Weekly Flylady Thread 8th June 2026

Natty68

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 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 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 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 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
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

Here goes this Week.

Mad Monday ~ Living room of Lushiousness and Hallway of Happiness
Level One
Open the windows and turn on some music - something that you can sing along to loudly while working.
Wipe and water the plants.
Declutter the chairs, floor and fireplace.
Level Two
Clean any glass, pictures, windows and mirrors - make them sparkle sparkle!!!
Find 10 things to get rid of ... no men/women/children/pets!!!
Dust or polish furniture.
Level Three
Vacuum floors and under furniture - don't hurt yourself, and if pregnant/injured/unable then ask someone nicely to do this for you..
Check for cobwebs and get rid..
Wipe down the inside of the front door and windows - make these shine..
Spend 15mins tackling a hotspot!
Extras

• Wash any nets that need doing
• Wash windows
• Attend a childrens party & tidy up afterwards!!
• Wash any throws/cushions/dog beds that need cleaning
• Groom the pets, also deflea any that need doing.

Tootling Tuesday ~ Kitchen of Klutter and Dining room of Despair!
Level One
Open the windows and let in the light
Clear and wipe the worksurfaces & table
Level Two..
Wipe the little appliances and put them back in their homes
Wipe over the cupboards and large appliances
Clean out drawers and filters on the big appliances and the kettle!
Level Three
Sweep and mop the floor
Shine the grotty windows, make them sparkle and let in the light!
Drag everything out of the junk cupboard.. wipe it out and put back the bits you are keeping.. Get rid of the things you will never need or use!!
Extras

• HHI
• Fill a bag for charity shop
• Deweb the downstairs of the house!!
• Scrub down the woodwork.. skirtings, door frames etc

Wondrous Wednesday - Superb Study & Bathrooms of Bubbliciousness
Level One
Declutter the floors
Empty and wash out bins
Clean any windows
Level Two
Clean the bath, sinks, toilets, showers.. shine the taps!
Vacuum/mop floors
Declutter the pc desk
Level Three
Wipe the keyboard, mouse, sockets, switches and telephone
HHI
Clean under any furniture you can move but don't usually bother moving
Extras

• Delete 10 dead links out of your favourites
• Do at least 15 minutes of filing
• Grab a cuppa.. and if it is nice.. go sit outside for a bit an enjoy life!! If not you can sit here and talk to the rest of us!!!!
• Scrub down the tiles

Thrilling Thursday - Kitchen of Kreation
Level One
Open the windows and let in the light (we could clean them but this is simpler!)
Clear and wipe the worksurfaces & table
Level Two
Wipe the little appliances and put them back in their homes
Wipe over the cupboards and large appliances
Clean out drawers and filters
Level Three
Sweep and mop the floor
Shine the grotty windows
Empty out a grotspot and make it beautiful
Extras

• HHI
• Fill a bag for charity shop
• 29 fling boogie... GO!
• Throw out the manky dead tea towels and cloths

Frivolous Friday - The Land of 'Spare Oom' and the neighbouring Land of Child Grot
Level One..
Open the windows and collect the smelly laundry!
Strip the beds that need doing
Spend half an hour doing something for yourself!!!!! even if it is just sitting out in the gloaming with a cuppa.
Level Two.
Find the floor.. books on shelves, toys in boxes, games in cases and restacked.
Vacuum new found floor
Wipe windows, pc's, screens etc
Have you got Father Day cards all bought? If not the shops are open all weekend!!
Level Three..
Wipe away any sticky messes and grub-spots
Make sure the drawers are all orderly.. nothing dangling out!
Drag the junk out from under the bed and put it in its proper places!
Extras

• Find something to freecycle.. you could even fill a box of junk to car boot
• Find something to ebay
• Find something to send to charity shop
• Find something to give to someone you know
• Get rid of them then!!! lol
• Spend time with loved ones...

Jazee

Thanks for the list. I'm already ahead having bathed/groomed Poppet today.

Good luck tomorrow Round.

ionafan

All the best for tomorrow, round - I'll be thinking of you too xx and I hope Sassy enjoys her holiday with J.

Thank you Natty for the new thread xx

I'm a bit ahead of myself too - I'm throwing out an old, heavy, rusty roasting tray (a few weeks ago DH won a new one in the SW raffle), and I'm sure I shall be able to find at least 9 photos to declutter from the remaining albums 😁

I looked at my knitting and thought I might not have enough wool to finish the child's cardigan I'd started (it was a part-used ball) so I got the kitchen scales out to check. Sadly, I was right: I had already used half the wool on 2/3 of the back, and I have no intention of buying another ball and being left with a silly amount again, so it will all have to be unravelled and I shall have to find a pattern for a shorter garment in a smaller size.

This evening I actually cooked a proper roast dinner, as I had a couple of small lamb joints in that freezer that I'd got from MrT when they were half price. I even found some parsnips in the salad tray of the utility freezer, so they went in the oven too. All very tasty - and I suppose that could count as decluttering too!

DD has just phoned and we've chatted for 25 minutes. DGS1 did the "terrible" Maths A-level paper this week, but he said that luckily he had already met questions of that sort in Further Maths so wasn't too phased by them. However, I do think it's unfair of the exam board to ignore the fact that students who have only been prepared for the single-paper exam have never met the more complicated questions and yet all candidates are expected to tackle them. Meanwhile, DGS2 has finished his English and French GCSEs, which are the subjects he finds most difficult, and is looking forward to finishing everything he's entered for a week on Monday. They have both worked very hard and deserve to have done well.

I need coffee so will go and see if DH is making a drink and/or doing the washing up. Then I must fill in some forms for my pre-op (for laser eye treatment) on Tuesday.

Hope everyone has a good week xxx

Valli

Fingers crossed for you Round

Thanks for the new thread

roundtuit

Thank you for all your thoughts and good wishes. They mean a lot to me ❤

I'm up, made my bed, turned over the calendars, taken my meds before 6am as instructed, showered and dressed. My bag is packed. DS is picking me up at 6.40.

I'll feed the birds and put out the recycling before I go.

And breathe....

Rxx

wendywitch

Good luck today Round x

I didn't go to DD2's yesterday, she's feeling really down and wanted time to herself. She wants me to go over today as it's the day they want her to move out, which as I've said she's not going to. I know she's scared about what's going to happen and to be honest so am I.

Yesterday I tried to go through my dvd collection and get rid of some. I find it really hard getting rid of things even if I haven't used or watched them in years. I need to do the same with my book collection. I really need someone to stand over me and make me do it. Dilly from Sort Your Life Out would be great!

After looking at some of the websites that buy these items from you I am wondering to try selling them myself on V first.

I'm currently online looking for something to store my small amount of records in (it really is a small collection) as my 1980s box is falling apart but everything I've found is either more than I want to spend, in a similar condition to mine or the size isn't right. Alright if I had 1000 records or they were all 7"

So far this morning I've unloaded and reloaded the DW (I did baking yesterday) and emptied the airer. Breakfast and coffee has also been decluttered.

MinnieMousesMummy

Morning all

My list for today

• Paid stuff (kennel cover, website admin, invoicing)
• Tidy the kitchen worktops
• Iron scrubs for this week
• Attend uni meeting
• Attend uni lecture
• Attend doctors appointment
• Spend an hour on exam revision
• Water the plants
• Check the pets vaccination cards and see when they are due
• Post V parcel
• Take DD up to the stables so she can feed and check on her ponies
• Sort lunches, clothes and bags for tomorrow

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

Narc0lepsy

Hope all goes well Roundtuit.

We returned from a lovely holiday 'up north' on Tuesday evening so I've been playing catchup/moping around wishing I was still there/keeping up with social diary ever since. We were fortunate that the extreme heat didn't reach Northumberland - it was pleasantly warm, hot at times but we weren't prevented from doing anything. I did some fab wild swimming - 2 waterfalls, an evening in the Tyne and a couple of seaside swims. Mr N has about 1000 photos to sort through, mainly birds.

My nice neighbour did her best with watering the greenhouse while we were away, but it still looked pretty sorry when we came home although most plants are recovering since I've been able to check and water frequently. Lots of the last few days flying have been in the garden as now the rain has come the weeds are shooting up, stuff needs pruning, stuff needs planting out. I'm trying to focus on one thing at a time and not look at the rest as it gets demoralising.

I've just come back from Body Pump, via the petrol station (how did a C0sta sneak in? I need HoneyBear's slinky willpower after a holiday of coffee and cake….).

I've almost caught up with email 'flags' although I need to locate one more document then finish my tax return. I also need to print off a P60 to show as evidence to get teacher discount if I get the new car. Need to do more drum practice. Alexander Technique at 2pm then zumba this evening. Better get started.

MadamMim2013

Thinking of you @roundtuit 💗

roundtuit

Thank you my lovelies 😘

I'm out of theatre and on the ward. Painkillers needed but they're doing their stuff.

Just need the results to come back as benign then we can have a party 🥳.

No Flying for a few days.

Rxx

Pollybear

Glad it's done Round and looking forward to your clear results x