Using a disinfectant wipe to sanitize a table in her room was the only cleaning effort Emily Rush made this year. One wipe, one table, one time. Rush, Plymouth, Minn., junior, says cleaning is simply something she’s never been good at, or had the interest and motivation to do.

Cleaning your crib becomes a necessity, however, when you’re moving out of a dorm, apartment or house and want to ensure the return of your security deposit and avoid additional cleaning charges. Picking up a few routine cleaning habits can also cut back on illnesses picked up indoors and make vacating your pad easier when moving day arrives.

“An empty room is pretty much a breeze to clean, unless you’ve lathered mud on the walls,” says Jeff Bredenberg, author of How to Cheat at Cleaning. So whether you’re moving in or out of a residence, try to arrange the move so there’s a period of time when everything is out of the home except you and a box full of cleaning supplies.

Because hauling around bottles of liquid cleaners can be a hassle, especially during a move, Bredenberg suggests purchasing cleaners in the form of disposable wipes. Wipes are a better use of space and easier to transport, he says, and with one wipe you have a cleaning cloth with a pre-measured amount of cleaner.

After you’ve gathered the necessary supplies, Bredenberg says the most efficient strategy for cleaning any family, dining, living or bedroom is to start at the perimeter of the room and then work your way toward the center. To clean a furnished room, move all lamps, chairs, sofas and other furniture to the center of the room before beginning the peripheral cleaning.

When the outer-edge of the room is clear, begin to dust, working from the top of the room to the bottom. “Get your dusting device and clean the top two to three feet of the room, across doorways and wall hangings,” Bredenberg says. After letting the dust settle, clean off everything at mid-height, such as entertainment centers and shelves, and finally the lower portion of the room’s border such as baseboards. At this point in the cleaning process, he says, you’ve moved 95 percent of the dust in the room to the floor and can easily pick it up with a vacuum.

After vacuuming the rim of the room, move all furniture back in place and vacuum the center of the floor, Bredenberg says. If time permits, pick three objects for incidental cleaning such as a dusting a picture frame, television screen or window.

The number-one priority of cleaning is safety and sanitation, Bredenberg says, so cleaning a kitchen or bathroom should be centered on eliminating germs that are literal dangers.

When sanitizing the kitchen, Bredenberg recommends using a disinfecting cleaner to spray down the kitchen sink, counters where food is prepared, the handle of the refrigerator and the telephone nearest to the kitchen. In the bathroom, focus most of your cleaning energy on sinks, faucet handles and toilets.

Beth Brandsted says she does a thorough cleaning of her house once a week or so. Last year when Brandsted, Topeka senior, lived in her sorority house, she was the only resident who owned — and actively used — a bottle of 409.

“It’s not that my roommates are dirty,” she says. “But because I’m more of a neat freak, I’m the one mopping the floors and cleaning out the sink only because it bothers me first.”

For the sake of your physical well-being and financial status, follow Bredenberg’s advice on how to cheat at cleaning or find someone to do the dirty work for you.