning advice blogs

Maintaining a clean space can also help create a clear state of mind. See what advice a fellow student had to share.

Keep your bathroom clean

Bathroom maintenance tips and tricks from a student who worked as a cleaner before coming to uni!

Room inspections

The Housekeeping Team will regularly visit your accommodation to support you with the cleaning of your kitchen. Visual checks of your en-suites, shared bathroom or bedroom will take place on a regular basis.

Alongside visual checks, Housekeeping will conduct more formal inspections where a member of the Housekeeping Team will visit your accommodation to assess the condition of the bathroom and bedrooms and identify any problems or concerns. During these inspections, you will be assessed against our traffic light system:

Red: Your accommodation needs urgent attention and could pose a risk/hazard or is likely to attract pests. For example rubbish or food on the floor, toilet left in an unsanitary state or build-up of grime/limescale throughout the en-suite.
Amber: You need to do more to keep your accommodation tidy. For example, rubbish is not in the bin, lots of items on the floor causing a trip hazard, en-suite is not cleaned to a basic hygienic standard.

Green: You're amazing, keep it up.

You'll receive a printed notification to let you know your rating. If your area is rated red you will be given one week to improve the condition of the area before another inspection will take place. If the area is still found to present concerns the Housekeeping Team will inform you and arrange for a deep clean of the area for which you/your flatmates will be charged.

Accommodation Handbook

Bookable Housekeeping Cleaning Service

Sometimes you may want a little bit of extra help. Our Housekeeping Team also offer a bookable cleaning service, prices are calculated depending on the time it will take to clean an area. Currently, we have three options: a bedroom clean, a bedroom and en-suite clean, and a studio clean.

Please use the booking form to book a timeslot and pay for your chosen service.

Book now

Waste and recycling on campus

Help us to do our bit for the environment by recycling responsibly. For further information, check out our Waste and Recycling Advice blog.

Green bags: Mixed recyclables (plastic and paper)

Boxes: Glass (bottles and jars)

Black bags: General waste (items that can't be recycled or donated)

Caddies: Food waste (vegetable peelings, plate scrapings, tea bags)

Food
Tea bags/coffee grounds
Plate scrapings
Fruit and vegetable peelings

No:

Used paper towels
Empty food containers and packaging
Large bones
Oils

Remember
Make sure all food waste is free from contamination such as plates and cutlery. If the waste contains any material that is not food it cannot be recycled.

The general waste bin is for items which either can't be recycled or donated. This bin should not include plastic, glass or food waste.

Clean paper and card
Empty and clean food and drink cans
Newspapers and magazines
Empty cartons (fruit juices, passata, milk)
Clean plastic pots, tubs and trays
Empty plastic bottles (rinsed out)
Clean aluminium foil and food trays
Empty aerosol cans

No:

Shredded paper
Paper or cardboard contaminated with food/oil/grease (e.g. a pizza box)
Tissue/paper towels
Kitchen roll
Till receipts
Laminated paper cups

Remember no hazardous waste

Make sure all material is clean, dry and uncontaminated. If the recycling waste is wet or contaminated with oils, foods etc, it cannot be recycled.

Clean glass bottles (all colours)
Clean glass jars

No:

Crockery
Glasses/pyrex/sheet glass
Metals (including bottle/jar lids, mirrors, lightbulbs

Remember
Make sure all glass bottles and jars are empty and clean. If the recycling waste is contaminated it cannot be recycled, so please rinse.

Any used cooking oil should be allowed to cool before being carefully poured sealed in a plastic bottle and placed in the general waste bin. Please do not pour cooking oil down the sink or add it to your food waste caddie.

Duvets, pillows: Kent Union's FreeCycle or another local charity (e.g. Catching Lives). If you can't donate, these items are classed as general waste.
Unopened, non-perishable food (e.g. tins): Kent Union's Stuff.
Clothes, books: British Heart Foundation points located across campus, or Kent Union's FreeCycle.
Pots, crockery, unused hygiene products: Kent Union's FreeCycle

Yes! Just pop along to your nearest college reception to drop in any used batteries or old electrical items, such as mobile phones, hairdryers or anything that needs a battery or plug to operate.

Most accommodations have a conveniently located bin store nearby. Use our bin store locator map to easily find yours!

Electrical appliances

We include a number of appliances in our accommodation on the Canterbury campus. You can find Housekeeping's instructions for using these items and the user manuals (which go into more detail) for each item to help you troubleshoot any issues you have.

Find your appliance manual

Laundry Facilities

Each college has its own self-service laundry (PDF 24KB) which is typically open daily 7am - 10pm.

You'll need to pay for each cycle at the machine via the Circuit Laundry App or Top Up Card ( from vending machines in Nickle Court laundry or outside Keynes College Reception). The cost for a wash cycle is £2.70 and £1.30 for a dry cycle.

A handy trick is use Circuit View to see which machines are available or how long you have left on your cycle without leaving your room!

The facilities are not managed by the University you'll need to contact Circuit Laundry online or phone (01422 820040) for any queries, card or app issues, faults or breakdowns.

How to guides CircuitView

Housekeeping Office Locations

Our housekeepers are on hand to inspect and support. Don’t be afraid to pop along your local housekeeping office listed below for any help and advice.