Weekly Flylady Thread 24th November 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'
WUDUPA ~ washed up, dried up, put away
WUALTD ~ washed up and left to dry
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 ~ Lovely Lliving Room, Happy Hall and Safe Stairs
Level One...
Declutter all these areas
Vacuum these areas
Level Two...
Wipe/vacuum sofas
Clean windows in these areas, check curtains/nets/blinds while you are there, do they need a clean?
Dust any areas below eye level
Level Three...
Dust anything above eye level (if safe to do so)
Clear anything that shouldn't be where it is, should the magazines really be on the floor?
Wash any soft furnishings in need
Binbag dance
Tidy coats/shoes bags etc
Extra Mission Tasks~ if you want to do more

• Clean windows in these areas, check curtains/nets/blinds while you are there, do they need a clean?
  
  
• Check you have your Christmas card list done, if it's not done at least spend 10 minutes on it
• Spend 15 minutes sorting paperwork, dealing with anything urgent NOW
• Spend half an hour doing something for yourself
• 27 Fling Boogie, you know the routine, grab a bag and clear that clutter!
• Clean out the vacuum cleaner, empty the bag/bucket, clean filters if they are washable MAKE SURE YOU DON'T PUT THEM BACK UNTIL THEY ARE DRY!

Tuesday ~ Kitchen and dining room
Level One...
Clear and wipe work surfaces
Wipe down all the major appliances.. clean filters/drawers/seals etc
Wipe over the cupboards fronts and kickboards
Level Two...
Wipe the tables and replace the cloth if necessary
Sweep and mop the floors
Run appliances through a 'clean' wash
Deweb and defluff these rooms
Level Three...
Clear and mop/vacuum the floors
Scrub down the dining chairs..
Binbag dance! Grab a binbag.. fill it up.. and chuck it out!
Clean the oven.. and the shelves!
Extras - help yourself!

• Wipe and replace ALL the small appliances
• Empty and wash out bins
• S&S the fridge
• Clear out a manky cupboard
• Check the freezer, see what needs using up
• If you want a christmas supermarket delivery, and you haven’t booked a slot, you need to book it this week! Don’t end up like me one year where I ended up having to book click and collect as I had forgotten to book a delivery.

Wednesday ~ Master Bedrooms and Landings
Level One...
Remove floordrobe, make sure all clothes are put away neatly
Level Two...
Strip bed linen and wash, replace with clean linen
Vacuum floors in these areas
Level Three...
Vacuum mattress
Clean tops of drawers
Extra mission tasks, as always if you fancy an extra challenge try one or more of these

• Clean windows in these areas
• Check through drawers, anything that should have been thrown out ages ago?
• Cobweb removal upstairs, go on grab a duster and swipe them down
• Clean a set of curtains, nets or blinds
• Clean light fittings and light switches in any room, more than one if you like
• Plan your shopping list for your Christmas goodies.. don't forget the turkey! If you are ordering stuff from local shops.. pork pies/meat etc get it done this week!

Thrilling Thursday - Study/PC area and Bathrooms
Level One...
Clean floors in these rooms
Level Two...
Clean baths, toilets and sinks
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
Wipe down tiles in bathroom
Delete 10 links in your favourites which you no longer use or don't work
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required
Extra tasks list, as usual choose one or more

• Write those Christmas cards and sort stamps for those to be posted so you can post out a.s.a.p., especially if going abroad.
• Clear a hotspot, if it's bad at least spend 10 minutes on it
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Check house for places where draughts are getting in such as 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, you can use dead towels as cleaning cloths etc be ruthless! Yes this means parting with the 'just in case' things you have kept and you'll never use!
• Clean the toilet bowl on the outside and the floor in front of it, especially for those with little boys!

Friday!!~ those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms!
Level One...
Declutter the floors
Level Two...
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!
Put all the discs in their boxes and the books on the shelves and the toys in the chests!
Sort through a chest of drawers/wardrobe and fling anything that no longer fits.
Vacuum the floor, even if it's just where you can see
Level Three...
Strip beds, turn and vacuum mattresses!! and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors
Drag the junk from under the bed and put it in its proper homes.
Fill a binbag for charity shop.. Santa will be here in 30 days so make some space!
Dust and vacuum and wipe of sticky grotty bits.
Tidy a box of 'stuff'
Binbag dance!.. See how many toys you can fling before the large guy in red arrives.
Extras

• HHI
• Check through what decorations etc you have and what needs replacing/buying/finding, check lights etc
• Catch up on yesterdays list! We keep getting behind!
• Update spreadsheets.. meal plans, finances etc
• Scrub your grill pan..
• Clean where your Christmas tree and any other decorations are going.
• Contact anyone you don't have address for for Christmas cards
• Check what else you need to buy or make for Christmas presents
• Wipe over ALL the upstairs doors!!

ionafan

Thank you Natty x

I'll do my best to keep up with the flying this week, but I'm out tomorrow morning with U3A.  I think it will get a bit quieter in the middle of the week, though.

Narc0lepsy

Thanks for the new thread. 
Mr N, who is a few days behind me on this lurgy thing, felt really rough today so had a long lie-in which pleased me as he's been redecorating his study and I've kept telling him to slow down.
I went to church armed with cough sweets. Gave first completed fingerless gloves to the waterways chaplain to pass on to boaters.
Wrote a few more Christmas cards.
Finished another glove.
Fiddled about trying to download a track I want to drum to; no free sources. 

I actually think that is all I've done today; Mr N and I watched too much TV while slobbing on sofa. 

youth_leader

So great you are doing this on here.  I used to follow the FLYLADY on Facebook but she started getting odd comments and it wasn't a nice place to be.  I left my 5 bed house and didn't declutter ruthlessly enough and am drowning in this bungalow, the 27 fling will be happening tomorrow! 

Valli

welcome YL

Lovely day with family enjoying a roast….DS was a star too. my new table was well and truly christened.

weenancyinAmerica

@YORKSHIRELASS - Is the McDonald's there doing the adult Happy Meals? If they are, the "toy" inside is supposed to be a pair of socks (at least it is here) from the Grinch movie. Maybe a couple of Grinch socks would be fun in people's stockings?

Teaparty_mum

Good morning and happy new week..

As a family we have been going through some tough times, my coping mechanism is to clean the house everyday because I can’t control what I happening outside the house BUT I can control the house ( flaming autistic / ADHD brain) so after a few cups of tea I get started and work myself through my list (if I’m list making it shows how scrambled my head is 🙄) 

So far I’ve got a wash on and I’ve just walked the dog and I’m having my first cuppa coffee.

Jazee

Morning all.  Thanks for the list Natty.  Glad you had a lovely day Valli and welcome newbies.

 I have a rare Monday on my own today so I will get some flying done.  Just been puzzling so far though.  Wordle in four, one line on connections, strands with no hints.

Will report back with progress.

Have a great day everyone.

roundtuit

Morning all xx 

Thank you as always to Natty and Valli for keeping the thread running. 

Lovely to see some new faces 👋

I'm up, made my bed, got weighed*, changed Joey's seed and water, completed Strands with no hints, completed Wordle in four, completed Connections with three lives lost, and I'm supping my first brew.

*Lost 1.7 lbs this month apparently. My work trousers disagree 🙄.  All I can think is that my current bout of angst is burning calories? 🤔

Had a surprise visit from DS yesterday which chased BD away for a couple of hours. And he left with their Advent calendars ✔ I'll give P & S their Advent calendars to take when they call this morning. Job done.

Spoke to DB about my car starting issues. He gave me some advice building on the knack that I was already working out, and says he'll help investigate if that doesn't work. So I don't feel so 'alone' with that.

BD is still making its presence felt. Soooo annoying that it pounces out of the blue and sucks the joy out of me. I have my to do today list. I will keep on keeping on.

To Do Today Part 1

Get dressed 
Laundry shuffle 
Feed the birds 
Put out the recycling 
WUDUPA 
Write cheque for S 
Ring for repeat prescription 

That'll get the ball rolling. I am Round after all 😉(Groan 🤦‍♀️)

Love to all
Rxx

MadamMim2013

Morning all.. 👋🏼 
Thankoo for the always needed thread @Natty68

Spent someone in the loft yesterday with an aim to clear things that just don’t need to be there anymore.
Cleared out enough to warrant a tip trip (along with some lingering items from the garage)
Hoovering upstairs was then needed.. So did that along with a quick S&S of the bathroom ✅ 

Today is sorting the remaining items for charity & I will give the stairs a deep clean.. Might also attempt the Yule cards 🤔

Sending various sized sticks 🪵 for the lingering BD’s (mine’s currently lurking in the shadows 😕), a few spoons 🥄 & multiple 🤗 as needed!

MinnieMousesMummy

Morning all, It's another rather damp day here, but at least it's slightly warmer and no snow.  

My list for today
Empty the kitchen bin
Put the bins out for collection
Do the required uni work
Do freelance work that is in the diary for today
Hunt down the meds that dr put through for me last week, as no chemist seems to have received the order, then start taking the meds
Clean laptops
Wipe down the front of the kitchen cupboards
Sort out the kitchen cupboard for storing festive food and update the festive shopping list with items already got. 
Sort out a hiding place for festive presents
15 minutes dealing with paperwork
Hand kids old sweatshirts into school so others can use them
Add 10 items to V account
Check my Christmas card list and update
Bring the bins back in once emptied
Take DD to the stables so she can feed and check on her pony

I think that is everything that I need to tackle today, I'd best get started as there's a lot on my list. I hope everyone has a lovely Monday/week.