Weekly Flylady Thread 16th February 2026

Natty68

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.

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 upThese 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

OK here we go!

Magnificent Monday ~ Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One...
Check fire alarms are working
Fling open that window and blow those cobwebs out!!
Air the room!!! Nothing worse than a bedroom smelling of parps!
Remove and wash bed linen
Level Two...
Vacuum mattress before replacing with fresh linen..
30 minutes floor clearance.. that includes floordrobe and junk!
Level Three...
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort 10 things from a wardrobe/chest of drawers that you can get rid of... and a pair of shoes only counts as one thing! Likewise socks!.. and it is time those knickers you have had for 37 years were binned.. let hem go liberate yourself!!
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs...
Extra Mission

• 39 fling boogie time, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter
• Wipe or dust over the upstairs light fittings.. don't go injuring yourself please you have the rest of the week to work through!
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Wipe down the skirting in the bedroom and on the landing

Twinkling Tuesday - Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One...
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Level Two...Sweep and mop floors
Sort & clean fridge bringing what needs using soon to the front, clean out any spills or grots in there! Is there anything that needs to be made into a yummy soup!!
Wipe dining table.. (clean table cloth if necessary)
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
Clean out the cupboard full of pasta and packets and pickles..
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances .. don't forget those kick boards..
Check those filters and drawers for ickiness, gackiness and fluff!!
Extra Mission
Choose one or more of:

• Wipe window sills and clean windows in these rooms
• Wipe down any tiles and shine those taps.. a toothbrush is great for cleaning away the gunk!
• Clean oven if it really needs it.. or just do the hob or a knob!!..
• 29 fling boogie.. GO!
• Empty the bin.. wash it out.. and make it smell SWEET

Whitening Wednesday- Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One..
Vacuum floors and sofas
Level Two...
Dusting, even if around everything & water & wipe the poor neglected plants!
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean TV, other electricals and cabinets
Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself
Level Three...Wipe light switches, sockets (make sure they are not switched on!!) and banister
Clean windows & any other glass like mirrors, pictures etc
Tidy shoes, coats and bags .. Are there any that need rehoming?
Wipe skirtings, doorframes and other paintwork
Extra Mission:Pick one or more of the following tasks –

• Paperwork clearance.. spend 15 minutes minimum sorting through those piles of paper.. the bottom 6 inches is just rubbish it has been there so long I'm surprised it isn't compost!!
• Change any dead lightbulbs in the house!
• Clean a radiator or two.
• Binbag dance.. Get a binbag.. fill it and bin it!!!
• HHI.. get that mountain gone

Thundering Thursday - Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One...
Clean floors in these rooms
Air the room.. fling open the windows and let in the springy air!! I don't care if it is 13' below!! lol
Level Two...
Clean baths/shower, toilets, don't forget under the rim! 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, nets, clean blind/curtains etc whatever needs cleaning.
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment your pc while doing this.
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required
Collect any stray laundry from upstairs
Extra mission:Pick whichever you want to attempt:

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Wipe down the doors and frames in these rooms.
• Clean the radiators in these rooms
• Wash the windows in these rooms.. and shine the mirrors
• HHI... a bit more gone!
• Spend half an hour with your little ones, for those that have them, doing anything they fancy.

Finally Friday- those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One...
Vacuum the floor, even if it's just where you can see
Level Two...
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!!
Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!
Spend at least half an hour doing something for yourself!!!!! paint your nails, make an appointment to have your hair done, a lovely soak in the bath.. whatever you feel like!! I'm having my nails done this morning as usual
Strip beds, turn and vacuum mattresses!! and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets & pillows need freshening up too!!
Level Three...
Rummage ALL the junk from one shelf and sort through it..
Sort through a toybox chuck out all the things they don't need any more.. charity or freecycle or whatever.
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors
Extra Task List

• Wash a set of curtains, nets, duvet or throw
• Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!
• End of week fling!! grab a binbag and fill it with stuff to leave the house.. rubbish or charity shop or to donate to a friend!
• Half an hour in the garden clearing the mess and making it nice for spring to arrive.. the sooner your garden is nice the sooner it arrives! Honest!

kazmeister

Thank you Natty for the list and Natty for last weeks.

Nice to see you back MrsC. Don’t expect too much from your DH’s retirement if he is anything like mine, and doesn’t want to spend retirement cleaning!

Yesterday was such a lovely day, great to see blue skies and sunshine. Little dog went for his vet trip and all was going well. Needs to go back on Monday so that will be another run out for me. DD and I then had a run over to see my Dad who is doing well bless him. Huge bag of free spuds brought back as he has grown far more than he can eat. Big brother popped in too, don’t see him very often as he’s away most of the week lorry driving. Did some shopping on the way back as needed to stock up on some bits and pieces that blew a hole in a ton.

My dog had me up at around 3am whining. She wanted to go out, usually sleeps on my bed but is petrified of Milo’s donut so won’t be in the same room but decided she would come up with me so I spent the rest of the night wedged between the two dogs and hardly able to move.

Today has not been so great weather wise and we did have about an inch of snow. It was wet slushy stuff so hasn’t hung around as the rain has since. It has meant staying in all day, having some me time, including a soak in the bath (usually shower so a treat) and not getting dressed until 3.

Some flying was done and went through the house with the hoover and a flick of the duster but no deep cleaning today. WM and TD have been fed a couple of times with the towels first then a couple of my loads. Need to go and swap them over shortly before bed.

MrsChaos

Thank you for the list, Natty (and thank you to Valli for last week’s). Looks like changing a username isn't straight forward, so I'll remain MrsC for the time being. I also think I need some help with formating. How do I avoid the spaces between the lines on my list? Have a great week, everyone.

Magnificent Monday ~ Master Bedroom & Landing

Remove and wash bed linen

30 minutes putting clothes away

Vacuum loft (bedroom) stairs

Also on the list:

WFH

Make vet appointment

Phone friend

Prep stew for Tuesday

GP appointment at 4pm

Food collections for the community fridge at 20:30

Dailies: WM (clothes), DW, litter tray

Narc0lepsy

Welcome back MrsC.

Hugs for all those feeling ill or under the weather (literally). What was the flylady called who had that terrible flood some years back? We've had total contrast over the weekend, which has affected flying.

Saturday was clear and sunny so I had a lovely, although chilly, swim while the washing machine was going. By the time I'd got back, via Mr L to do a bit of grocery shopping and get the paper, Mr N had hung the washing out and I was able to add my swimming stuff to the line (nothing worse that a wetsuit dripping in the shower alll week…..). We then did a load of gardening. The Valentine's meal was a real team effort; I did smoked salmon on crackers and chopped onions, mushrooms and beans while Mr N fried the very posh steak which thankfully was large enough to do us for 2 days so not as costly as first thought. I'd made a simple but yummy lemon mousse-like pudding which we had with frozen raspberries (there were lots of people wandering round Mr L bemoaning the lack of raspberries or strawberries!). Then we watched a film. After a lot of head-scratching and finger addition, we decided it was our 47th Valentine's Day together.

Today was a different story; cold splatty sleet followed by cold rain. Walked to church with raincoat and umbrellla. Mr N's day did not begin well (nor mine) as he spoke to the friend we visited in Somerset at Xmas; confirmed that his wife is now on palliative care and has weeks/months. Feel so helpless and sorry for his friend watching his partner of 50yrs deteriorate. We spent much of the day working out when we could visit and hopefully be able to do some practical help or just moral support. We also went through the 'house documents' box file and managed to cull a few items such as our first mortgage application, long paid off. I re-typed the box index and printed it off, via putting a new print cartridge in and remembering to bag up the old one for recycling. Mr N also had a file of less-vital but interesting details of house items e.g. new en suite, kitchen worktops and he compiled a list of suppliers which I typed. With so many people becoming 'late' around us, we really need for both of us to know where all documents are. Generally we are fairly organised but I tend to gravitate towards online stuff like house and car insurance, while he knows about practical stuff like the electric garage door. I've 'shared' the house documents box info with my brother (remembering how to type the document name and path as a footer).

I can report being very pleased with my cheap ultrasonic cleaner and have been gradually putting late MIL's jewellery in it. Shiny! (earworm for the Shiny song from Moana……I love crabs).

Valli

Morning all

Still in bed; DD got her car sorted yesterday in Steel City, where she spends much time with her BF and then came back last night, so I didn't have to take her to work.

We went to the pub for tea and quiz night. No wins on the quiz but I was very pleased with the answer to one question which I worked out - two PL football teams furthest apart - I figured it was Newcastle and Bournemouth…

They do a blue light discount so we could claim that.

DW, WM and TD all run.

Thanks for the list, Natty

Fayolle

Morning all,

Thank you for the lists. Bedroom window has been open to let in the freezing gale. Closed now. Wm x 2 done with towels and cleaning cloths. Dw emptied and I also WUDUPA and shone the sink. Then DH poured coffee down it. The duster has been flicked around the DR.

I’m glad that Valligirl got sorted. I live in fear ever since it happened to me on the way home from work. The potholes around here are now large missing chunks of road, so unavoidable. Thank you HB for your vibes for Miss Fayolle. If you could just keep them going a little longer please 🤞.

Honey_Bear

More Flylady vibes heading Miss Fayolle's way.

Bathroom dusted, a horrible job because it's a southwest facing window and when the dust wafts in on the breeze it gets muddy with the condensation from hot showers. Gives me the ick. Anyway, it's done.

One of our regular visiting performing arts companies for digs went all corporate during the pandemic and booked hotels for the company and now finally, six years on, the chaps are back to booking for themselves. They come twice year so we've built up quite a rapport with these guys, and Belovéd stays in touch with one of them anyway because it's a chap thing chat about footie. It just so happens that whereas in the olden days when I started doing theatre digs we had performers from that company, who come and go over the years, for the past 15/20 years we've had technical crew who don't move jobs that much. So two of our lovely chaps, regulars from the olden days, are coming to stay in March. Hurrah! However, this means I have to get those rooms spick and span by then, and as we haven't been having people to stay very much for six years, that means removing and rehoming all the junk that got chucked in one of them in particular, and then spring cleaning them. (In the intervening years I've just moved all the gibble to the other room when one was needed.) I can't face doing it all in one hit so I've allowed myself a month and will nibble away at it. Today I rehomed all the gibble that didn't belong in a bedroom of any sort. Most of it has gone into the Cupboard of Doom under the front steps and it is my intention that place will get a complete overhaul this year, including pulling everything out and repainting it, but not just yet. The thing about unused spaces is they collect stuff like a magnet and there's rarely any reason to deal with it, so when I have to it's a big job. I need to stop collecting Things That Might Be Useful and just use the stuff.

Pollybear

Afternoon all. One washload done and more than half of it dry. Dusted, polished and vacuumed through downstairs and washed the kitchen floor. Swept up in the garden because it's actually dry and then scrubbed off most of the bird poo. Thankless job because it won't stay clean for more than 5 minutes. Emptied, cleaned and refilled bird bath. I got a rotary washing line cover delivered yesterday because the birds have pooed all over the line. I cleaned it all off before I put the cover on. They will poo on that but it will be easier to clean than all the separate lines and bars. I won't be hanging washing out until I stop feeding them in a few weeks.

That's about it. Hope everyone's OK x

eltee2

Afternoon all - we've a few days away with friends later this week so will be basic flying & tidying this week.

So far today...

✔️Opened windows

✔️Aired & remade bed

✔️Exercises

✔️WM x2

✔️TD x2

✔️DW

✔️Went for a walk

✔️Top-up shop

✔️Drafted email to solicitor to update wills

✔️Closed the windows

Later...

S&S kitchen

S&S bathroom

Important jobs for February

Quotes for tree work - remind OH✔️✔️✔️✔️

Was doing a ✔️ for each time I remind OH but I've lost count and given up🤷🏼‍♀️ (it's been on the master list since 2019!)

Small must-do jobs for this week

Send off email to solicitors (waiting for info from OH)

✔️Add 'Get quotes for tree work' to my list

El

Natty68

I apologise if the main post gets a bit scrambled as I'm a bit fuzzy at the moment. I'm finally starting to see some light after getting ill 4 weeks ago..thankfully the asthma episode is not as bad now and is almost under control. Unfortunately it then showed up I was worse than originally thought.

In-between coughing, sweating for England, not getting a decent night's sleep, feeling so tired it was unbelievable and also coughing up horrible stuff I lost track of days completely.. I didn't even celebrate my birthday last week - oh wait I did with dry toast...lol Even Valentine's day got bypassed here, I felt so sorry for DH as he has bought me a card and he didn't get anything from me.

But I have actually started to feel semi human this morning to the point I did some washing and hung it up on the airer. And now I'm going to get some toast as that's really all I fancy for tea.

I have flown a bit, I hung the washing up, washed up and sorted out the fleeces on the settees.

Valli

I'm halfway round the bedroom, I stopped to go swimming and never went back up after getting home, partly because I was knitting and waiting for a phone call. I've to stop my vertical tablet…I can go back to having coffee in bed. I'm so excited!

I've thrown away a tin (into recycling) and I think I'll send the old coins and commemorative crowns that were in it to the old cow company, so I need to find a box and start filling it. They're not making much on ebay so this will get them out sharpish.