Buying a home and knowing nothing!

[Deleted User]

Don't bother ironing or dusting as life is too short.

Manxcottageonthehill

Thank you everyone!!! Sorry for the late replys didn't get around to using the laptop last night


@Pollycat – Thank you! I feel like this is stuff I should know though. Wow don’t think I’ve ever split our clothing up! Will have to get a wash system up and running!

@rainy-days – Thank you so much for the extra advice!!! Oh I know what you mean, we have one of those for the other half bike clothes in winter when he comes home soaked to the bone! Our dog is super spoiled has his own towel, and microfiber ones as he is always in the sea and even more so now were less time away than before. Will have to pick up a hoover, the other half has his eye on a henry and I’ve seen they do a pet one, so hope it’s decent. Vim????? Sadly don’t have an Aldi just Tesco and Co-op over here. Don’t know about whether there is a rotary airer as never seen their washing out when we were looking around. Though how they dry their clothes is on my list as the garden is postage stamp size! I think a rotary will take up all the space. I’m actually hoping for a line that retracts!

@lamewolf – Thank you! I certainly think a instruction manual would help, I’d even go to the point at this moment in time I wish they still offered home economics when I was at school!! I will be checking out the flylady thread tonight with a cuppa! Never thought of a A-frame over the bath. Do you have a dehumidifier? Only our new bathroom has no windows as it’s stuck in the middle of the house so not too sure about leaving wet clothes in there. Ongoing shopping list is a really good idea!

@Sailorsam – The house were moving into needs a lot of work (fingers crossed just to make it pretty and not structural) never thought of looking on youtube, is this the type of thing I would find on there? Not very good with techno for my age!

@bexster1975 – Thank you! I was so excited when we got our offer accepted and then it really hit me when I was looking at the washing machine, I guess I kinda thought I would already know everything I need to, if you need someone to spin wool, knit a jumper or quilt a blanket I’m your gal, housekeeping no idea lol! I’m trying not to do everything at once, I just don’t want to start of with bad habits! I’ve never even thought of ironing bedlinen, is there a reason for this?? We’ll be keeping an eye on the freecycle places, as thankfully were not picky and will take anything (even animals) to give it a good home. After a good mooch around, I do feel like this board is the one for me!!

@lisa110rry – Oh dear, I have to say it was either all in or I would be been exactly the same checking each label! Thankfully were really simple people, t-shirts and cords (we mostly wear the same clothing to!) so not much to go wrong. I will deffo keep the cardi in my mind, I gather everything took on the colour? Will have to mooch around some charity shops over here, though they do tend to be expensive!

@greyqueen – Oh never even thought about other factors when it comes to clothing, thank you for the tips (they have gone into the house file) I’m certainly going to need them for winter, its gets quite merky here! I’ve got some cheap pegs, but I do love the idea of wooden one, so will look into a decent set! Good thing about the light showers, we get more than a few so its good to know I don’t need to worry if I leave the washing out and go to work. Thank you on the ironing! I ironed my first load last night (loved it!) and too my time letting each item cool before I folded it. We don’t have anywhere to put stuff at the moment but I am hoping to get an airer in the kitchen. A small one mind you but if I keep ontop of everything, it should be fine. OH MY!! On the elderberry golly, never ever thought about that. We do have a tree in the garden which is going to have the chop, it’s not massive but because the garden is small it takes up the bottom half, and I’m going to replace it with a bird feeder and bird house on our home, so any wildlife should be well cared for! I’ve also copied your how to hang clothing out, this is perfect for me, I put the t-shirts out with 6 pegs each worried they would fall off!
@pinknfluffy28 – Thank you, I’m so very excited. I’m hoping it becomes second nature and everything I’ve done so far I’ve loved so it’s going to be lovely to get into a routine. Thank you for your rota, I deffo will be adding a lot to my daily/weekly list!

grandmasam

GreyQueen wrote: »

.

Things not to do;

1. Don't put those trad yellow cloth dusters into the washing machine. They're not colour-fast and you will end up like my pal who had washed a duster with his white jockey shorts and ended up with yellowed undercrackers smelling suspiciously of Pl*dge. And your duster will be anaemic-looking. Waves at male friend who did this.........:rotfl:
.

I did this in the early days of my marriage except it was the baby's terry towelling nappies. 12 of them and 2 yellow dusters.:eek: A line full of nappies blowing on the line ....everyone beautifully mottled with suspicious deep yellow stains.:mad:
I was boiling them for weeks afterwards, and no one commented on it..[except my husband and of course, Dmil ]
In my defence, I was only 18,with a 3month old baby and just discovered I was expecting number 2!:o:o

MCOTH, I'm sure you'll be fine, just don't sweat the small stuff!! congratulations on your new home enjoy it!

Caz

LameWolf

Manxcottageonthehill wrote: »

@lamewolf – Thank you! I certainly think a instruction manual would help, I’d even go to the point at this moment in time I wish they still offered home economics when I was at school!! I will be checking out the flylady thread tonight with a cuppa! Never thought of a A-frame over the bath. Do you have a dehumidifier? Only our new bathroom has no windows as it’s stuck in the middle of the house so not too sure about leaving wet clothes in there. Ongoing shopping list is a really good idea!

Yes, we do indeed have a dehumidifier; I got sick of mopping the windowsills every morning, even when we had no washing around!
Our bungalow is really tiny, so the A-frame is really the only place to put washing if it can't go outside. The only stuff I tumble is bedlinen if it's wet out; I just don't have the space for a wet duvet cover hanging about indoors.

What else can I think of..... Ah yes, Dusters/cleaning rags. I use old shirts cut into suitable sized pieces, and old cotton hankies rather than buying dusters; and I keep a plastic bag in the wash-bin to put them in when dirty, and when there's enough, I do a dedicated cleaning-rag wash. This avoids, as Grey Queen says, " yellowed undercrackers smelling suspiciously of Pl*dge.":D

And I always, always check Mr LW's trouser pockets before washing. Things I've found in there include: used chewing gum (in it's wrapper, ready for the bin, but I still don't want it going through the WM), numerous coins of various sorts, buttons that have fallen off his tweed jacket, £5 notes (which I keep - well, he obviously meant them as a tip, yes?) and scrappy bits of paper with arcane notes re his work (these I return to him as I don't have a scooby what they're about).

Goldiegirl

The OP mentioned that her partner is an amazing house husband.

Sounds like there's an in house expert - I'd be asking him for tips and suggestions

Charis

Thank you all for the hints and tips. I've been a housewife and a mother for over four decades but I still learned a few new things. Especially timely was the reminder to wipe out the drum and drawer of the machine after *every* use <rolls eyes> and the information that sunlight makes some white things have strange yellow marks. I remember hanging on the line some white things I'd knitted for my firstborn and wondering what pollutants were falling from the sky as they had yellow lines across them where they had been folded over the line. I probably left them out longer than I should to get them 'bright white'. I've also learned the Proper Way to hang out a sheet, which my mother never taught me. I think everything used to go in the giant tumble dryer at the launderette. We didn't have a washing machine at home. No crispy sheets, but sliding into bed between nylon sheets was an electrifying experience, especially when the lights were out and I could see the flashes of static electricity.

janb5

Hi Manxcottageonthehill- please could you use a bigger font for those of us who are visually challenged. Lovely thread- thank you!

GreyQueen

I learned some very old-fashioned things relating to laundry, as Mum was raised by a foster-mother 50 years older than her. One of my childhood washday bugbears was that bedsheets had to be folded lengthways into 4 when wet. With Mum at one end, and me at the other, each holding a fistful of the corner of the sheet, you were supposed to tug hard, on alterate hands (think of a boxing-type motion). Pulling rapidly tp-an-fro for about a dozen times. Trouble was, the strength discrepancy between a grown woman and a young girl meant that I often lost one of my corners.:rotfl:

The idea, apparently, was that this tugging would stop the distortion of the sheet from a true rectangle. If you've ever sides-to-middled a sheet (this is hardcore housewifery, manxcottage, but we are OS after all) you'll have noticed that one side of the sheet will always be longer than the other, anything from 2-5 inches in my experience.

Archane laundry practises such as sheet-tugging and blue-bagging were phased out in the seventies when Mum moved from p/t to f/t work.

Oh, and a word to the wise about the retractable linen lines. We had one of those where I lived before and had to stop using it in the end as the weight of the clothes kept pulling the snaily-type doodad off the wall. A brick wall, I hasten to add. We moved it several times but the bricks weren't strong enough to hold it, no matter what we did.

You may get a better fixing if you looked at attaching it to something like a plank of wood, which is itself attached to the wall in multiple places, to spread the load.

Another thing which may work for some people are the multi-line retractable indoor clothes airers. There's a Minky brand one on the Argos website for £8.99 but versions of this product have been around for decades. For those who've not seen them IRL, you mount a box a bit like a clingfilm dispenser on one inside wall (over the end of the bath is typical) and it has a pull out bar, to which are attached a number of parallell linen lines. You draw this out to the desired length and fit it on hooks on the opposite wall. There's something to pull out on the main unit to lock the lines in place.

I think you wrote that you don't have a bathroom window (sorry, also struggling with the font size on your posts, getting on a bit)? For those who do, I can testify that you can dry pure cotton bedsheets, and very thick towels overnight in a small unheated bathroom, with a small window open, using this method. It's Mum's fallback when there has to be washing done and there's no chance of an outside dry and the two Minky airers are fully-loaded.

Thought I'd put it out here in case it can help someone. And it might be possible, depending on circs, to put one of these elsewhere in the home. I have heard of people putting trad airing hoists in the high bit of ceiling above the stairs before now.

moneyistooshorttomention

GreyQueen wrote: »

You reminded me about the yellowing, Rainy-days, that was something I knew but forgot to mention. When you have to write it out, isn't it amazing how much you know without thinking about it, having just picked it upsince childhood? Don't leave clothes out longer than is necessary, because sunlight rots textiles and fades dyes, too.

And I had a LBM when you mentioned Minky clothes airers as I've had mine so long I'd forgotten the brand, but that's what it is, what Mum has two of, also. Good quality items. I'm also a fan on Brabantia products, they make an excellent can-opener, f'rinstance. Prestige make good gear, too.

Other things; if there is an elderberry bush in your garden, birdies will c**p purple s**t onto your linen after eating the berries. Hence Mum's instruction to Dad to remove the self-sown one from her back garden.

And I'm so with you about the pegs out with nothing on the line, drives me nuts. Used to have a housemate who'd leave stuff out for days at a time, probably one of the few people whose washing was dirtier after washing than before. :rotfl:

Pegging out; there's a bit of a knack to how you peg clothes and other items out on the linen line, which won't necessarily be something you'll know. Pegging out in certain ways isn't because we're twinkly housewives with time on our hands but because it will do the following things;

1. Minimize clothes-peg marks onto clothing.
2. Minimize double-thicknesses of cloth which will leave damp areas on otherwise dry clothes.
3. Maximize the catchment of moving air into textiles, so that they billow, and dry more easily with fewer wrinkles.

Shirts are pegged on the bottom hem on the side seam. This applies to mens proper shirts, ladies proper blouses, teeshirts, sweatshirts, anything shirt-y. You don't want to peg 'em by the shoulder or you'll get a mark in a highly-visible place. Peg only one side of the garment, so the wind can get in and billow it out. You can also try putting shirts, buttoned up, onto coathangers but they're a beggar to keep on the line. Collars should always be rolled down so there's only a single thickness.

Trousers are laundered with zips and buttons done up, preferably inside out. Frisk pockets carefully for debris before loading washer. You don't want debris - you'll be surprised and horrified at how far one tissue can spread once it's disintegrated in your washer. We've probably all done it, and more than once, what a PITA.

Trousers inc are pegged from the cuff of their legs, legs lying flat (no twisting to cause damp spots).

Flat things like tea towels and regular towels are pegged with 2 pegs on one of the short sides. Big flat things like sheets are halved bottom to top, the two outside corners pegged at the double thickness and two additonal pegs placed, slightly offset, each holding one thickness of the sheet. It should look swoopy and then billow when the wind hits it. If you have a small yard, watch that the place you pin the sheets won't cause them to brush into the shed/ fence/ tree/ whatever.

Things not to do;

1. Don't put those trad yellow cloth dusters into the washing machine. They're not colour-fast and you will end up like my pal who had washed a duster with his white jockey shorts and ended up with yellowed undercrackers smelling suspiciously of Pl*dge. And your duster will be anaemic-looking. Waves at male friend who did this.........:rotfl:

2. A washing machine is a sophisticated animal. Feed it gently. If you have large things like bedsheets, feed them in, don't put them in a bunch. If you are intending to wash just one large item, also add one smaller one, like a towel with a sheet. It's not so the main attraction won't get lonely, it's because the spin cycle will be very rocky othewise, the smaller item acts as a counter weight i nthe drum when she spins.

3. Buy (or make from charity shop net curtains) delicates bags. These will hold fragile items together and stop small escapees.

4. Most people only ever use 2 settings on their washer - 40 and 60 or 30 and 50.

4. Halve the amount of laundry detergent the manufacturers recommend unless items are very heavily-soiled. You can spot-treat grease marks by rubbing in neat washing-up liquid before doing proper laundry.

5. When removing the finished load from the washer, take about 60 seconds with a microfibre cloth or similar and dab the little bit of standing water out of the rubber door seal, ditto the powder drawer, wipe the inside of the glass porthole, the outside and wipe off any marks on the machine. Done on every washload, it takes under a min and keeps your washer looking showroom fresh. If you leave water in the doorseal or the powder drawer, they'll grow black mould.

6. Always leave your washer with the door ajar when not in use. After mopping the powder drawer dry, I leave that open for a while, too.

7. Aim to do up all zips and buttons before loading the washer. All pockets should be frisked. Small items can work their way around the back of the drum, like socks, or even blouses. Bra underwires are the commonest cause of washing machine woes - preferably don't machine wash them.

Ahem...and I didn't know some of that myself.

Now about that wiping off the inside of the washer after washing - you can guess who didn't and there is now black mould that I'm struggling to get off the rubber seal. Any suggestions as to how to remove it please?

GreyQueen

You can't, I'm afraid. Where mould grows on permeable surfaces like textiles, paints, rubber washer seals, it eats into the surface and, although you can effective a temporary cosmetic improvement by cleaning, you can never get rid of it.

I had this problem with my old washer, the one which died at Xmas, because I hadn't started this good wiping - more of a blotting - habit in time. Hence my determination to not let it get hold in the new one.

Mould is a beggar. It can be cleaned off impermeable surfaces like glazed ceramic tiles, because it's growing and feeding on an organic film over the surface, but you can't permantly get rid of it on tile grout. Mould laughs at bleach, btw, you need a specific mould-killing product to kill it and, unless you've eliminated the environmental factors which allow it to grow.

I'd be reluctant to use a mould-killing product on a rubber door seal in case it damaged it and made it leak. I guess if you keep the habit of blotting up the residual water left at the bottom of the seal, it won't get any worse, at least. HTH.