This $5 Hack Is the Best Way to Store Your Dorm Shower Caddy (Use It for Shower Shoes, Too!)

Yanel Siqueiros
Yanel Siqueiros
Yanel Siqueiros is a 19-year-old student journalist at New York University, where she writes and reports on the culture of a bustling city right in the heart of Manhattan. When she’s not studying English literature or broadcast journalism in NYC, she can be spotted at a sunny…read more
published Sep 5, 2025
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Closeup of a basket filled with bath supplies on a bed.
Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Prop Styling: Thomas Hoerup & Vicky Wasik

Whether you live in a dorm or an apartment with roommates, sharing a bathroom is no easy feat. Shower shoes and a caddy for your shampoo, conditioner, and other toiletries are often a must, regardless of whether you have a communal bathroom for your entire floor or you’re just cohabitating with multiple people. (Nobody wants to accidentally scrub themselves clean with their roommate’s loofah.) 

Here’s the thing: Toting around wet flip-flops and a dripping caddy can be a pain, and you don’t want the floor of your room to be permanently soggy or water-stained. Luckily a new TikTok video from Nicole (@southern_eh) offers up an ingenious hack when it comes to dorm or apartment shopping.

How to Store Your Shower Caddy and Shoes 

College mom Nicole recommends purchasing a dish drying mat to act as a storage hub for all your shower supplies. By putting it right outside your door, or next to your closet, you can immediately place your wet shoes and caddy onto the mat before stepping inside of your room. In her comments, Nicole specifies that unlike a normal towel, or a thicker bath mat, a dish drying mat will absorb the liquid from your shoes better and dries faster. Plus, when the mat inevitably starts to look a little dirty, Nicole notes it can be easily thrown into a washing machine with a normal load of laundry.

One commenter shares that this hack is great for avoiding wood stains — something she dealt with when she was at school. Others offered alternative options, including a boot tray or stone drying mat. Some of these might cost a bit more than a dish mat, but they’ll serve the same purpose: keeping your space dry and free of water marks or a musty carpet. 

If you’re looking for the perfect dish drying mat for your room this year, we’ve got you covered.

This post was a collaboration between Dorm Therapy and Apartment Therapy and originally appeared on Apartment Therapy. See it there: This Ingenious $5 Solution Makes Sharing a Shower So Much Easier (No More Wet Messes!)

Yanel Siqueiros

Contributor

Yanel Siqueiros is a 19-year-old student journalist at New York University, where she writes and reports on the culture of a bustling city right in the heart of Manhattan. When she’s not studying English literature or broadcast journalism in NYC, she can be spotted at a sunny beach in her home in San Diego, California. Yanel’s bicoastal perspective on life gives her a grasp on all of the trendy subjects going around the different sides of the U.S. She loves keeping up with pop culture and fashion, and using her skills as a writer to inform others about what is relevant in the zeitgeist.

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SchoolNew York University '27
MajorJournalism and English
FavesThrifting, oat milk matcha lattes, Jellycats, and Charli xcx
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