Dorm Bathroom Essentials
This post is all about the dorm bathroom essentials every freshman needs!
For a detailed list of dorm essentials, see The Ultimate College Packing List.
If you’ll be living in a dorm with communal hall bathrooms, having these items will make your life SO much easier.
I spent two and a half years with shared bathrooms: freshman year I lived in a dorm and then I spent another year and a half living in my sorority house. In both cases, I shared a bathroom with about 30 other girls.
I’m not going to lie, I didn’t love sharing a bathroom (who does?!) But with these dorm bathroom essentials, you can survive communal bathrooms.
These are six commonly-forgotten dorm bathroom supplies all students need:
1. Shower Shoes
I cannot overstate this enough: the floor of a communal dorm bathroom is the LAST place you want to walk around barefoot!
People who went into the dorm bathroom and showers barefoot grossed me out. It’s just not sanitary, and imagine getting into your nice clean bed with your dirty feet that just walked around barefoot in the dorm bathroom! Yuck.
That’s why a pair of shower shoes is a must-have for dorm living. I always wore my shower shoes when I was taking a shower, and then I just wore my house shoes any other time I went to the dorm bathroom.
For shower shoes, any pair of rubber flip-flops will work but I recommend getting a pair that are specifically made for showers with little holes for draining water out. These shower shoes are a good option.
2. Mesh Shower Caddy
You will want a mesh shower caddy to store all of your shower essentials like shampoo, conditioner, soap, loofah, razor, shaving cream, etc.
In particular, having a mesh shower caddy is important because it lets the water drain out. You should also make sure to get a shower caddy with handles (like this one) so you can hang it inside the shower with you.
Most dorm bathrooms will have a shelf or cubbies for you to store your shower caddy in if you don’t want to bring it back and forth between your dorm room and the bathroom. I recommend this so you don’t have to bring a wet shower caddy back to your room every time you take a shower.
3. Toiletries Case
Another dorm bathroom essential everyone should have is a toiletries case.
I used my toiletries case to store things like my toothbrush and toothpaste and would bring this back and forth between my dorm room and the bathroom.
What I like about this hanging toiletries case is it unzips and has a hook so you can hang it by the sink while you brush your teeth. (It’s also great for traveling!)
4. Towel Wrap
A towel wrap is a must-have for living in a dorm and you will seriously use every day when living in a dorm with communal bathrooms.
You’ll probably need to walk down the hall from your dorm room to the bathroom, in which case having a towel wrap comes in handy.
It attaches with Velcro at the top so you can walk down the hall hands-free and not have to worry about your towel falling down. It’s also super comfortable and even has a big pocket! Plus you can leave it on while you’re blow-drying your hair, doing your makeup, etc. after you shower too.
5. Towel Set
You probably already have this on your dorm packing list, but a towel set is something you definitely need to bring when moving into college.
The amount of towels and washcloths you should bring depend on how often you shower and how often you plan to do laundry.
I would personally recommend at least four bath towels and four washcloths.
6. Hair Styling Station
If your dorm bathroom has individual cubbies for storing your stuff, you may want to get a hair styling station like this to put your hair dryer, hair straightener, curling iron, etc.
Since it has a hook on the back for hanging on a towel rod, this is something you can also bring back and forth between your dorm room and the bathroom and hang by the sink while you’re doing your hair.
These are the dorm bathroom essentials that will make your life so much easier!
Although sharing a bathroom with dozens of other girls wasn’t my ideal living situation, it’s a part of the college experience and these dorm bathroom essentials can help you survive and thrive in dorm life.
More Dorm Essentials
For more college dorm essentials, you may find the following posts helpful:
