Weekly Flylady Thread 13th July 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

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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!
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 it was written some time ago but Toots, sadly is no longer with us but she is fondly remembered, as are Money Saving Diva, Cycling Yorkie and Mummy's Little Boy.

Marvellous Monday - Kitchen and Dining Room

Do what is REALLY necessary - it is still HOT - fridge checking is a MUST

Level 1

Posivibes for the lovely ROUND today please!

Open some windows (not just in the kitchen!) for some fresh air 
Check fruit bowl - add to washing up if necessary!
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!  
Empty bin and clean it out too - put it outside to dry in the sunshine - which has a bleaching/sanitising effect
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!
Glug some bleach down the plugholes.
Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth - don't forget the legs and places where sticky fingers can reach.
Clean chairs/stools/high chairs - and don't forget legs and rails!
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
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; update shopping list as appropriate, wash shelves etc and check running temperature  
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 paying particular attention to manky crevices

Level 3

Choose a drawer, shelf or cupboard for special attention.  Empty, clean out, replace what is needed or useful and fling what is unused and/or out of date
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean chairs (and highchairs) - don't forget under the seats where sticky fingers linger.
Clean windows in both rooms.  You could also wipe frames & sills inside and out!

EXTRAS

HHI
S&S bathroom 
Bin bag dance!

Tuesday Bathroom (s)

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.
Remove rat tails from plugholes

Level 2
Clean out baths and/or showers
Clean shower heads and hoses
Clean handbasins including taps - don't forget the out of sight bits!

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 pull

Extras
HHI


Plan some me time..time with a book, coffee with a friend, a pamper session

Hump day - Living room, hall, stairs and landing

Level 1
Open lots of windows and let that fresh air in while beds are airing
Deal with cut flowers and pot plants - top up water/wipe leaves/remove drooping or dead blooms
Wash out vases
Empty bins/ashtrays
Clear gibble
Plump and straighten cushions
Wipe sofas with leather wipes or vacuum - look for all those dust-catching crevices.  Lift seat cushions if you can and vacuum underneath
Wipe/dust coffee tables and leave tidy
Sort newspapers/magazines

Level 2
Clean windows and mirrors 
Clean doormats
waggle a long thin duster or brush behind/between radiator panel and remove all that fluff and dust.  

once the dust has settled vacuum it all up.


Level 3
Dust all round - don't forget sills, skirting boards, tops of curtain rails and/or battens and top and frame of door.
Wipe door handles, banisters, light switches and sockets - and the bits of the door where people hold to open/close it.
Check for cobwebs and eliminate!
Clean lightshades and lampshades; check all lighting is functioning as it should - vacuum fabric shades; wash glass shades 
Wipe lightbulbs (if cold)
Dust pictures/paintings on walls - and dust behind them too!
Stand in the doorway and look back into the room - is it clean?

Extras
S&s kitchen
s&s bathroom
HHI

Thursday Thrills - the boudoir

Level 1

open windows
strip bed
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
Wash combs and brushes

Extras
S&S bathroom
S&S Kitchen

Catch up with an old friend - make that call or write that note!

FRIDAY FLOURISH - guest room/spare room/kid's room

Level 1

open windows
strip bed
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
if your WM is sitting idle are there any curtains or throws you could launder?

try sleeping in your guest room and check it's suitably set up for use! (because I've been sleeping in mine!)

SandyShores

Thank you Valli, I am going to strive for Level 1 tomorrow :)

ionafan

Thank you for the new thread Valli x

I'm sending posivibes galore to round xx, so I'm officially IN this week (though not expecting to be able to get a lot done in the continuing heat).

Will report in again when I can. Hope everyone has a good week, one way or another xxx

roundtuit

Thank you so much. 💓

And breathe....

Rxx

Suffolksue

thinking of you today Roundtuit

Jazee

More posivibes for Round today.

Thanks for the list. I may flutter a bit before leaving for our holiday.

Fayolle

Good morning, thank you for the list.
More posivibes for Round from here too.
I will be in, but will no doubt flag by the time Wednesday is done. I intended to start cutting out the curtain material today but DH has just announced that he is going to sort out the lights in the LR. That is the only room long enough for me to lay out lengths of the material so it looks like I’m waiting another day. Frustrating.

So with no other valid excuses, I will be in for the kitchen and DR. Towels are swishing, including the kitchen ones, and the kitchen surfaces are pretty clear, nothing that a wipe down won’t improve, although the sink is minging. The windows are open, letting in what appears to be a gusty north wind. I need to make sure that all the veg in the fridge gets planned in for the week, and also sort out a chicken carcass. Sounds like a plan of sorts.

ionafan

Yet more posivibes for round xx

I was going out with the Old Wives today, for lunch and a mooch round a garden centre, but I have a nasty migraine. As I am supposed to be driving to South Wales tomorrow, I am taking things easy today, which means staying at home 😪

I have made my bed and S&S'd the kitchen. That'll have to do.

xxx

Honey_Bear

G'afternoon All. So sorry I didn't post a second (or any more) times last week. By the end of it I was beyond exhausted and could barely summon enough energy to switch the computer on. Which, by the way, was also replaced last week because the old laptop was functioning but had two broken hinges and I had to hold the power cable in place with duct tape. I needed that like a hole in the head on the day it arrived with our highly nerdy techie chap but needs must. Everything has been transferred over which is what was really important to me.

Thank you Natty and Valli for the lists.

Thinking of both Round and Jazee (sorry I missed your birthday over the weekend) today and hoping that your procedures go smoothly and you both get reassuring answers afterwards.

Our lovely Italian friends left on Saturday morning (there were tears) after a fortnight of the kids learning English and many outings with the language school or us, which included the Eden Project (fabulous) and a long walk from Cawsand back to Plymouth with a couple of ferry rides thrown in. It will be the last time Belovéd will do that walk which we used to do on our anniversary every year because it was punishing for his extremely arthritic ankle, but he so wanted to do it with that family and our friend, the girls' mother who stayed with us when she was completing her PhD, said it was the best day of the year for her so far. So smiles all round. (They actually arrived a day early at the beginning which was another near-disaster but we got through it without tears. I must say that being a Flylady has helped enormously with days like that but I could do with being even better organised. I'm working on it.)

We have a new-to-us guest arriving this afternoon, the partner of a previous musician who stayed during the pandemic once theatres were re-opened - he had to test himself every day before going in for six weeks! She's going to be with us for five weeks so things need to be pretty smart for that all important first impression, so I've spent the weekend and this morning working towards that end. Fortunately the house is north facing so although it's hot it's also bearable. I've:

• stripped and remade the superking and double bed,
• dusted and vacuumed both roooms, and the stairs and passage way to those rooms,
• did five loads of laundry, hung them out, line dried them, got it all in, folded everything and put them away,
• cleaned the shower room including washing the floor which is one of those things I sometimes forget to do,
• washed the outside of the back door which is permanently wedged open to get some air flowing into the house because it's on the way to her bedroom and it looked manky,
• washed the whole of the front door and entrance area because they needed it, and swept up all the detritus on the front steps so the first impression of the house is a lot better - it's been bothering me for weeks,
• swept and washed the kitchen floor, which needed it very badly,
• dealt with the flood in the bottom of the fridge because it's been working overtime over the past fortnight,
• sorted out the contents of the fridge because the Italians left food behind and we didn't want any of it to go to waste so we're eating some strange meals but the leftovers will do us for several days,
• once again cleared a shelf in the fridge for the new guest and a food cupboard shelf - different from the Italian's because there's only one of her and there were three of them,
• emptied all the bins and squashed all the rubbish into the brown bin for today's collection,
• did some work on the rolling composter so it's now working again to produce lovely garden compost - there's been a lot of peelings over the past fortnight,
• paid the window cleaner,
• ordered a replacement battery for one of the stick cleaners which has died on me,
• am about to bleach some areas of the new carpet that the chap who sold it to us says is the way to get rid of marks where animals have made mistakes.

There's more but I need to get on with the bleaching and then have a shower. I'm finding that every time I have a shower or go to bed I need to drop all of my clothes into the laundry basket at the moment so I'm generating a lot of laundry!

Honey_Bear

Areas of carpet that needed bleaching have been bleached. I was really worried about doing it, and its turned out fine. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking clearly when I read the instructions and followed them to the letter - I mixed up five litres of water with 250ml of bleach and ended up with a massive amount of stuff. I decided the front steps could do with that rather than just chuck it down a drain so that was another 45 mins of hard labour involving hoses, Belovéd, scrubbing brushes and securing all animals away far from the front door. The front steps look a bit better, so that coupled with the 'bit better' from this morning means they're nearly 'a lot better'.

All the cloths and dog towels I used for the carpet bleaching and rinsing are twirling in the washing machine along with the shoes I was wearing, the trousers I was wearing, the rubber gloves and a few cleaning cloths. I'll peg them out later.

Now showered, two mugs of tea later and a couple of very special sweets later I'm knocking off. I've pre-made supper and Belovéd is doing the new lodger get in later and will shove supper in the oven at the same time. I'm all in.

I hope Jazee and Round are doing okay.

Fayolle

That been super level flying HB. Now rest before you overdo things.

I seem to have taken a long time to get anywhere today, not helped by being called upon to be DIY mate a few times and also managing to get distracted by removing a bucket of weeds before the sun got round to the side garden. End result though is that washing x 2 done and dried, kitchen, utility and dining rooms dealt with, meal plan written, changed and changed again. Numerous texts exchanged with DD, finance advice given, and tomorrow she will return home for a few days, hitting the house like her usual whirlwind before she moves out again and on with her next phase of her life. I’m going to miss not having her within an hour’s travel. HHI done - had forgotten it was lurking, and the final job of the day is to book a Mr M slot. Most helpfully I can only get very early on Wednesday when I have to take DH to the station, or very late on Thursday when the risk is that I’ll be in bed. Not a sight the poor driver needs to see. Rethink required.