Weekly Flylady Thread 14th August 2017

What is FLYLADY? Well, it's our version of the US flylady idea - but we work on the principle that housework is not fun, it's boring, can be time-consuming, is often thankless but, unfortunately, necessary. It's here on Old Style to provide the support we all need and to make the whole task easier and quicker. We also accept that, sometimes, life just gets on top of us and we can't keep up, maybe because we're time-poor, not in the best of health and/or we have littlies who need us. We are definitely NOT control freaks aiming for perfection and utterly spotless show-homes.

Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread. You're more than welcome to join us in the everlasting battle against dust, grime and gibble. The aim of our thread is to make those onerous tasks less daunting, and to support each other - and to make time for the finer things in life!

Right now the thread is looking very quiet...but please do remember we have to abide by MSE rules; each post should, ideally, include some mention of flying.

Thank you Valli for last week's thread

It is your responsibility to read the forum rules, please follow them on this thread as Flylady has been here a LONG time and is a fabulous support and resource for lots of us. All posts should have some Flylady-related (ooh a compound adjective) content!

The idea is that even if you are really busy you don't need to fall off the wagon!

Every room comes back around next week so please don’t stress about catching up

These lists are only suggestions and not a must do list; you are more than welcome to post and follow your own lists.

Also adding a declutter mission each day will help to gradually clear the clutter and make flying easier.

A few of the basics before we start the week

Hotspots are areas where if one thing gets put there, loads of other things follow!

Daily routines are anything you need to do on a daily basis like washing, swish and swipe kitchen and bathroom, ironing, making beds, vacuuming high traffic areas, making meals etc.

Night-time routines are all things which make getting ready in the morning easier, preparing clothes for the next day, making lunches, swish & swipes of the kitchen and tidying the living room before you go to bed plus personals like shower/brush teeth etc.

Fling Boogie - stick on some loud music, grab a bin bag and whiz around the house finding items that can go out with the rubbish, recycling, for charity shop, basically anything that will stop it cluttering your home.

Swish and swipe/S&S means have a quick wipe over an area such as a sink or toilet to prevent the build up of dirt. This is usually done on a daily basis

HHE/HHC/HHI Half Hour exercise/challenge/ironing ... run around for 30 minutes to the Benny Hill music frantically cleaning exercising or ironing.. other music may be used if you prefer!
WM ~ Washing machine
TD ~ Tumble dryer
SC ~ Slowcooker
BM ~ Breadmaker
DW ~ Dishwasher
SOAADFA ~ Sit on 'bottom' and do 'nothing'
KH/XH/FW ~ Ex-husband and other not so polite versions
DH/DD/DS/DW/DP ~ Dear husband/daughter/son/wife/partner/whatever
OH/SO ~ Other half/significant other
NN ~ nice neighbour
Toxic (friend/mother/sister/whoever) ~ person in your life that seems to exist to make your life miserable
AF ~ Aunt Flo 'time of the month'.. nothing to do with flying but it comes up often.
ETA ~ Edited to add
Gibble ~ miscellaneous crap that appears forever homeless
Dot-to-dot ~ pick a small area (not a whole room) like a chair/coffee/table/shelf/worktop or wherever- thats your first 'dot' - totally clear it - clean it - and only put back what should be there - deal with what you have removed (not just move it somewhere else) then if you have time move on and do the same to another 'dot' -the idea is just like a dot to dot puzzle, you aim to join up all the dots and have a tidy room. The trick is to keep each dot tidy until you get them all joined up! All credit to AnW's Mum for this one
RoD ~ Room of Doom, the one room that feels like it is a permanent pit and cannot be used to its potential!
MAD half hour
- Mad is the abbreviation for Make A Difference.
The idea is that you have a Forth bridge (ie never-ending - or just huge) task but that you work on it in half-hour bursts. This way you know you ARE stooping, and that you won't get it finished but you will make a difference - so it might be clearing out - the garage or shed, or clothes sorting, or weeding - you get the picture - but rather than keep going until you've lost the will to live you do half an hour...but, eventually those half hours will get the job done!

Mr S/A/T/M/L/Al - supermarkets Sainsburys, Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi. You get the picture!!

Click here to read Toots wonderful welcome guide

Ok Here goes this Week...

Monday Minging & Flinging - Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One...
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Level Two..
Sweep and mop floors
Sort & clean oven and hob
Wipe dining table.. (clean table cloth if necessary)
Level Three...
Dust any extra furniture in dining area, checking for cobwebs on way round
Wipe and replace all those small appliances.. kettle, toaster etc
Wipe & declutter all the windows sills in these areas!!
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances .. don't forget those kick boards..
Check those washing machine filters and drawers for ickiness!! Tumble dryer, cooker hood and dishwasher filters need to be done too!!

Extras

• Clean the fridge.. it is smelly!!
• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!
• 31 fling boogie..
• GO! buy yourself some flowers from the shop.. your reward for making the kitchen shine!
• Empty the bin.. wash it out.. and make it smell SWEET

Tuesday Triumphs - Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One...
Clear floors of guff and stuff
Level Two...
Clean baths, toilets, don't forget the outside! and sinks. Make them sparkle, sparkle!!!!
Clear any clutter from desk
Dust PC and desk and wipe off those cup rings!!
Wipe keyboard, house phone, sockets, switches and mouse etc
Level Three...
Wash your bathroom mats, nets, clean blind/curtains, shower curtains etc
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment your pc while doing this.
Empty and clean out all the upstairs bins!
Hoover/Sweep and mop and deslop the floors in these rooms.
Collect all the dirty laundry

Extras!

• MAD half hour
• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Empty the cupboard and clean it out.. colour ordered bottles inside!
• Fling all those empty bottles and tubes, do you really need that empty shower gel bottle?
• If you have a shelf.. empty and clean it
• Grab yourself a toothbrush and scrub the manky bits between the tiles

Wednesday Thllliiing!- Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One..
Check fire alarms are working
Remove and wash bed linen and duvet covers.
Fling open the window and let in the rain sunnyness
Level Two..
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs..
Vacuum & turn mattress before replacing with fresh linen..
Air the duvet
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Level Three..
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort through a cupboard and find 10 things to get rid of!
Freshen up any curtains or bedding that needs doing!
Extras

• MAD half hour….
• 34 fling boogie time, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter
• Clean all the upstairs door frames
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Do half hour clearing of the place you hate doing the most..

Thursday twirls- Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One..
Vacuum floors and sofas
Declutter and dust the mantlepiece if you have one, if not shelves/units..
Level Two...
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean TV, other electricals and cabinets
Clean the windows
Level Three...
Wipe and water plants - how about giving the leaves a nice shine too. I hear milk or banana skins are good for this
Put all your hotspots in one pile and work your way through it..
Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself - pregnant ladies and those that aren't allowed/can't move things get someone else to do this for you!

Extras..

• MAD half hour….
• HHI
• Wipe down any paintwork that needs it.
• Binbag dance.. Get a binbag.. fill it and bin it!!!
• Wash any cushions, throws or curtains that need it

Friday Flyday- those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One..
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Spend at least half an hour doing something for yourself!!!!!
Level Two..
Vacuum the floor
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!
Strip beds, turn and vacuum mattresses!! and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!! Wash the curtains!
Level Three..
Clean 2 windows
Tidy a chest of drawers/wardrobe/floordrobe!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors
Extras..

• MAD half hour….
• Find 5 things to ebay/freecycle
• Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!
• HHI
• End of week fling!! grab a binbag and fill it with stuff to leave the house.. rubbish or charity shop or to donate to a friend!