Weekly Flylady Thread 24 August 2026

Valli

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.

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 (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 up
These lists are only suggestions and not a must do list; you are more than welcome to post hhand 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 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 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.

ok Here goes this Week...

Manic Monday

Kitchen/dining room

Level 1

Put away pots; clear sink
Clear sides and wipe down - wipe small appliances and flexes - those cables get grim! Unplug them first, mind!
Replace what lives there, wiping as you go
Empty bin and clean it out too
Wipe sill, sockets, door handles and switches
Clear and clean sink and accessories - don't forget those out-of-sight places - under plugs and under draining racks
Clean/polish table - wipe mats/change cloth
Check fruit and wash bowl
Throw away your manky dish sponge and replace with a new one and/or soak dishcloth in bleach or put the old dishcloth to be washed and get out a fresh one.

Level 2

Wipe down all cupboard and drawer fronts, not forgetting handles and tops and bottom as well as fronts!
Clean hob
Clean microwave - steam it out!  Lemon in water cleans and deordorises
Sort fridge and wipe seals; weave stuff that needs using up into your meal plan
Dust dining area/room
Clear WM, TD and DW filters

Level 3

Pick a cupboard or a drawer; empty it, clean it out and put back its contents tidily
Sweep/mop/vacuum floor
Clean windows and sills

Extras

I see that I told you to register your appliances a couple of years ago - this is a reminder to register new appliances -
https://www.registermyappliance.org.uk/
and, while you're at it make sure you have the instruction booklet to hand. I staple receipts to instruction booklets - you can record that you have registered too.
HHI
S&S bathroom

Twinkly Tuesday - Living room, hall, stairs and landing

With warm (hot if you can bear it)soapy water on a clean cloth - rinsed frequently - wipe EVERY door handle, light switch in the house - including entrance doors inside and out.  Don't forget the letterbox - a good habit we got into (I hope) during COVID.  Clean banisters too - if it gets touched it gets grubby!
Declutter ALL the floors!!
Clear the mantle of junk
Fling any rubbish
Straighten cushions, curtains and throws
Tidy coffee/side tables
Empty bin
Empty ashtrays
Attend to plants and flowers

Level Two

Vacuum/sweep all the floors.. stairs too!
Vacuum/sweep under furniture you can safely move!
Vacuum sofas
Clean mirrors

Level Three

Clean the window and door frames 
Dust and polish furniture and ornaments
Clean doormats

Extras

Dust all the electricals.. carefully.. don't want any frazzled flybodies
Binbag dance around the house
HHI
S&S kitchen
S&S bathroom
If you're thinking of ordering charity xmas cards now might be a good time to start looking.  

Wednesday

Bathrooms, cloak rooms and 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 grouting
Dust anywhere that needs dusting - wipe any 'on display' bottles down 

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
Wash showercurtains (if any) and put outside to blow dry - possibly!
HHI
S&S kitchen

Thursdays list - kids room/offiice/guest

level 1
Open window
strip bed
clear detritus from floor
occupant of room to assist if available
Empty bin

level 2
anything that needs to be homed -put away occupants of room to help
vacuum floor
If spare/guest room check all lighting fully functional

level 3
clean window
wipe sockets and switches
dust all around

extras
S&S bathroom
S&S kitchen
HHI

Get PE kits washed - if no kids and/or PE kit get some coats washed
Check winter boots - clean, polish or put ready to go to cobblers

Friday Listy
  - 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
Use a damp cloth to wipe lotions and potions ~ think about discarding any that have been sitting around for a long time.  Once they’ve been opened they deteriorate.  

Extras
S&S bathroom
S&S kitchen

ionafan

Thank you Valli x. I shall do my best to follow the flight plan this week.

Hope everyone has a good one! xxx

Natty68

Evening all, and thank you to Valli for this week's lists 😀

Yesterday teatime (Friday) I was rushed into hospital by my sister who had to do a mercy dash to get me to A&E. Unfortunately that awful pain in my side got considerably worse. I coughed and something snapped, and I also couldn't breathe properly by then. We decided it would be quicker to go by car rather than wait for an ambulance (only 15mins from my place to hospital) and that was including her taking 10.mins to get to us. I really didn't want to go but even I was worried and had started panicking..but me being me was thinking that you should only go to A&E if it's life or death. But thankfully the decision was taken out of my hands by my sister - bless her.

When we got there, there was only 3 people waiting to be seen...not exactly busy! And I've known our old hospital A&E when we were in Kent to be much busier.. I was taken into triage straight away and had all my observations done, paperwork and a quick check over. Then back into the waiting area where we waited for about 15 mins to be seen. Cerys, the F2 that saw me did such a thorough job of checking me over etc. I had bloods, ECG and a couple of other tests done that I don't know what they were.😉 Weirdly we didn't have to wait for the blood results as they were being done while I had the x-ray and were all ready for me when I had finished. Back we go to the lovely plush consultants room that we were using.. Seriously I felt like we were being treated in a private hospital rather than our normal hospital. After my sister picking me up to dropping me off afterwards it was a total if 4½ hours. That's amazing!!

I went in there with rib pain and Cerys, and her consultant, have managed to sort out my mucus and cough problem that I've had for 8 months that even my GP can't get to the bottom of..

So after this long post the upshot is I have been referred to the respiratory team, had a couple of my meds changed and one dropped completely, have a cracked rib,which is not pleasant as I can't do anything, and am on strong cocodomal for a while. Plus I'm not allowed to drive, lift anything or do anything strenuous. The most I'm allowed to do is lift a kettle...lol So I'm feeling very sorry for myself and can't get comfy...

So sorry for rather long post but I wanted to let you all know what actually went on...

Jazee

ooh Natty, that sounds painful but glad you're getting sorted.

Thanks for the list Valli. I've got grand children here today and tomorrow but will see if I can fit any flying in.

Have a great day everyone.

Honey_Bear

Thank you for the lists Natty and Valli.

Sorry you had such a fright Natty, but it sounds as though A&E got the root cause and you'll be on the mend now. Glad to hear that your hospital experience was so good.

I will be in this week and using the lists to tart the place up, but it will be a week of doing the bits that show rather than deep cleaning. Having said that, cooking for over 20 will mean that the kitchen will get plenty of TLC so this won't worry me.

And I have a listie of my own to work through too.

Valli

Ooh Natty sounds awful but hope you start to improve soon.

WM x 1 - towels;.

ionafan

GWS vibes heading your way, Natty - I'm really glad that your sister made the decision to drive you straight to A&E, so that you quickly got the attention and care that you needed. Hope Dave is coping ok too xx

Gradually getting my desk cleared of unnecessary paper. I have a 100-piece jigsaw (Waterloo Station) waiting to be taken downstairs and then on to the CS, but forgot to say sooner that on Saturday I decluttered another one (The World of Shakespeare) to W after we'd been to Stratford - she managed to identify several of the different characters from The Bard's works before realising that the box contained a poster to help her. It a;; makes for a bit of space on the study shelves.

This afternoon some of the Old Wives are meeting at the café in the park for a coffee and catch-up, so I shall need to get lunch early, and that means getting on with Flying straight after breakfast, instead of my usual dawdling, This morning, once I have cleared away after breakfast, I am going to fly outside for a bit - the geraniums need deadheading, the decking and back yard need sweeping, the pots probably need watering, and the tomato plants that have no fruit on them (ie the majority: our harvest has been very meagre) will be composted. I'm very pleased that the Diana clematis that I bought in June, which appeared to have died completely, has actually managed to throw out another shoot and is flowering again

I've already done the Monday morning finance check, but writing up T's family history will have to take a back seat again. I was going to do some last night but it was the final concert of The Piano, so absolutely no contest!

See you later xxx

Fayolle

More GWS vibes for Natty from me x Your sister made the right call.
Thank you for the list, I am in after last week’s effort off the starting blocks. The newish coffee machine - the bane of my kitchen flying - threw a wobbly last week and has gone back to the manufacturer. Luckily it was registered and I had the manual to hand….😇. It also leaves a HUGE space on the work top and less flying. Win, win. What with that and the mostly dismantled DR, even I should be able to keep up with today’s list

ionafan

Well done, Fayolle - you certainly deserve that halo x

Rosie has gone out with L so I have taken advantage of her absence to tidy and wipe round the kitchen, put out 2 of the 4 bins to empty into the blue bin and bag because they are overflowing, hoover and mop the floor. I have also dead-headed the geraniums, cut down two dying tomato plants, and swept the decking and the worst bits of the back yard, by which time my shoulder was hurting too much for me to carry on. I have also remembered to take the gas and electricity readings and submitted them to both my old supplier and my new supplier - we are now running on 100% renewable electricity and carbon neutralised gas. And I have made a cuppa for DH and one for myself. That's my flying done for today.

xxx

Valli

I have taken rubbish and recycling out, cleared the kitchen windowsill; the plants are outside having a soak in a trough, cleared worksurfaces and WUALTD. I've come upstairs to charge the mac and to book on for swimming. I managed to get a new swimsuit in the M&S sale so I will try it out today.

Towels drying in the sun.

MadamMim2013

Eeek.. I have been absent again (have read along when able)

Thankoo for the lists! Always appreciated and I do attempt bits everyday, even if I’ve not posted.

@Natty68.. ouchies 😖 Very glad your sister made you go to A&E, here’s hoping you can begin to recover now they’ve got to the bottom of things! 🤞🏼 Please take extra care of yourself, healing well is important and not to be rushed 😉 A very gentle 🤗 is being sent your way.

Today has been productive..

Washing x3 all line dried and about to be packed away & then DS1 can remake his bed.. 😉

Curry in the slow cooker, rice soaking on the side ready for tea..

Jammy flapjack and a small sponge with raspberry and chocolate filling made to be used in lunches. DS2 appeared and has taste tested the flapjack.. it’s now been given the “royal approval” 😆

Watching some of the Long Lost family (born without a trace) episodes on yoooTube, makes my heart ache, so can only manage an episode or two before I have to switch off.. Always hopeful for a happier ending! 😢