Buying a home and knowing nothing!

I forgot to add - do not over fill your washing machine. Leave enough room/space inside the drum so that your clothes and laundry can move and freely aggitate. You need that space so that everything can move around and wash your clothes correctly. Your things will also last allot longer as well.

I also still use fabric conditioner (whatever is on offer and smells nice) and also Sainsbury's own ironing water. These are little luxuries for me, but they are worth it. I also still use powder as opposed to Gels and tablets as I find it is more economical that way.

If you are using an Edwardian Airer for your herbs etc I would leave it as decoration. I would just get a reasonably priced airer which you can fold away and put underneath your stairs. That means it is not taking up space and it is out of the way for much of the time. You are going to need an airer because some stuff will not be completely dry when it comes in - and as well if it rains - you need somewhere to hang the clothes to finish off in the house.

I use my airer quite a bit as I have a conservatory so when I have finished ironing I hang the sheets, shirts etc to finish off out there. My airer is 23 years old, I bought it from Argos and it is a cheapo thing but it does the job. I should have got something a bit better but as I now have a really good solid metal one, that takes the lion's share.

As for vacuuming your wooden floors, you have the facility on all of the machines for carpets as well as laminate some self adjust others have a tab on the head which you manually adjust and yes I do vacuum all my floors - regardless of carpet or wood. I love vacuuming - instant results to please the eye!

If you can get your hands on some old towels use those for the dog, for rubbing him/her down when they come back from a walk if it's wet. This is going to save you loads on keeping your home clean. My dogs have their own weekly wash which includes their bedding.

It is also worth opening the bedroom window each morning and pulling your bed covers right back for a good airing. You lose about a litre of moisture into your bed each night so airing it off will keep the dust mites and moisture down and also keep the room fresh as well.

I still use good old fashioned Vim down the loos with a brush to keep them clean. Old fashioned thing but it really works.

The night before your main bin is due to be emptied go through the house making sure all the rubbish is out.
Bin bags, foil, cling wrap are brilliant from Aldi with good prices too. I still have a black bin bag on my inside bin, nothing fancy is needed. Their dishcloths are very good as well. Speaking of dishcloths, I use mine once and then they go in the machine with the towels for washing nothing worse than a mingy dishcloth thats stinking.

Allot of stuff you will learn as you go along. To be fair I learnt allot from my mum. She was a nurse and was fanatical about cleaning and keeping a good home. When my dad died in my teens - mum went back to work full time (she was only part time at that point) and so I had to take some of the responsibility off her. It has not done me any harm and when I left home at 18 it made me more able to cope than some of my other friends.

A tip my mum always used to say is that if you buy cheap, you buy twice and that is true. Yesterday, I bought a new saucepan set to replace my aging 23 year ones. The old ones are still good (but noticeably aged now) apart from the fact that one of the knobs on the lids cracked and is no longer there. I think the decades of faithful service have done well. It grieved me a bit spending nearly £90.00 (in the sale) for these new pans but if they last me another 25 years it's money well spent.

Hiya, Manxcottage - do please head on over to the weekly Flylady thread, you'll be made very welcome.:o

Re washing - there's 2 of us in the house, and when there's 2 pairs of Mr LW's trousers in the wash-bin, I know it's time to load the WM.;)

I usually set it to come on at about 05:00 so that it's done before Mr LW sets out for work, that way he can hang it up (I have lupus and arthritis, so lifting washing, specially early in the day, is hard work).

We look out the window, and Mr LW listens to the forecast on the radio, then we decide to either hang it out on the whirligig or on the A-frames over the bath.

However - and this is important - I'm at home all day, as I'm retired, so if it needs to be hauled in due to rain, I'm here to do it.

Food - I keep a spreadsheet with the contents of the cupboard and freezer, so I can see at a glance what we have in; I'm also careful to use things in rotation, even tins, so that nothing ends up lurking at the back of the cupboard for years and years.

I have an ongoing shopping list - when a need is identified, one of us will jot it down on the current list; when there's enough to be worthwhile, we shop. (Mr LW will swing by @ldi on his way home from work to pick up a carton of milk if that's all we need).

Keep popping back with questions as you think of them - there's no such thing as a silly question; unfortunately houses don't come with an instruction manual!:D

Hello! I did have to chuckle to myself reading your post! Not in a mean way, but as others said we none of us are born knowing this stuff ( though I know a few men who think women are ).
You will get lots of conflicting advice on specifics, but try to relax. Your new place sounds fab, it will be nice to get the basics right.

I don't put washing out if I think it's going to rain, or overnight - but I'm sure others will think that's mad! I also try to take bedlinen in whilst still slightly damp making it easier to iron ( again, some of the people who will post here will suggest ironing bedlinen is the second sign of madness!!).
As long as you keep dark and light colours together, you can't go far wrong with washing unless you have loads of delicates etc.
whilst I think your old style aspirations ( laundry gloop) are to your credit, you don't need to do everything this week.

I recommend star drops, white vinegar, soda crystals and elbow grease for cleaning. I don't have much else apart from a little bleach. I would also second wiping the washing line before hanging ( eurgh!)

If you don't already, Lidl and / or Aldi are excellent for shopping and saving on your grocery budget. If you need furniture for your home let lobay ( local ebay bargain finder) freecycle and car boot sales/charity shops be your friends.

Some of the great boards here are fly lady, not buying it, make do mend and minimise but also loads of others.

Old style board is absolutely the place for you, there are thousands of helpful souls who will be itching to guide you so ask away with the questions.

Many congratulations to you both, don't forget to enjoy it!!

Bexster