Weekly Flylady Thread 6 April 2026

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!

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 - please bear in mind that was written some time ago by a much loved Flylady RIP and Pigpen no longer writes the first post or throws fluffy mules.

Easter Monday

If you MUST fly…

S&S kitchen

S&S bathroom

Relax and enjoy the day - do something you love

Tuesday - bathrooms, cloakrooms, En suites

Level 1

Open window

Remove towels and fling in WM

Scrub Loo inside and out, slug some bleach or descaler down afterwards.  Pay special attention to under the rim.

Dust anywhere that needs dusting - wipe any 'on display' bottles down 

Level 2

Clean out baths and/or showers - don't forget plugs and drains

Clean shower heads and hoses

Clean handbasins including taps - don't forget the out of sight bits!

Empty loo roll holder and clean

Level 3

sweep and mop or vacuum floor as appropriate

clean windows

polish mirrors

dust and polish where necessary

Chuck any lurking potions that are not being used/are old

Clean light pulls

Put out clean towels, facecloths and bathmats

Extras

Wash showercurtains (if any) and put outside to blow dry 

Rinse loobrushes and whatever they live in and put outside to bleach and sanitise in the sun

HHI

S&S kitchen

Wonderful Wednesday

Level 1

open windows housewide -

strip bed including mattress protector - get it in the WM and on the line - pillow protectors too if you use them

clear floordrobe and chairdrobe

empty bin

level 2

make bed with fresh bedding

clean bedside tables

vacuum/sweep/mop floor

level 3

clean windows

dust all round

extras

S&S bathroom

S&S kitchen

Make sure sports kit/bookbags etc are ready for summer term - and that Sports Day is in the diary

Thursday's list is full of woe…kitchen and Dining

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!

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

Good slug of bleach down plugholes and in overflows

Clean cruet, salt and pepper, wipe any sauce bottles that are used on the table

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 (see extras); 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.

Wipe inside of washer drawer and DW door

Level 3

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

Sweep/mop/vacuum floor - and wipe any fascia boards!

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

Clean windows in both rooms.

EXTRAS

HHI

S&S bathroom

Friday's list-with-a-difference

Pick a level to suit YOU - I DO NOT expect anyone to complete this whole list!

Level 1

Clean the glass…

Grab your glass cleaner of choice, a damp cleaning cloth, a window cloth and/or a roll of kitchen paper, a duster and clean every piece of glass in your home…windows, mirrors, tv screens, monitors, phones. Polish the glass itself and use the damp cloth and duster to clean the frame.

Level 2

The glory hole of doom

This might be a porch, an understairs cupboard, an airing cupboard, the larder - something that rarely gets any attention…

Empty completely.

Dust/vacuum/mop and leave to dry

Put back contents neatly and tidily.

Level 3

Pick something to sort through - a sewing box, a toolbox, the shoe cleaning caddy, the cleaning caddy, the drawer of doom or even the vacuum cleaner

Empty it, clean it, sort it!

LEVEL 4

if none of the previous levels suit/are achievable then look at your Toots list and see if you can move forward on a big task - even one step towards completion is progress.

Natty68

Thank you for the thread Valli, count me in for flying this week. Although it will be at a minimum as I'm still getting my strength back but at least I'm starting to do things now.

But I must make sure I finish the final bits on the baby blanket, I've crocheted for my grand niece, first. Just waiting for her arrival now, she's due now but unfortunately my niece is overdue by a couple of days, but it shouldn't be long now 😀

roundtuit

Morning all xx

Thankyou for the lists Natty and Valli. Hope all the poorlies are on the mend, and that everyone has a lovely Easter Monday. 😘

Congratulations on your handbag find, Valli. I now have handbag envy 🤣

WM is swishing towels and tea towels. I'm hoping they can be pegged out when they're done. 🤞

HH Admin is a priority today. And I think a Brain Dump would be beneficial as there's too much going on in my head.

I think a second brew is required. Then I'll get dressed.

Love to all

Rxx

Honey_Bear

Sorry for not posting last week - not a lot of Flying is happening here at the moment. I have plans, but like my overlarge stash of (mostly unused) cleaning supplies, I've been ignoring all the outstanding things that probably should be done. Once the floors have been vacuumed, bins emptied and the kitchen sort of tidied I'd rather get on with more interesting things.

Regarding Motivation follows Action - it really does. I've got little heaps of stuff all over the place I should deal with, and manage to wander by all of them with the passing thought - I should deal with that - and mostly seeming to be able to resist the thought. Which is daft really; I absolutely know that as soon as I pick up the first thing from one of those heaps I'll be well on the way to sorting the whole heap out and it won't seem hard at all. It never is; it seems to just fall into place quite easily and naturally. If it doesn't, then clearly I'm not ready to deal with the problem and it will just have to wait for the next time I'm ready to Pick Up Just One Thing. When I find myself wandering around the house holding a peg, a teaspoon and a cat toy and I don't know what to do with any of them - then it's time to stop, because my brain is on System Overload, which apparently other people call decision fatigue.

Huge (((hugs))) to everyone worried about kids or parents, relatives, friends and neighbours, particularly Narco, Fayolle, YL, WW and anyone else I've forgotten. I'm sorry that certain people at Toxic Towers are still as toxic as ever Round.

wendywitch

Morning

Thank you for all the kind comments regarding DD2.

This morning I've had several calls, voice notes and video calls from her. The plan is I'm going over on her day off this week to help her start packing none essentials.

On a good note for me is that she'll finally have to get rid of stuff like I've been trying to make her do for ages

So far today I've opened the windows to air the place eventhough it's chilly. I've sorted and cleaned the litter tray, S/S the bathroom. I'll put toilet cleaner in overnight. I've emptied and cleaned the bins.

I put the DW on and that has just finished so I'll sort that out in a bit and reset up the cat water fountain.

Just going to finish my coffee (shh don't tell DD2 as its my 3rd since 5.30am but it is hot cross bun flavour so shouldn't count) then start again

TTFN

kazmeister

Hi peeps,

Thanks to Natty for last week and Valli for this weeks. I love today’s jobs and will complete them later but I found some mojo this morning.

Hoovered

• downstairs loo,
• utility room
• Kitchen
• Dining room
• Hallway
• Living room 1
• Living room 2

I then mopped them all too!

DH has gone to the pub to meet his friend who he was in the police with almost 60 years ago and said I could join them but I might nip over and see my dad, and if one of the charity shops are open I can drop the stuff off that is still in the back of the car.

Just checked dad’s at home by checking the tracking on his wallet, which is at home but first, having just finished my coffee, I think I will hoover the stairs and landing upstairs.

Hugs and get well vibes for those who need them x

Honey_Bear

Several little heaps have been dealt with, Belovéd dropped off at the station Wren and trundled along an old railway line that's been turned into a cycle route because she flatly refused to go on the walk by the river I wanted to go on. I'm beginning to realise what it is that makes her pawplant and refuse to take another step - she only ever does it when she's aware that we're going to take a route where she's been frightened before. I totally understand her reasoning and think it's very intelligent. Unfortunately she's frightened of kids and kids' voices so the holidays are a bit of a nightmare. The dogwalker expelled her from the dogwalking group as she took to taking herself off into dens instead of walking with the other dogs and we couldn't work out why - now I know. That doesn't mean the dogwalker will take her back though, although she will take her when we go on holibobs for boarding and short single walks around the playing field at the back of her house. That's more important to me, so I can't complain.

I found some Very Useful Things in a big charity shop too, so I'm happy with my haul. Most of it will probably go back to the same shop when we've used the cutlery on our long training journeys in May, used the string handbag type bag in Italy and the paperbacks can get dumped in a hotel somewhere.

Washing up done, two loads of laundry out on the line.

wendywitch

Back again,

I unloaded the DW, made my bed, unloaded the airer and put that away. I've scrubbed my burnt saucepan that the dishwasher didn't really touch (knew it wouldn't).

I've also vacuumed the bathroom, landing, stairs and hall and also the living room and kitchen. My back refuses to let me scrub/mop any of them today so put a load in the WM and started doing some bits of mending while I watch the telly. I think that's me for the day

TTFN

roundtuit

Towels and tea towels dried nicely outside. A bird pooped on my pillow case - so that's gone back into the laundry.

Two planters found in my garden returned to their owner using the power of FB!

WUDUPA pots and WUDUPA vases.

HH Admin completed.

Three phone calls to make this week:

1. Ring Endocrinology as per referral received letter.

2. Ring Council re: new red bin still not received

3. Ring previous Pension people and claim small pot

🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆

Rxx

MinnieMousesMummy

Good evening, it's a lovely sunny day here.

I have had a busy day so far

• I have done paid stuff (kennel cover)
• Moved DD's new pony into its new field and moved her other pony into the same field.
• Visited the local country store to get some shopping for the animals (food, treats and a new horse feeding bucket)

Still to do today

• Laundry towels✔️
• Take DD up to the stables so she can feed and check on her ponies ✔️
• Paid stuff (evening visit to the kennels) ✔️
• Spend an hour sorting out my diary ✔️

Pollybear

Good afternoon. One washload dried outside in the sun today, still a chilly wind but getting warmer gradually. Got DD1's dog for a week or so, lots of slow dog walks for sniffing purposes. Uncovered my garden bench as it's supposed to be nice for a while and was surprised to see how much growth there is on the pots I hide behind there for the winter. Looks like everything is doing well (cue Arctic weather event). Cut the grass this afternoon. Recycling bins put out for the morning.

Hope everyone's OK x