Weekly Flylady Thread 18th August 2025

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.

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!

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

Please follow the forum rules 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 Marvels ~ Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One...
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Level Two...
Sweep and mop floors
Sort & clean the fridge
Wipe dining table..put a nice vase of flowers on it to make it look pretty!!!
Level Three...
Dust any extra furniture in dining area, checking for cobwebs on way round.
Wipe all your small appliances..toaster, kettle etc..
Wipe & declutter all the windows sills in these areas!!
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances .. don't forget those kick boards..
Wipe door handles..
Check those washing machine filters and drawers for ickiness!! Tumble dryer, cooker hood and dishwasher filters need to be done too!!
Extra Mission : help yourself

• Wipe down the hob and oven, go on you know you want to!!!!
• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!
• 32 fling boogie..
• GO! buy yourself a treat.. you deserve it!
• Empty the bin.. wash it out.. and make it smell SWEET

dancemum

I’m in, thanks for the lists

ionafan

Thank you Natty x  I'm in, whenever possible - will do at least level 1 tomorrow

A huge welcome back dancemum xx - lovely to have you with us again. Your move sounds exciting
Well done, YL x 
Glad you got a replacement bag, Valli x and to round x
Pleased to hear that you're feeling better, CoG

Thanks for all good wishes for my DH.  He took things very easy yesterday, and hasn't done much more today except make me a cuppa or two, but he has managed without his CPAP all day and says he has about half lung capacity now, which is an enormous improvement.  I asked him if he felt well enough to manage on his own tomorrow (only getting up and dressed and making his own lunch and drinks - no stairs to climb) and he said yes, so I am taking the now much reduced risk and going out on the U3A canal group's coach trip to Etruria.  Liz the dog walker will look in on DH when she brings Rosie home and will let me know if anything is amiss, but I'm optimistic that all will be well.  I need the day off..

I have done very little today myself, having been exhausted well before bedtime yesterday.  I chose not to go to church and had a quiet morning just pottering - though I did hoover the LR and also shredded a small pile of financial papers which are no longer needed.  Otherwise I have started a cross-stitch frame around the one picture of DH's which I am keeping, watered the pots in the back garden, walked Rosie, and cooked a "roast" dinner tonight with fried-in-the-wok chicken joints.  I even got about 30 minutes' zzz on the sofa during the afternoon: woke to find DH watching what I thought at first was a strange psychological thriller, but it turned out to be Miss Marple!

Hope everyone has a good week xxx

Valli

Thanks for the list, Natty, Not sure i’ll manage the kitchen though as i’m processing fruit like mad.

Must clean something, though.   And measure DR for new furniture.

Have ebay sales to go *fling* and still stuff to list.  ‘A draft a day’ might be my new mantra. 

Also need to label and list jams.  And give some away.

WM x 1 and DW x 2. 

Hopeyou have a lovely day on the canal Iona.  *envy*

Wordle in 3, strands 0 hints, lost 2 lives in connections .

YORKSHIRELASS

Morning all

Full on day at the paid stuff and a big important meeting 6pm tonight so I will take some deep breaths and be kind to myself.  I will have to WFH for a bit this aft so our old dog isn't on his own all day. 

20 minutes Pilates first, then shower breakfast and out the door.

Have a good Monday all x

roundtuit

Morning all xx 

Glad to hear you have a new jelly bag Valli xx

👋 welcome back dancemum xx

Thankyou to Valli and Natty for the lists xx

Another school day for Round, iona. A day trip by coach to Etruria seemed bizarre. It would take longer than 24 hours to get there surely? 🤔 Google. Ooooooh. Well I never did. There's an English suburb named after an Italian region. Still bizarre, but more realistic for a day trip. Enjoy. Xx

I'm up, stripped my bed, set WM swishing, got weighed 🤦‍♀️, completed Strands with no hints,  completed Wordle in three,  completed Connections with no lives lost, and supped my first brew.

I'm going to bite the bullet and ask the village FB page for recommendations for a gardener. Preferably a gardener who can chop down a tree, or recommend a tree surgeon. That'll swallow a couple of 🐸 🐸. And stop me getting lost in the jungle every time I peg out washing. 😱

Going to put the kettle on. Anyone fancy a brew?

Rxx

Jazee

Morning all.  Welcome back Dancemum. Even my predictive text remembers you!

I have had a bit of a lie in and now feel groggy.  Just having a cuppa with you Round but must get moving soon as we have ALL the family visiting today.  Think we'll escape to the ice cream parlour mid afternoon.

Oh and thanks for the list.

Sofa throws straightened.

Have a great day everyone.

Fayolle

Morning all
Thank you for the lists.
Welcome back dancemum!

Have a lovely day out, Iona. I also had to google Etruria, but DH (who used to live in the Potteries) knew all about it and thought I should too 🤷‍♀️.
Valli, I happened to read on another thread that a cotton pillowcase makes a good jelly bag. As ever, Round made me laugh.
I was awol over the weekend, as the annual manure drop occurred at the allotment, so it was all hands to the shovel and barrow. My arms know it this morning. I am off there again when I can muster energy as I need to water. Again. I was reading an article yesterday on how stressed the poor trees are getting with the lack of water, dropping fruit early, branches snapping etc. 
I have made a list for myself of jobs that I somehow didn’t get to this weekend 🙄. I need to focus once I get back again later this morning. Lack of focus is a real issue for me atm. I have helped myself to a cuppa or two with Round, now I had better get dressed and get on. Albeit slowly, no doubt.
Have a good day all. 

MinnieMousesMummy

Morning all, 

Thank you for the new list. Please count me in. 

My list for today
Go over to the stables and check on the horse
Attend uni classes
Check banking and direct debits
Do paid stuff
S&S kitchen (DD cleans the kitchen and DS cleans the fridge, and most of it was taken care of on Friday)
Remind DS to bring the bins back in
Sort back to school stuff for DS
Laundry x 1 load
HHI
Take DD over to the stables so she can feed the horse and check on him (no riding today as DD went over on her ankle last night, so resting it today)

I think that is everything that I need to tackle today. I hope everyone has a good Monday. Hugs to those who want/need them. 

MadamMim2013

Hellooo Dancemum 👋🏼 

This morning I randomly decided to use up of various ingredients in the kitchen/fridge, have currently made the following..

Potatoes Dauphinois
Carrot and swede mash (to put in freezer)
Boiled some beetroot (ready for the weeks sandwiches and salads)

Now I really do need to clean the kitchen.. so thanks for the list, I can go get on with it 😇

Honey_Bear

Welcome back Dancemum.

Have a lovely day out Ionafan.

Wordle in 6, Strands no hints, had to restart Connections twice but got all 4 lines in the end.

Have walked the dog, am about to jump in the shower and will then dust.  I must dust.