Clean and organised tips list....

PenniesMake£s

Would anyone like a thread that's just a list of tips/things we've learned about cleaning and organising in the form of one liner style posts (no chat), that's easy to read through or dip into for ideas and motivation?

Here are mine....

In the bathroom:
- have one of what you and your family need (one bottle of shampoo/tube of toothpaste etc) available. Keep supplies in a separate place.
- quick tidy every time you visit the bathroom, straighten or pick up towels, replace toilet paper, give the sink a quick wipe with a disposable wipe. I have 3 small children but I do manage to fit this in as is only takes seconds.
- take laundry down to washing machine and stick a load on as I have one so the laundry never builds up.

In the kitchen:
- I don't have a dishwasher so I try to do the dishes as they occur rather than let them pile up and if I'm leaving the house I try to make sure I have done all the dishes so I don't have to do them on my return.
- do as much dinner preparation in the morning, wash and peel / chop veg at least, get something in slow cooker, make a soup in the pressure cooker. I'm more productive in the mornings so the effort early on in the day is worth it for me and stops me reaching for the fish fingers too often.
-only keep as many plates/cups/utensils/pots/pans/Tupperware as you use. Get rid of any excess that is just taking up space.
-same with food, don't keep cans of food, packets of dried foods eg pasta, cous cous etc until they go out of date cluttering up your cupboards...donate them to a food bank while they're still good. We never eat canned sweet corn and prefer pasta twists to penne for example so these things were cluttering up the cupboard. Now I just buy what we do eat and the kitchen is clutter free and easier to keep clean.
-I don't meal plan but stick to similar meals on a weekly basis so I don't often buy things anymore that will just end up forgotten at the back of the fridge or freezer.

Kids rooms:
-regularly remove clothes and toys that are outgrown and get them out of the house.
-don't buy books, use the library

These are things I have done in our house that help us, won't be for everyone but may help someone. I'm hoping I can pick up some tips from you all xxx

good_advice

Try to get the washing machine on in the early morning so it can have longer on the line in winter days when not raning.
I only use the tumble dryer when it is a last choice and have sheets to dry.
No tumble dryer saves on the electric bill.

Ches

I make the bed as soon as I am out of the shower. I clean the shower before I dress. I don't have too much of anything ie, 2 complete bedsets for each bed, No handtowels in bathroom as they always look messy so bathtowels only - 1 each in use and 2 each in cupboard. Toiletries I have 1 of each in use and 1 of each spare. Behind each loo I keep 1 loo cleaner and 1 bath/sink cleaner and I only buy replacements when they are nearly empty. Cloakroom has 3 handtowels on the shelf and 1 in use. I clean the cloakroom every night before bed - just a quick rub round the basin and loo cleaner down toilet as nobody uses it until morning. Bathroom I do the other way round as we are downstairs during the day. I also tidy the sitting room before I go to bed and do any washing up etc so the kitchen is tidy to come down too. I don't let paperwork build up but deal with issues asap.

PasturesNew

I keep a microfibre cloth in the bathroom, tucked round one of those handles in the middle of the long side. I stand up, pull out the plug, then grab the microfibre cloth and give the bath a 30 second wipe round while the water's draining and I then wring it out and put it back on the side to dry. Bath cleaning's done without it being a chore.

PasturesNew

I keep/use cheap (4 for £1) picnic plates and use those when only eating something small, cold, neat. e.g. toast, a sandwich, crumpets etc. Quicker/easier to wash up than trying to not break a proper/regular plate from a matching set.

jk0

PenniesMake£s wrote: »

Here are mine....

In the bathroom:
- quick tidy every time you visit the bathroom, straighten or pick up towels, replace toilet paper, give the sink a quick wipe with a disposable wipe. I have 3 small children but I do manage to fit this in as is only takes seconds.

Better give the WC a quick wipe as well eh?

My tip, for what its worth, is to have some diluted bathroom cleaner in a spray bottle. (Two thirds water, and one third cleaner.)

Every time I get out of the bath, I spray this round the bath, wipe with a cloth, and rinse with the shower. This saves a lot of scrubbing. After my Sunday bath, I use the spray on the WC, rinsing the cloth in the basin. Then I clean the basin with spray & brush. Doing these when the bathroom is full of steam makes the job a lot easier.

Cloudydaze

One of my friends who had an immaculate houses with 3 pre-school children gave me her top tip and it's ingrained on my brain....

Never go upstairs or downstairs empty handed.

good_advice

I always wash the dishes as soon as we finish dinner. I would not like to go back to dirty dishes hours later.
Having no dishwasher means less to go wrong, replace.

RicardaRacoon

Cloudydaze wrote: »

One of my friends who had an immaculate houses with 3 pre-school children gave me her top tip and it's ingrained on my brain....

Never go upstairs or downstairs empty handed.

That is probably the best way to have a tidy place. Basically never walking anywhere empty handed. There is always a glass in the living room or a bath towel in the bathroom that needs to go back to where it belongs.

-My evening routine includes what I call "the toothbrush tour" when I walk around the living room and kitchen while brushing my teeth to make sure that nothing is out of place and putting these things back. Putting newspaper in the recycling box works fine with one hand...

-Keep things where they're needed. A cloth in the bath to wipe the sink, toilet cleaner next to the toilet and so on.

-Have a 2-minute rule. Everything that takes less than two minutes to do gets done right away. This obviousely isn't working out when running late to catch a train anyway or so :cool:

-I'm always running a tad late in the morning. So I make sure to have everything I need ready. All the lunch bits next to each other in the fridge, fruits that have to be prepared on the counter so that I don't forget to prep them while getting breakfast ready, snacks in the bag

-Don't hide things. I hang my washing in the living room when I can't dry it outside. When I come home from work I will fold it first thing because I want to have it out of the room. When I put the washing in the spare room it will hang there for days because it isn't in the way unless I want to use my sewing maching or so.

Tink_04

Don't go to bed or out the house with it a tip - nothing worse than walking in to or waking up to a list of chores already

Clear/tidy rooms one at a time so your not running back and forth

Prep for the next day so you can organise your time better, if you know what your making for tea, your going to put a wash on and Hoover it's more likely to get done

jinny

Weekly Meal plan/shopping list. Flexible with offers though
then meal prep like stuff out of freezer the night before
That alone keeps me organized
Agree about washing dishes and tidying up before bed.
I do a weekly to do list as well ticked and updated daily
I Try not to do more than three tasks a day tho
above basic housework chores
The place should be easier to keep clean
Now that I'm extreme decluttering at the mo.

Peter Walsh Oprah,s organizing guru
Says to tidy up after a task properly follow the task through. So for instance-
putting cooking ingredients away straight after using them
DVDs put away properly ect