Weekly Flylady Thread 5th January 2026

Natty68

FIRST FULL THREAD OF
2026

We often see new flyers (gents welcome!) around this time of year so please don't worry if you feel you cannot keep up.  Similarly if your house has been neglected it won't be turned around in a day - but if you stay you will get into some good habits which do help!  Happy flying.

Thank you, Valli, for last week's 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.

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.

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.

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 asier.
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 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

Hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and New Year and are now ready to get stuck into a nice bit of cleaning...(she says tongue in cheek!!)

Here we go:

Monday ~ Bathroom Mayhem..
Level One...

PLEASE STAY SAFE AND WARM  IN THE SNOW, THOSE THAT HAVE IT.
Clean the sinks, baths, toilets, showers etc
Declutter the manky bathroom floor
Level Two...
Wash the window and clear the sill
Fling out all the empties from the bathroom
Wipe the mouldy bits away
Level Three..
Scrub down the tiles.. defrag the pc while you do this!.. or virus scan or spyware scan
Wash/vacuum the floor
Wash the shower curtain/screen, curtains/blinds etc
Extras

• Empty and clean out the bin
• Polish the mirrors
• Declutter the desk.. make it shine!
• Delete 50 unwanted emails from your inbox!

Tuesday ~ Kitchen Tinklings
Level One...

STAY SAFE AND WARM IN THE SNOW/FLOODS/COLD THOSE THAT ARE AFFECTED
Clear and wipe kitchen worksurfaces
Sweep the floor!
Level Two...
Mop the floor
Wipe the table and dining chairs
Muck out the fridge
Level Three..
Empty under the sink cupboard.. give it a wipe out and put back neatly the things you NEED.. get rid of or rehome the rest!
Throw out any chipped mugs.. the porous pottery harbours bacteria.. YUK!!
S&S over all the unit fronts and appliances!
Extras

• Wash the windows and sills
• Clean out the microwave
• Fill a binbag with rubbish and get rid!
• Catch up on important phone calls... if you do it now you have time to chase the follow up calls later in the week!

Wishy-Washy Wednesday ~ Luscious Living Room, Hallway and Stairs
Level One...

STAY SAFE AND WARM IN THE SNOW/FLOODS/COLD THOSE THAT ARE AFFECTED
Declutter the living room , hallway and stairs
Clear and tidy the mantle
Level Two...
Vacuum the cleared floors and up the stairs.. under furniture if you can move it safely!
Sort through coats and shoes and bag
Wipe and water neglected plants
Level Three…
Check smoke alarms.. change any batteries that need doing
Wipe the paintwork
Dust the flat surfaces
Extras

• Make an appointment for some ME-time.. go get your hair done, half an hour shopping, coffee with a friend..
• Wash the windows in these rooms
• Clean out your handbag!.. and/or college/work bag
• Wash any soft furnishings that are in need!

Thursday - Master bedsty & landing 
Level One... 
STAY SAFE AND WARM IN THE SNOW/FLOODS/COLD THOSE THAT ARE AFFECTED
Strip the bedsheets and wash them! 
Clear floordrobe.. 
Level Two.. 
Vacuum the floor you can see in the bedroom and on the landing! 
Fill a binbag with stuff you no longer need and get rid! 
15 minutes filing 
Level Three... 
Wash any soft furnishing that need it 
HH doing something that NEEDS doing..study, ironing, exercise.. GO! 
Empty any bins and take any laundry to the wash basket 
Extras

• Wash dirty windows
• Dust away all the cobwebs and dust 
• Wipe all the upstairs doors! .. both sides!! 
• Straighten the linen cupboard! 

Friday - Spare rooms and kiddies rooms
Level One.
Stay safe in the snowy freezy cold weather

Strip the bedsheets and wash them!
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Level Two...
Vacuum the floor you can see
Fill a binbag with stuff you no longer need and get rid!
HHI .. catch up!!
Level Three...
Wash any curtains/blinds that are in need
Drag all the tat from under the bed and put it in its rightful places
Straighten books shelves/games etc
Extras

• Wash dirty windows
• Dust away all the cobwebs and dust
• Wipe the paintwork and grubby sticky hand prints
• Dust shelves and light fittings etc

Jazee

Thanks Natty.  Will see what I can achieve in the morning before family arrives.

Suffolksue

Please may I join for 2026 ,
I need to get a grip on things and the shower room is dreadfully ( bathroom not so bad ) 
will see how I get on but please don’t expect miracles 

MadamMim2013

Thanks Natty ☺️
What a perfect list for tomorrow as the bathroom WILL be getting full level 3 treatment!
Hubster is home so should take half the time 🥳

No real snow here, flurries of what looks like beanbag beans.. 🤣

Hoping for a kind and calm week for all 💗

leftatthetrafficlights

Can I join please? I'm building my mindful cleaning practices so having a focus on one area a day may really help with that! 😁 

ionafan

Thank you Natty for starting us off on this week's Flying x

Welcome to all newbies. Do only as much as you feel able to do, don't burn yourselves out in the first week!

I only do as much as I reasonably can each day.  I'm not one for cleaning unless it is absolutely necessary and will make a noticeable difference, but as I do several quick PUPA sessions every day there is not a great deal out of place, the washing up / loading the DW is generally done after each meal or batch cooking session, so the kitchen is kept tidy, and I try to keep the dust and dog hair under control whenever and wherever it begins to show.

This evening I've decluttered about 100 digital photos from 2020-21 off my phone whilst re-watching Josh Widdicombe's brilliant episode of WDYTYA (he is so disbelieving!).  Tomorrow I aim to sort through some of the photo prints of my children for the 2nd time, much more ruthlessly than the first, as I still have far too many to fit into the only two albums that I want to keep.

If you need to go out of the house tomorrow, please take care.  The temperature here hardly reached above freezing today, so there are still lots of patches of ice xxx

twinklie

Well check me out - I got ahead of myself and did the bathrooms today (Sunday)!! 💪🏻

So a bit of a different plan for me. But I’m back at work tomorrow so don’t know what the day will hold. Fingers crossed I’ll feel like I’ve achieved something at home though. 🤞🏻

roundtuit

Morning all xx 

-3° feels like -8° here apparently. And the rime of white frost is finally visible. Never have I ever been so glad that I don't go to the paid stuff on a Monday!!

I'm up, made my bed, taken my meds, turned over the calendars, changed Joey's seed and water, completed Strands with two hints, completed Wordle in five, only managed one line in Connections, and I'm supping my first brew. 

Pops and Babs should be winging it to Spain as I type. I'll check their flight got off OK in a mo.

On my To Do Today List 

Feed the birds 
Put out the recycling 
WUDUPA 
Clean out Joey 
HH Admin 
Laundry shuffle x ?
Pay electricity bill 


Stay toasty. If you're out and about : go steady.
Love to all
Rxx

MinnieMousesMummy

Morning all, 

My list for today
Do paid stuff
Do required uni stuff
Do volunteer admin
Check banking and update the spreadsheet
Look into tv account, as I want a better deal . Not a major saving, but I have managed to save £11 per month. 
Pay cc
Bring the bins in once emptied
Take down the festive decorations
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 hope everyone has a lovely Monday

Honey_Bear

ionafan said:

I only do as much as I reasonably can each day.  I'm not one for cleaning unless it is absolutely necessary and will make a noticeable difference, but as I do several quick PUPA sessions every day there is not a great deal out of place, the washing up / loading the DW is generally done after each meal or batch cooking session, so the kitchen is kept tidy, and I try to keep the dust and dog hair under control whenever and wherever it begins to show.

That's exactly the Flying model I/we use here.  Dusting is my bete noir and I have absolutely no idea why.  For some reason I don't really mind doing the kitchen and bathroom, and now that we have cordless bagless vacuums at the top and the bottom of the house the floors are much, much better.

Thank you for last week's list Valli and this week's list Natty.  I will give the bathroom and the shower room a proper clean and wash the shower curtains because it's cold and dry here, so they'll be back in and up again by this evening.

Welcome Christa27, Leftatthetrafficlights and Suffolk Sue.

Kaz, I didn't include our dog grooming costs which are roughly £200 a year, and I spend about £200 a month on food, which I aim to reduce to £150 a month this year by having a Use It Up Year.  Belovéd switches between the RAC and AA etc regularly so I don't know what those costs are.  This is an 1860s house that was meant to have a range, a copper and a draughty larder in the basement so it is a house that was designed to breathe.  We don't burn any solid fuel, we've insulated and boarded the attic (the roof was felted before I bought the house) and Belovéd very cleverly found a local joiner who made us secondary glazing which we put up over the winter, and we have a couple of door curtains on the draughty front and back doors.  We did all of those things over several years and it's made the house less breatheable but much warmer.  We fling open all the doors and windows in hot, dry weather to air the house completely for months.  Our dehumidifier in the basement (we're built into the side of a hill) has conked out so I need to get another one, but that'll reduce our electricity bill while it's not working.  I hope you find ways of reducing your household spends before your retirement; we're always trying to reduce ours but not to the point of being uncomfortable.  It's all a compromise.

Belovéd is having an ankle xray with a guided jab this morning which we hope will increase his mobility.  If he's in pain after it and doesn't want to catch the bus home afterwards I'l sling the wheelchair (kept after my broken ankle several years ago because it was such a comfortable one and we're a group of eight houses with quite a few elderlies amongst us) in the back of the car and go and pick him up.

Valli

Morning all

We've had snow here but not much.

Welcome Newbies - remember we are all here precisely because we DON'T particularly like cleaning - so we cheer each other on!

Hoping to get the tree etc down today.  And deal with the stuff out of the loft *fling*