Weekly Flylady Thread 28th September 2026

Natty68

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 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 (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 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
Ok here goes this week!

Monday Musings ~ Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One...Clean floors
Level Two...
Clear and wipe kitchen surfaces
Sort fridge bringing what needs using soon to the front, clean out any spills or manky stuff in there!!
Wipe dining table.. (clean table cloth if necessary)
Level Three...
Dust any extra furniture in dining area, checking for cobwebs on way round
Wipe and replace all those small appliances.. kettle, toaster etc
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances .. don't forget those kick boards..
Extra Mission ~ Choose one or more of:

• One load of washing
• Empty bin and make it smell nice
• Wipe window sills and clean windows in these rooms
• Clear and wipe the tops of the wall units!!
• Clean oven if you didn't do it last week
• 30 minutes ironing.

Tuesday Thrills ~ Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One...
Do something from your Toots list, or at least start something if you have nothing you can do in 15 minutes
Vacuum floors and sofas
Level Two...
Test the heating (ie put it on for an hour) - bleed rads as required
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean TV, other electricals and cabinets
Level Three...
Wipe light switches, sockets (make sure they are not switched on!!) and banister
Clean any other glass like mirrors, pictures etc
Tidy shoes, coats and bags .. wash any that need washing in preparation for cold weather!! See if there are any that don't fit, past their best or just plain uncomfy which could leave the house!
Sort through your handbag and fling all those ancient bus tickets and receipts.. don't forget your purse too!!!
Extra Mission ~ Pick one or more of the following tasks –

• One load of washing
• Paperwork clearance.. spend 15 minutes minimum sorting through those piles of paper.
• Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself
• Organize for chimney to be swept, stock up on firelighters, is the wood store full?
• Clean a window or two.
• Get yourself a bag or box, go around collecting things that are not in the place they should be, then put them back where they should be, or better still give them to their owners to put away themselves

Wednesday Whiles ~ Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One...
Check fire alarms are working
Remove and wash bed linen.
Level Two...
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs..
Vacuum mattress before replacing with fresh linen
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Level Three...
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
Sort one area of clothes or linen storage making sure only what should be in there is, anything that's had it's day or doesn't belong there is removed
clear out one 'hotspot' drawer/box
Extra tasks list ~ as usual choose one or more

• Something from your own list
• 27 fling boogie time, time for that midweek fling, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter
• Put away those summer clothes from someones cupboard and get out the winter woollies.. don’t store anything that is past its best! Make a list of things you need to buy!!
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Check house for places where draughts are getting in.. doors, windows etc and see if there are ways to stop it!

Thursday Tinkles ~ Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One...
Clean floors in these rooms (even if it is around the clutter)
Level Two...
Clean baths, toilets and sinks
Clear any clutter from desk
Dust PC and desk and wipe off those cup rings!!
Wipe keyboard, house phone, sockets, switches and mouse etc
Level Three...
Clear clutter from floor
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment the lappy/pc while doing this (programs.. accessories..system tools.. defragment!.. if you do the disc cleanup as well it clear all the cookies and temporary files too.
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required
Clean the brushes/dust box/filters on the vacuum cleaner!!!! .. make sure they are completely dry before using it though.. I don’t want anyone electrocuted!!
Extra mission ~ Pick whichever you want to attempt:

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Wash your bathroom mats, nets, clean blind/curtains etc
• Sort a wardrobe or part of, a drawer or set of drawers making sure it has what needs to be in it and any 'extras' are put where they should be

ionafan

Thank you Natty xx

Poor DDiL has been unable to shift her cold, so DGD1's birthday party has had to be postponed for a week. At the same time my migraine is improving only very slowly: it's less debilitating than it was, but it's still with me. I have slept all afternoon, so would have been about as much fun as a wet rag if the party had gone ahead. I have also had to phone my old uni friend P to cancel our lunch appointment tomorrow - I'm not risking DH driving us 30 miles each way (much of it on motorways) at a time when I'm not feeling 100%, since going from here just into town with him at the wheel is enough to stress me out at the best of times.

The up-side of the meal cancellation is that I might get some flying done tomorrow. I spotted a couple of cobwebs in the kitchen when I was cooking our meal this evening, so I will get Aunt Kate's head out.

Hope everyone has a good week xxx

Valli

Having done S&S only last week I need to be in this week. We shall see.

Thanks for the new thread Natty, I hope you improve soon Ionafan

Natty68

Feel better soon Iona, I know how awful migraines can be 🙁 Try not to aggravate it too much today hon.

MinnieMousesMummy

Morning all, I wasn't very well yesterday so I'm taking today to rest and get back on my feet.

So far today I have gotten the kids to school, fed the animals and walked the dog.

My list for today

• Contact clients to reschedule work that was in for today
• Make a start on scheduling uni work
• Do required uni work
• Empty the kitchen bin
• Load the dishes in the DW
• Laundry x1 load
• Walk the dog
• Feed the animals
• Take DD to the stables so she can feed her ponies

I think that is enough for me to tackle today, as I'm still not feeling great and my uni scheduling with take a while.

ionafan

Thanks, Natty and Valli xx I could probably have driven today but I know I'm better off staying at home to get rid of the migraine completely.

We were up (relatively) early this morning as we were expecting a new-to-us chiropodist do a home visit, so by 9.00 I had S&S'd the kitchen and hoovered through downstairs. M the chiropodist is very pleasant, good at her job and less than half the price of the people we used to visit in their swanky consulting rooms for a simple "wash and trim." She'll be a keeper 😀 as neither of us can reach our toes now!

Rosie must go out for a walk today but L is on holiday so I will have to take her out myself. I'd like to clear some paperwork too.

See you later xxx

Honey_Bear

Glad you're feeling a bit better Ionafan. I hope the improvement continues.

Belated happy birthday Valli.

It's been a tiring few days but the house is as ready as I can make it for guests without driving myself insane. I've dusted, washed paintwork, vacuumed, put stuff away, am about to iron and polish and generally clear the decks. Also wrap a Christmas present, re-write a birthday card and make some oatcakes.

The problem with getting stuck into serious cleaning is that every little mark and imperfection jumps in front of me. There are areas of the carpets that could do with a proper wash with the B!$$e1, there are window sills that need repainting and there are quite a few areas where the gutters have overflowed because of muck in them that need repainting in the house. I'd much rather go back to ignoring all those areas and not actually seeing them.

roundtuit

Hello everyone xx

I'm up, made my bed, dressed, taken my meds, turned over the calendars, completed the nyt puzzles (only managed two lines on Connections), swished towels and tea towels and pegged them out, changed Sassy's seed and water, fed the birds, put out the recycling, WULTD pots plus plastics for recycling and had a coffee with P & S.

I've been canvassing friends to see which optician's they use as I'm loathe to pay the independent optician's prices. I think I'm going to give Mr A a try.

I've also looked into obtaining voluntary transport for my hospital appointment on 13th Oct. DB says he 'should' be OK to take me, but 'should' makes me nervous. If he has a Crohns flare up that morning I'll be stuck.

And breathe...

Get well soon to all the poorlies xx

Love to all

Rxx

leftatthetrafficlights

Hi everyone!

Sorry I've been awol - had a lot going on! 🤦‍♀️

The foster moggies were meant to be relocating this week but things have changed and they're going to be here for a considerable time longer which means that I need to get a handle on the deep cleaning despite the fur mountain 🙄 Today I have done the full house clean that I do every Monday and tomorrow I'm starting the deep cleaning in the yoga room where the cats spend a lot of their time - I know that it's going to look a mess within seconds of me finishing it but at least I'll know that it's a clean mess! 😉😂

Fayolle

Thank you Natty for the lists x

I spent the morning deliberating my excuses for not flying today. I went to the allotment and DH brought up a pile of cardboard that has been resting in the garage for maybe a year, destined for the allotment. Today was finally the day, so that’s a long standing job off the list. I stayed and filled a couple of small bags with bindweed roots - my success crop of the year 🙄. When I got back, I got it into my head to fly a little. Honey Bear’s mantra paid off, and the action prodded some motivation. Kitchen and utility room are dusted / wiped / swept/ have clean sinks. Meals have been planned, using some of the fridge contents, and a Mr M order has been placed for later in the week. I need to make a veggie curry for tea, and that is about it for the day for chores.

Round, you’ve got this. Lists, my lovely, lists. Now where did you put those lovely shiny new notebooks…🤣

SandyShores

I've been unwell for a few weeks so have been looking at people's post enviously. Am now almost fully recovered so here goes:

Unloaded washing machine and hung up DHs post-weekend wash

Emptied Dishwasher

Put out small bin and recycling

Soap dishes I ordered for the bathroom rail arrived and MrS has installed them.

Had a shower (well when you're not well everything is a win :) )

Put a load of bedding onto wash and hung it out

Some jobs for tomorrow:

Defrost Freezer

Book grocery delivery slot

Collect Prescription

Buy some peat / plant pot

Sell some stuff