Weekly Flylady Thread 17th June 2019

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
WUDUPA ~ Washed up, dried up, put away
WUALTD ~ Washed up and left to dry
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!

Some of our abbreviations: DH- dear husband, OH- other half, KH/CF- affectionate term for ex husband or partner DS/DD- dear son/daughter, DGC- dear grandchild, WM- washing machine, DW- dishwasher, LR/DR- living/dining room, RoD- room of doom, 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...

Musty Monday ~ Kitchen and Dining Room
Level One...
Sweep and mop the floor
Clear and wipe worksurfaces
Level Two...
Sort fridge bringing what needs using soon to the front, clean out any spills or grots in there!
Wipe dining table.. and check the underside.. (clean table cloth if necessary)
Wipe and replace all those small appliances.. kettle, toaster etc
Level Three...
Dust any extra furniture in dining area, checking for cobwebs on way round… lightshades need doing!
Sort your drawer of large cutlery things.. slotted spoons, spatulas.. clean out the drawer, flin the things you don't need/use and make it all neat and tidy!
Clean cupboard door fronts and fronts of appliances
Clean oven if you didn't do it last week

Extras

• Wipe window sills and clean windows in these rooms
• Thoroughly clean a cupboard or the drawers!
• Put WM's/DW's on a 'clean' cycle.. make sure those doorseals and filters are clear.. soda crystals and white vinegar get rid of unpleasant smells and germs
• 30 minutes ironing!!!
• Wipe the inside of the unit doors
• Empty the pan cupboard!! Sort those oven trays, tighten handles on pans.

Tantalising Tuesday ~ Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One...
Vacuum floors and sofas
Level Two...
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
Change any dead lightbulbs!

Extras:

• Paperwork clearance.. spend 15 minutes minimum sorting through those piles of paper.
• Vacuum under furniture you can manage to move without hurting yourself
• 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

Humpday Wednesday ~ Master Bedroom & Landing
Level One...
Check fire alarms are working
Remove and wash bed linen and duvet covers.
Fling open the window and let in the summer!
Level Two...
Dust surfaces & make sure no cobwebs.. (make sure to do the bed base..!)
Using a flour sieve, shake bicarbonate of soda evenly all over the mattress. Leave for a few hours and then hoover it all off. {It will lift any nasty smells or odours}
Vacuum mattress before replacing with fresh linen
Level Three...
Vacuum floors in bedroom and on landing
15 minutes floordrobe clearance
Clean lightshade, and remove dead insects...
Extras...

• Wipe down lightswitches
• 37 fling boogie time, time for that midweek fling, go on grab a bag and clear that clutter
• Sort through someone's wardrobe.. what can you fling?
• Clean windows in these rooms
• Clear a hotspot.. or spend 15 minutes clearing one.
• Clear a box of clutter from the landing
• Make any necessary phone calls
• Replace any dead lightbulbs with ones that work
• Sort out your airing cupboard if you have finished all your jobs
  

Tantalising Thursday ~ Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One...
Clear floors of guff and stuff
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment your pc while doing this.
Clear any clutter from desk
Dust PC and desk and wipe off those cup rings!! (baby wipes are fantastic for this!!)
Level Two...
Wipe keyboard, house phone and mouse (these usually have more germs on than your toilet so important)..
Wash your bathroom mats, nets, clean blind/curtains, shower curtains etc
Empty and clean out all the upstairs bins!
Collect all the dirty laundry
Level Three...
Clean baths, toilets, don't forget the outside! and sinks
Clean shower screen/curtain/bath mats 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!!

Extras...

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Wipe down 2 doors.. room doors.. both sides
• 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 and anything no longer needed is "rehomed".
• Fling all those empty bottles and tubes
• Replace any sponges, flannels, toiletries that need it

Fandabidozy Friday ~Childrens rooms and spare rooms
Level One...
Clear the floor
Vacuum the floor, even if it's just where you can see
Deweb and fluff the room
Level Two...
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Drag the stuff from under the beds and place it in it's proper homes!
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade!!
Level Three...
Strip beds and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!!
Sort through a cupboard/chest of drawers and get the clothes out which are no longer wearable, too small or out of season!
Wipe any sticky marks off walls and doors

Extras...

• Wash a set of curtains, nets or throw
• Time for the Friday Flylady Fling, in the toy box!!!! aim for 27.. if no toy box you’ll have to choose another area!
• 30 minutes ironing
• Clean any tv's, pc's playstations in the room
• 15 minutes filing!
• Spend at least half an hour doing something just for yourself.. a nice bath, a manicure.. just your time! Make that appointment to have your hair done!!