Weekly Flylady Thread 29th September 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, reparing 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!

Minging Monday ~ Kitchen and Dining Room (87 days till Christmas!)
Level One...
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Renew washing up sponges/cloths - nothing worse than a pongy sponge!!!
Level Two...
Sweep and mop floors
Clean the oven & hob
Wipe dining table..put some flowers in a pretty vase on it, or a pretty cloth!!
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 ..
Choose one small appliance to clean thoroughly..
Clean door fronts and insides & fronts of appliances.. don't forget those kick boards..
Defrost the freezer.. clean it out and make use of those things which need using!
Extra Mission : help yourself

• Clean the fridge..
• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!
• 33 fling boogie..
• Phone someone you love just to tell them so!!
• Empty the bin.. wash it out.. and make it smell SWEET

Tuesday Chuck! ~ Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One..
Check fire alarms are working
Remove and wash bed linen and duvet covers
Fling open the window and let in the draughts!
Level Two...
Make any appointments you have been putting off and catch up on phone calls you need to make!
Vacuum & turn mattress before replacing with fresh linen..
Air the duvet
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Level Three...
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Clean all jewellry
Wipe down all the paintwork.. and the bed frame
Sort through one cupboard/wardrobe/chest of drawers, fling everything that is dead
Extra tasks list, as usual choose one or more

• Check clothes - do any need repairing???
• HHI
• attack those naughty spider housing estates!!
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Sort through the bedding and towels.. are there any that are no longer needed/useable?
• Go through house with the mantra "Do you need it, do you want it, have you used it" If no, you know what to do - ebay/CS/bin!!!

Wednesday Wobbles ~ Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One...
Vacuum through the living room, hall and stairs
Cull magazines lying around
Level Two...
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean windows and all glass.. including the tv screen
Clean front door inside and outside..
Level Three...
Deflea any pets
Wipe and water plants
Put all your hotspots in one pile and work your way through it..
Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself
Make some time to bake a cake,or anything else you fancy!!
Extra Mission: Pick one or more of the following tasks –

• Pair chargers up with phones/DS's/tablets etc...
• Feed birds outside
• Sort out handbags and winter coats.. do any need replacing now?
• 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

Thursday Thingummies- those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One...
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Make an appointment for some ME-time.. hairdressers? manicure? night out with friends? .. whatever just do it!
Level Two...
Vacuum the floor
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!
Strip beds, turn and vacuum mattresses!! and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!!
Level Three...
Clean 2 windows
Sort through a cupboard/chest of drawers and get the clothes out which are no longer wearable, too small or out of season!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors
Extra Task List...

• Declutter programs you have recorded..
• Find 5 things to ebay/freecycle
• Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!
• HHI
• Clean out pet trays/cages/feeding bowls thoroughly
• Wash bed/fleeces of pets
• Mid week fling!! Grab a binbag and fill it with stuff to leave the house.. rubbish or charity shop or to donate to a friend!

Thursday

ionafan

Thank you Natty for the new thread.  I'll do my best this week, having spent most of the past week cooking.  K is coming to help[ me on Tuesday morning and has said she will clean behind and under the kitchen bookshelf.  As she too has a bad back, I think this is an excellent opportunity to persuade DH to declutter all his rubbish out of the basket on the upper shelf and for me to declutter a few more cookery books from the lower shelf   I have finished the week with a late evening prep of the Christmas pudding mixture, so I just have to stir a few times, make a wish, share the mixture out between four individual tins and three medium pudding basins and then cook them in the SC, then that's another job I can cross off my list.

GWS Joey and everybody else who's under the weather.
Hoping for a calm week for you both, round and YL, and a successful one (however you define that) for all the rest of us xxx

roundtuit

Morning all xx 

Thank you for your kind wishes for Joey. He's really not well and all flylady vibes are very welcome.

I've been awake half the night chasing caffeinated squirrels round my brain aka overthinking. And I now have a combination of anxiety and anxiety fatigue. And feel carp. Not the best way to start a new week, but it is what it is, and I have to start from where I am. So I will.

I'm up. That's a good start. I've made my bed, taken my meds, turned over the calendars, eaten breakfast and supped two brews. 

Right. I'm going to ring the optician's, ask them to send me my prescription,  and inform them that I don't plan to invest in a new pair of glasses at this time (because I can see perfectly well out of these ones). Swallow the biggest frog / get rid of a squirrel.

Then I'll shower and get dressed.

Rxx

Valli

Morning all

Thanks for all the birthday wishes ... and the lovely card - you know who you are!

Been a bit chaotic...sorry I've been MIA.  Nothing bad though

roundtuit

Optician's called.

Showered and dressed. 

WM swishing towels and tea towels. 

Next: feed the birds, put out the recycling,  write shopping list.

Rxx

roundtuit

Birds fed.
Recycling out.
Shopping list written.
Towels / tea towels pegged out.

Lovely day but nippy.

Kettle's on and mugs are ready for P & S to arrive for coffee.

Joey is sleeping  🤫

Rxx

Fayolle

Morning all,
Thank you for the lists.
I am faffing about this morning. A bit of this, a bit of that. 2 loads through the wm and on the line as it really is a glorious autumn morning here. HH admin done - why is everything so difficult? Pretty sure that I haven’t clicked the correct button but in my defence the bank’s online instructions were less than clear. And that from someone who is fairly on top of these things. I made a quick allotment visit to pick the last of the beans which we will have for dinner tonight.
DH has gone to small town to run a few errands. I really ought to use this time home alone usefully. Maybe I should / will sweep and mop the floors.

Valli

This getting older brings some unwelcome friends with it.  My sister decided she would upgrade her car, so offered it to me.  It's an all-singing all-dancing hybrid with a LOT of features.  It's also automatic.  So I have agreed to buy it.  I've just been to the Post Office with a VC cow box and some ebay sales and drove around the local area a bit just to get used to it.  My heart was in my mouth the whole time... I was SO anxious - and anxiety was never in my psyche when I was younger.  Anyway, I've reversed it now (twice - out of the car parking space and back onto my drive).  I've dropped the headrests in the back as they were in the way and I've had my driving reviewed by my car (it was impressed at my steady driving  ) and I'm calming down now.  I'm going swimming shortly and then to the chiropodist and though I COULD drive my old car (which is awaiting a trip to the garage for a repair before I get rid) I will stick to my very flashy little new car now.

So boo to getting older if it makes me more anxious.  

Anyway I've done some flinging!

Going to read the book and see if I can absorb some key information.

roundtuit

Towels drying in the sun.

P had a look at Joey but was unable to reach any conclusions. Joey is now even more out of sorts after being inspected. But currently sleeping. 

After P & S left I had half an hour with Joey - then went to the PO and into town: paid rent, paid C.Tax, filled up with diesel and did my Mr Al shop. 

Groceries have been put away.

Next job is to clean out Joey's cage - but I can do that later.

Rxx

eltee2

Afternoon all - lovely day again so WM x2 done & line drying.  Might need 10 mins TD later to finish.

Earlier
✔️Air & remade bed
✔️Shopping
✔️Made soup 
✔️HHG
✔️Had soup for lunch (very nice)

After lunch, I tackled chair 2 of Operation WATCUTTC (or whatever it was called)...

• Box of HMRC stuff 2020-2024 - put away with similar, ready to be filed in the loft

• Pack of replacement sponges/wipey things for the long-handled sponge/wipey thing - put away in bathroom cupboard

• Large, old illustrated Canterbury Tales tome from FiL, needs restoring.  OH meant to be sorting it - put safely in cupboard awaiting OH to do the right thing

• Box of old SW mags - bagged up ready for GP waiting room or similar (if not then fling/recycle)

• Kitchen cupboard door, waiting since 2019 to have re-attached - remind OH

• MORE thick dust - vacuumed

Kitchen stuff next, plus another HHG

El

Pollybear

Afternoon all.  One washload dried outside in the sunshine.    This morning I dusted, polished and vacuumed downstairs and up the stairs and washed the kitchen floor.   Then we went to the local town and had a walk along the river followed by coffee.   Back home and I cut the grass, edged and swept up.

My DS had his cataract surgery this morning so I was very relieved when he texted to say he was first in and it was all done by 9.00 am

Hope everyone's OK and a special wish for Joey x