Weekly Flylady Thread 23 February 2026

Valli

WekcometotheweeklyFlyladyThread

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!

Useful abbreviations

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

Wash up (or remove all pots to DW) and clean the draining rack and board.

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.

Empty out caddies/storage jars or tins and wash them out.

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!

Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth

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

Level 2

Wipe down all cupboard and drawer fronts, 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 and wipe fridge shelves and baskets.

Dust dining area/room

Descale kettle if needed

Clean WM , TD and DW filters; remove WM detergent drawer and wash it out.

Check the ceiling/crevices for cobwebs

Level 3

Pick a cupboard or a drawer; empty it, clean it out and put back its contents tidily

Sweep/mop/vacuum floor

Clean chairs (and highchairs) - don't forget under the seats where sticky fingers linger.

Clean windows in both rooms. 

EXTRAS

HHI

S&S bathroom

Meal plan for the week.

Month end looms - get those financial spreadsheets/notebooks up to date

Twinkly Tuesday those important little places

Level 1

open windows everywhere to let in some fresh air

slosh some cleaner down loo

empty bin

scrub toilet bowl and the grim rim

wipe outside of toilet and bin those wipes

Level 2

wipe out bath and or shower

cleans taps, plug, drains and hose and head

wash shower curtain or clean screen - peg out curtain

Level 3

scrub handbasin and taps

wipe round and dust

wipe light pulls

polish mirror

clean floor 

extras

s&s kitchen

hhi


month end looms..time to submit meter reads

check smoke and CO alarms are working

Wednesday - hump day and pension day so I'm in a good mood

living room

level 1

open windows in every room to ventilate and freshen - who needs ambi pur (other chemical fragrances are available)

empty bins

water plants

clear tables of gibble

sort fire

level 2

dust everything

clean windows

level 3

vacuum thoroughly - shift furnitue and lift cushions

s&s kitchen and bathrooms

binbag dance

Thursday - Master Bedrrom

level 1

Strip bed

open window

Take out rubbish

clear floor and chairdrobe

vacuum mattress, headboard and frame

level 2

remake bed

vacuum/sweep/mop floor

Level 3

Dust light shades, curtain poles, tops of wardrobes etc

wipie lotion and potion bottles with a damp cloth

empty a drawer or cupboard, dust and vacuum and re-organise tidily

extras

wipe all sockets and switches with a damp cloth, and plugs and cables.  Make sure all are dry Before reconnecting 

s&s kitchen

s&sbathroom

Fabulous Friday - Hall Stairs and landing and space audit/Toots list

clean all glass - mirrors, windows

bash mats

tidy coate rack and remove anything that's taken up rsidence

ditto shoe rack

dust shelves and ledges

dust any furnitures

dust pictures, dado, picyure rail if any

wipe inside of soor/skirtings

check for, and eliminate, cobwebs

bash mats

vacuum carpets

sweep and mop hard floors

With Toots list in hand visit each room and note pressing tasks - put them on the list room by room

Action at least one Toots list item…make a start!

ionafan

Thank you Valli for the new thread, and congrats on the new trick! x

Round, please get yourself to a doctor if you are waking up in the night feeling dizzy xx

…..which reminds me, someone was asking which Flylady got flooded a few years ago - that was DizzyImp.

Honey Bear, I am in full agreement with you about menu choices and "Eat what's put in front of you!" Chef's choice!! x

Fayolle, my soft cobweb brush-on-a-bamboo-cane is called Aunt Kate's Head x

Thanks to everyone for GWS wishes. Today is the first day for a fortnight when I've felt almost well, but despite the improvement I have still been feeling exhausted as Rosie had the temerity to get me out of bed at 2am to let her out into the garden. I didn't go to church this morning (it's almost 100% certain that the incense would have set me off coughing again if trying to sing hadn't already) and although I took Rosie for a walk in the sunshine it was only up to the gate of the Covert and back again, which is about half a mile altogether, so nowhere near back to normal distances. I did however empty all the bins under the kitchen sink into their respective dustbin/recycling bag/compost heap, and found a black bin bag for DH to throw his rubbish into - he started decluttering the drawers of his bedside cabinet, but I don't think he's got very far.

Tomorrow DH is having his new bed delivered, and I am horribly afraid that we shall have to move the furniture round to fit it in - it is 10cm longer than his old bed, and space is already tight for him to get between the foot of his current bed and the wardrobe on the opposite wall. Buying the right size of fitted sheets has also caused me extra trouble, but I hope I have found a suitable type now.

My diary is quite full for the first couple of days this week, but then clears towards the end. I shall fly as much as I can, and post when I can. Hope everyone has a good week xxx

Narc0lepsy

thanks for the new thread, very posh.

Hope those who aren't/haven't been well feel better soon.

Thanks also for your good wishes. The weekend went fairly well with both journeys good although filthy weather on the way there which is tedious on the motorway. Mum was on fairly good form and staff reported she had been 'feisty in a good way' this week. M didn't look as frail as we'd expected and she was fairly calm and philosophical, saying she appreciated the chance to 'plan' a little (she's been told weeks or months; at present she can only eat soup or custard). She seemed very happy to see us and I think would have been happy for us to spend longer, but her partner is fiercely protective of her getting too tired so we didn't stay too long. Poor thing, he is really struggling. We said we could come back in a few weeks when we next visit Mum if they would like us to.

DB and SIL had cooked us some good meals and had thoughtfully offered a visit to watch a local canoe race this morning to lighten the mood, it was great fun.

Since returning this afternoon I have read gas and electricity meters, input readings to the utility company and my own spreadsheet. After discussion with DB, who is shortly having a heat pump and solar panels installed (we have the latter), we are going to trial a week of our usual heating regime which is basically Mr N turning it on when he gets cold, then we are going to try a week of turning it on low all the time. It's a discussion many people have been having for years - does it cost more to keep heating up a cold house from scratch than just 'simmering' so it never gets too cold? I can see that I'm going to be wandering round in shorts and T-shirt as a few seasons of open water swimming all year round have really made a difference to my heating needs.

Have unpacked weekend bags.

Done a bit more knitting while watching closing ceremony of olympics.

Fayolle

Morning all,

Thank you for the lists Valli, very posh as Narc0 aptly put it.
HB, your comment to Valli on the last thread made me chuckle!
Iona, I’m glad you're seeing some improvement, take it easy.

Kazmeister, DSiL and I had the same conversation the other week about not knowing how we ever held down full time jobs - and she did shift work - and did everything we did when our children were younger. Meal times here are more a case of - if you don’t like what I have cooked, then maybe it’s your turn to put your money where your mouth is. Works every time, so I don’t even have to say it. DH did say once that he would be happy with pasta every day. He was less so after I cooked pasta for every evening meal for a week and didn’t say it again 😈.

I’m in this week. I’ll do my best to keep up as I will need to distract myself once DD leaves on her travels tomorrow. Wm is already swishing with the towels in, so that’s a start.

MinnieMousesMummy

Morning all, won't be much flying from me today or tomorrow as I need to go away overnight to deliver a presentation.

My list for today

• Pack my overnight bag
• Put away the laundry that was done over the weekend
• Put overnight stuff in the car and do 3 hour drive to where I need to do the presentation
• Deliver presentation
• Check into overnight accommodation
• Catch up with emails etc
• Get an early night

I think that is everything that I need to tackle today. I hope everyone has a lovely Monday.

Honey_Bear

Dog walked, showered, loo cleaned, lunch box prepped, two emails that needed to be sent - sent, and now settling down to half an hour's foodbank work before I got and get my hair chopped. Office vacuumed.

Pollybear

Afternoon all. One washload done and mostly dry, a couple of bits waiting for the heating to come on tonight. Bathroom cleaned and downstairs dusted and vacuumed.

A few years ago DH complained about his dinner. I said "I know, tomorrow you cook and I'll complain". Didn't hear any more….. He never cooks. He did make me beans on toast once when I was pregnant with our eldest. She's 46 this year.

Blackcats

Excuses, excuses but I've got a very annoying cold - just a bit of a sore throat and a runny nose but it's sapped my energy. So today I cleaned and organised a kitchen cupboard and cleaned the doors of the kitchen base units. I couldn't face reaching up for the top cupboards so if you pop round for a cuppa look down and not up.
luckily dinner was leftovers from yesterday. Dishwasher is loaded and kitchen is relatively tidy.

Another old work notebook shredded.

ionafan

Evening all. I tried to take it easy today but the odds - including DH - were definitely working against me.

• I stripped DH's old bed, took off the headboard, separated the two halves of the base, cleaned the bedroom floor and (drumroll please!) wiped the skirting board
• did 3 loads of washing (mainly bedding)
• moved the top shelf in the kitchen fridge down a couple of inches, which means that I can now reach whatever's on it, and I haven't lost any shelf space
• got to the surgery an hour too early for my blood test so went out again to Mr Al, did my shopping, then returned at the correct time to see the vampire
• meanwhile DH had supervised the delivery of his new adjustable bed
• prepped and ate lunch
• had a pleasant hour and a half socialising with 3 of the Old Wives at the café in the park; treated myself to a slice of carrot cake, but it turned out to be very disappointing - I can make much better and definitely much cheaper myself
• filled my car with petrol so it's no longer in the red but my bank balance is getting perilously close
• paid my annual visit to the local car wash and spent £10 which should only have been £8, but the men there are all legit and work non-stop so they deserve a tip; had a conversation with the boss man (whose English has improved greatly since the last time I went, at least 12 months ago) about Ramadan - blessings were exchanged and all of us (including Kermit the car) were happy. I need to vacuum Kermit's interior tomorrow before I put the empty shopping bags back
• made up DH's bed; ordered a spare undersheet for him, now that we know it fits properly
• persuaded DH to sort out his wardrobe and drawers with me; persuaded him to let me send one pair of old, very large lightweight trousers (which he has hung on to for SW) to the CS, and he also added 4 unworn shirts to the donation pile 😁
• washed other shirts which he had obviously worn but hadn't put in the laundry when the collars became dirty
• cooked a fry-up for tea because I had all the ingredients and it was easy (and very tasty)
• wound down by watching Mastermind and University Challenge
• wrote various emails and text messages, and sent a long email to an old schoolfriend.

Not a bad day, and I've survived - though I'm not sure what DH did for most of the time….

xxx

Narc0lepsy

Ionafan that isn't taking it easy!! And yes, DizzyImp was who I had in mind thinking about floods.

• went to DanceFit
• Booked MOT
• Sorted out documents to apply for my DBS check, although why after over a year working at the college, one is needed - I have no idea.
• Deleted a load of un-needed emails; need a real cull.
• Went to AT lesson and was pleased that my teacher has decided to buy my saddle which he's been trialling for a week. I've tried to sell it for years intermittently, so that will be one less clutter in the loft and some money in the account, plus the knowledge it will be used again (if only on a wooden horse!).
• Filled up with petrol on the way home and went into Mr M, not a supermarket I've used often but it happened to be en route and I got what I wanted.
• Did a bit of drumming practice
• Went to zumba

Valli

I haven't much energy atm so I'm pacing myself but I have done some putting away and I took all the aired laundry and put the maidens and ironing board away so the house looks tifdier. Been watchg TV but I have made great inroads into the baby blanket border…I can now knit the blanket without constantly reading the pattern and the leaf motif repeat on the border makes more sense now too.

Did make cottage pie for tea and a spare one for the freezer.