Weekly Flylady Thread 7 October 2025

Valli

Welcome to the weekly Flylady Thread.

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 Natty 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 content! (i.e. it should be on-topic)
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- that’s 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 former Flylady 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 stopping, 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!
Frog (or other amphibian) ~ google 'eat that frog'
Spoons ~ google 'but you don't look sick' and/or 'The Spoon Theory'.

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

Marvellous Monday - Kitchen and Dining Room

Level 1
Open some windows for some fresh air 
Wash up, dry up and put away (or remove all pots to DW) 
Clear sides and wipe down - wipe small appliances and caddies etc.  Don't forget the splashbacks or tiles!
Replace what lives there, wiping as you go
Empty bin and clean it out too - put it outside to dry in the sunshine, if you can.
Clear and clean sink and accessories - don't forget those out-of-sight places - under plugs and under draining racks - and shine those taps - or clean them!
Glug some bleach down the plugholes.
Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth - don't forget the legs and places where sticky fingers can reach.
Clean chairs/stools - and don't forget legs and rails!
Check fruit and wash bowl
Throw away your manky dish cloth or sponge and replace with a new one!  Put out a new hand towel and a new tea towel too
Got a sugar bowl?  Wash it out!

Level 2

Wipe down all cupboard and drawer fronts inside and out, not forgetting handles and tops and bottom as well as fronts!
Clean hob
Clean microwave
Sort fridge and wipe seals; weave stuff that needs using up into your meal plan; update shopping list as appropriate, wash shelves etc and check running temperature 
Dust dining area/room
Descale kettle if needed
Clean WM , TD and DW filters; remove WM detergent drawer and wash it out.
Wipe inside of washer drawer and DW door paying particular attention to manky crevices

Level 3

Choose a drawer, shelf or cupboard for special attention.  Empty, clean out, replace what is needed or useful and fling what is unused and/or out of date - herbs and spices all in date?  
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean chairs (and highchairs) - don't forget under the seats where sticky fingers linger.
Clean windows and sills in both rooms.

EXTRAS

HHI
S&S bathroom
Meal plan for the week - and aim to clear out the freezer ready for the big day

Tuesday banish the blues day…you can’t pour from an empty cup so time to fill up - your sanctuary - the boudoir

Level 1

Open windows
Clear the floordrobe/chairdrobe
Strip the bed and leave to air
Take out the rubbish
Bedding in WM

Level 2 (after breakfast/a period of time)

Remake the bed with clean, fresh linen
Dust/clear bedside tables
Clean windows, frames and sills (and wipe the open frames to clear dust and debris)

Level 3

Vacuum any soft furnishings - don't forget the headboard if it's fabric!  And if it isn't dust it.
Dust everywhere else; as you remove lotions and potions from dressing tables wipe them over with a damp cloth. Make sure perfumes are stored in their boxes or in dark drawers. Minimise clutter/organise essentials.
Vacuum/mop floors

Extras 

Me time…a face pack, a bubbly bath, book a treatment, wrap wrinkly hands in hand cream and slather some on your feet too (and, if you’re a sock wearer, cream on feet before popping socks on is a good habit).  Spend some time on a hobby, with a book or watch something you love on the box (tv)
HHI
Make sure whatever your tipple is there is some ready (chilling?) 

Honey_Bear

Wow.  You're waaaay ahead of me Valli!  Thank you for the listies ladies.

Tomato plants hacked down and shoved in the bin.  There are well over a kilo of green ones that I'll need to turn into a small batch of chutney which is annoying but they're not going to ripen and I need the space for the broad beans.  I was going to trash the two cucumber plants as well after picking what I thought was the last one of the season, but there are little ones growing so those plants have had a reprieve.

I made a batch of dog treats yesterday from oatflour, a tin of pilchards that had expired in 2022 and three small boxes of sweet potato out of the freezer and Wren absolutely loves them.  I suddenly realised we spend money on dogtreats but I have all the nescessary stuff in the house but I often don't realise what I could do,  so I'm setting myself an October Challenge of eating from the stores.  We have a lot of food so no big shops for me for the whole month.  There's a perfectly adequate Co-0p at the end of the road so I can get whatever we need from there if we really do need anything like green veg or milk.  The September Challenge worked so well I thought I thought I'd give this a whirl.

I'm still doing one of those annoying 'I must do that' most days because the penny dropped in Seotember that those jobs are rarely that time-consuming so I'm hoping my October Challenge results in a change of habit and thinking.  Besides which, it's very MSE.

Pollybear

Afternoon all.    A mixture of cloud and sun and breezy.  I dried a washload by lunchtime.   DH seemed better first thing but faded fast by the end of the morning.   He's just worn out.

Hope everyone's OK x

roundtuit

Towels and tea towels line dried, brought in and FU.

Caught up with the Admin side of things: checked August's bank statement (ooops a bit late), recycled my birthday cards, noted the Christmas cards and gifts that I've already bought, filed receipts, sorted through a pile of paper and recycled or added to shredding pile. Kitchen table now looks tidier - and it's in Zone 1 so 👏

I've been to town to pick up my prescription and came home via the motorway to give my engine (diesel) a clear out. Called at the Co-op for bits for next week's pack up. 

Rxx

kazwookie

No internet connection earlier today so I put the time to good use, with OH being away and all that, I have bought / wrapped / labelled/ hidden all C presents!.

I've also cleaned the kitchen

Walked the sea was / is in a rage today.

Cats fed and cuddled

Has a sleep, low and behold the internet is back.

Thank you for the new lists.

Jazee

Thanks for the list Valli.

 I have spent two hours walking today across two walks with Poppet, done dailies, hoovered through. Listed some stuff on vinted.  Am trying to keep a threatening headache at bay.  Oh and three wash loads which have almost finished drying in the wind.

ionafan

Thanks Valli for the list x

I am tired and my hands hurt, and I don't feel that I have done much today, but
-  I picked up about 9 more glass jars with metal lids from church, and washed them all out properly, so they are ready to be refilled with jam or chutney
- I also brought home another small bag of green tomatoes that somebody had brought in)
- I delivered DDiL1's birthday present to her: didn't go in the house, as they are all still recovering from the snottiness that is doing the rounds here, but we stood outside in the sun and chatted for a few minutes while DS1 picked some more apples for me
- I went to the Land of Ice to spend a £10 voucher that DH had won some time ago at SW and only just remembered to give me: I got a multibuy of already discounted frozen fish pie mixes together with a few other things, plus I took his SW card and got a further 10% off, so items that should have cost £18.75 in all only took £3.72 from my food budget for this month (plus the gift card of course) - very MSE!
- Rosie refused to go out for a walk this afternoon because the scrapman was doing the rounds with his tinny call and it spooked her again :sad:

Tomorrow I have to be out of the house by 9.00am, having already walked Rosie (L the dog walker is on holiday), to go and visit a friend about an hour and a bit's drive from here.  I might do a detour to the Swedish shop on the way home to look at a wardrobe.

Hope everyone has a good week xxx

Jazee

Morning all.  Hope you're all okay this morning.  Wordle in four.

DD and her children will be here as usual today although we are going out to soft play this afternoon.  I've started preparing the house for their arrival.  Have also started prepping Poppets food and straightened throw on sofa.  Will report back if I achieve anything else.

Have a great day everyone.

roundtuit

Morning all xx 

I'm up, made my bed, taken my meds, turned over the calendars, got weighed, changed Joey's seed and water, completed Strands with no hints, completed Wordle in four, only managed one line on Connections,  and I'm supping my first brew.

Zone 2 this week. That's kitchen and pantry, only as I don't have a pantry. I'm thinking that once the kitchen is straight I'll add the CoD (cupboard under the stairs) to Zone 2 as it opens into the kitchen. 

P & S are calling for coffee this morning as usual. And I'm meeting L for coffee this afternoon at the posh farm shop cafe. But I can flutter in between.

Have a good day.
Rxx

eltee2

Morning all

Am feeling better but we're all still a bit feeble - including DS and it's his birthday today (he can't be 37, everyone knows I'm only 46! 🤭).     He wants to just chill, fine by us, and we're doing a fakeaway later.

As to flying....
Open windows - gorgeous but chilly here today
Air & remake bed - eventually
Level 1 from list - slowly but surely
🐸🐸🐸HMRC tax return MUST DO TODAY
HH bulb planting 

That'll be it methinks - kettle is on if anyone fancies a cuppa ☕️

El

YORKSHIRELASS

Morning

Bit of a wobbly, anxious morning not helped by the fact that I have a builder here and a difficult meeting later ( neither of which should really bother me that much).

Got quite a lot of Flying done yesterday which is good because I am currently shut in the kitchen with the dog while the builder goes in and out of the back door.  I will get on with some paid stuff.