Weekly Flylady Thread 9th August 2021

Natty68

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.

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!

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 something Flylady-related!

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


IF ANYONE WANTS ANYTHING ADDED TO THE LISTS, WHEN EACH DAY IS DUE TO BE ADDED, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LET ME KNOW

Right here goes:

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

Clean microwave inside and out

Clean off top of dinining room table and put a pretty cloth on it. If no cloth give it a good polish..

Empty fridge and thoroughly clean inside

Wash canisters and knick knacks.

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!!
Clean under sinks and thow out anything of no use/empty bottles
Extras

• 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
• Clean pet dishes
• Check supplies of laundry stuff – replace if needed.

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
• Change over hand towels to lovely fresh ones
• 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?
• Go through medicine cupboard/box and throw out old/out-of-date stuff. Buy new to replace…
• If you have a shelf.. empty and clean it
• Grab yourself a toothbrush and scrub the manky bits
• Get in a manky cupboard. Give it all GOOD scrub out before placing the things you need to use soon at the front, throw out everything you don’t want/need. If no messy cupboard do a food inventory!! Feel free to get carried away and do more cupboards!!!

Wet Wednesday - those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One...

Vacuum the floor, even if it's just where you can see

Spend at least half an hour doing something for yourself!!!!! Paint your nails, make an appointment to have your hair done, a lovely soak in the bath. Whatever you feel like!!

Level Two...

Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc

Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!

Level Three...

Strip , turn and vacuum mattresses!! And replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!!

Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors

Extra Task List

• Wash a set of curtains, nets, duvet or throw
• Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!
• 30 minutes ironing.. you love me & you know it!
• Grab a binbag and fill it with stuff to leave the house.. rubbish or charity shop or to donate to a friend!
• Sort the book shelves.. and toy boxes.. what can be flung?

Thrilling Thursday - Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One...
Check fire alarms are working
Remove and wash bed linen.
Level Two...
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs..
Vacuum mattress before replacing with fresh linen.. do you need that winter duvet yet?
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Level Three...
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort one area of clothes or linen storage making sure only what should be in there is, anything that's had it's day or doesn't belong there is removed
Clear a hotspot., or spend 15 minutes clearing one.

Extra tasks list

• 27 fling boogie time, time for that midweek fling, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Check house for places where draughts are getting in.. doors, windows etc and see if there are ways to stop it!
• Clean out that airing cupboard!!!!!! get rid of those things you don't need.. use dead towels as cleaning cloths etc.. be ruthless!!!! you REALLY don't need that 'thing' you've saved for 10 years.. 'just in case' If you did this last week.. you can do the under the stairs cupboard!!

Freaky Friday~ Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One...
Vacuum through the living room, hall and stairs
Level Two...
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean windows and all glass.. including the tv screen
Clear the mantel and only put back the items which are supposed to be there.. and that doesn't include letters, keys or other treasure!
Level Three...
Open a drawer.. sort the junk within!
15 minutes sort of the junk on the landing!
Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself
Extra Mission: Pick one or more of the following tasks –

• Name all the school garments!!
• 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
• Wipe down light switches
• Clean light bulbs and shades in this room, that also includes the ceiling lights.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi Natty and thank you x

I am definitely in this week, we are away next weekend and my brother and family are staying in our house for one night while we are away.  This is really helping them out and I MUST NOT fret too much about the house being spotless for them.

Washing is now over the airer, spreadsheets are updated.  I need a mealplan for the week.  Won't be late to bed.

BigSpenderLittleSpender

What do folks use to clean the inside of their microwave?

Valli

BigSpenderLittleSpender said:

What do folks use to clean the inside of their microwave?

Mug of water with half a lemon or lemon slices in. Zap for 2 minutes then leave, without opening door for at least 5 minutes. Remove turntable etc then wipe out. Repeat if grim.  Do not open door straight after zapping, there is a chance that the water will have been superheated and can suddenly boil over but, if you've put lemon in, that is very unlikely.  It's more likely if you just use water. 
The steam willl soften baked on food, the lemon will sanitise.

Valli

WAC open...

BadCat18

Morning

thanks for the list, I’m in. Not in the WAC, have gotten up to make an early start on paid stuff as I have a huge list to get through. House looks fine, most of Mondays list was done yesterday so it will probably just be the dailies for me today but will see how I get on.

WM is set ready to start swishing in an hour or so, will assess the weather when it’s done to see if it’s an inside airer or outside job!

Take care all, hugs etc available where needed x

Jazee

Morning all.  I am in when we get back from holiday later although we have a garden project and a bedroom to decorate this week before another weekend away.

Have a great day everyone.

kazwookie

Morning

I'm in

Today to do

WM, first find towels etc to go in

Hoover

Dust

Toilets

Cut lawn

Thank you for the lists

Have  a good day

Goodintentions

Good morning!
Thank you for the lists ladies.
I have been AWOL for the last week or 2 - school holidays so extra children to entertain, feed & clean up after! I haven't caught up on last week's thread, so hugs, sticks, spoons & gws wishes to all that need them! 
It is raining here - again! I haven't got to the allotment again this weekend. I will get evicted at this rate! 
So far this morning I have sloshed some bleach down the toilet, but that is it! I am still in bed, with a cat snoozing next to me 😁 DH has just got home from a 16 mile run.
Today's list consists of cleaning up the kitchen, cleaning floors, meal plan & some admin. I also need to book a dentist appointment, and I hope to do at least a bit of weeding/tidying at the allotment  - weather permitting!
I suppose getting & getting dressed would be a good start 🤔 
SW later - 🤞I could do with a good loss, but went totally off plan at a family bbq on Saturday 🤦‍♀️
Have a good day everyone! 

YORKSHIRELASS

Wow GI your DH must be super-fit.  I do a fair bit of exercise but 3 miles is enough for me!

I have to work late tonight and because I work flexible hours I can start whenever I want, but I am not very motivated.  LR and kitchen hoovered and dusted.  Bed made, bathroom swished and a general tidy around done.  Kitchen is fairly clean and tidy.

Going to marinate pork chops for DHs tea, I will take something with me to work.

Right, clean washing to put away and a few more jobs to do, then if I get on with some work I can take some time off later in the week.

Goodintentions

YL Yes, he is quite fit and also behind schedule for marathon training (5 weeks) so needs to get the miles in. I managed parkrun on Saturday, at a faster time than the week before, so I am happy with that! 
I have skimmed over last week's thread....Fayolle  - huge congrats to DD on passing her driving test! I imagine you are starting to feel the benefit of not having to go out with her all the time. It is hard letting them go on their own at first, isn't it? Also, well done on planting the leeks - I still haven't pulled up last year's yet - the flowers look lovely 😂 
Breakfast had - tried overnight oats for the first time. I won't be doing that again 🤮 DH is cleaning the bathroom after having a soak. He did sfa yesterday other than faff about with their flipping podcast, so I am letting him get on with it! 
My mum has phoned and asked about going to the County Town for some dress shopping (DD1s wedding coming up). I think I am going to get myself ready & go, as it is still raining anyway. I want to go to the bra shop as well while I am there 😁