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!

Right now the thread is looking very quiet...but 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

It is your responsibility to read the forum rules, please follow them 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!

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


Right here we go!!!

Muggles Monday ~ Kitchen & Dining Room
Level One...
Open the windows and let in the light
Clear and wipe the work surfaces & table
Wipe the units and appliances
Clear and wipe table, replace cloth if necessary
Level Two...
Wipe the little appliances and put them back in their homes
Wipe over the cupboards and large appliances
Sweep and mop the floor
Clean out drawers and filters
Level Three...
Thoroughly clean the cereal/baking
Shine the grotty windows
Clear and wipe window sills
Wipe the inside doors.. inside.. and out!!
Extras

• HHI
• Fill a bag for charity shop
• Deweb the downstairs of the house!!
• Wipe out the fridge.. meal plan for the rest of June!
• Scrub the sink and tiles
• Clean the lightshades
• Bake a cake/buns or prepare a new meal for our family!

Thumping Tuesday ~ Living Room, Hall and Stairs
Level One…
Open the windows and turn on some music!
Wipe and water the plants
Wipe over sticky sofas.
Level Two…
Dusting, even if around everything
Remove clutter making sure stairs especially are safe
Clean TV, any fluffy electricals and defluff behind the radiators!
Level Three…
Wipe paintworks and any grubby marks off walls etc
Vacuum under any furniture you can.. please don't injure yourselves!
Clean any other glass like mirrors, pictures etc
Tidy shoes, coats and bags .. wash any that need washing and putting away not we have warmer weather!!
HHC in the porch

Extras

• Clear a hotspot or 3!
• Clean light shades/fittings and lamps
• Clean a window or two.
• Wash any smelly soft furnishings!
• Clear one hotspot, or just spend at least 5 minutes tackling it
• Wash a pair of curtains, or some nets or a throw from a chair or bed
• Groom the hairy pets... or the children lol
• 29 fling boogie

Wishful Wednesday ~ Working from Own Lists

Thursday Scrubfest- Bathroom and Study/Pc Area
Level One…
Clean & wash floors in these rooms
Air the room.. fling open the windows and let in the summery air!!
Replace sponges and toothbrushes that need doing!!
Level Two…
Clean baths, toilets, don't forget the outside and under the rim and sinks.. shine the taps with a toothbrush!!!!
Dust PC and clear any clutter from desk and wipe off those cup rings!!
Clean the windows in these rooms...
Wipe keyboard, house phone, sockets, switches and mouse etc
Level Three…
Wipe down tiles in bathroom.. defragment your pc while doing this.
Empty and clean out all the upstairs bins!
Clean shower screen/curtain if you have one/if required
Collect any stray laundry from upstairs.
HHG.. if your garden is already beautiful go out and enjoy it for half an hour!!

Extras…

• Wipe the skirtings, door and window frames in these rooms
• Fling all those empty bottles and tubes
• Binbag dance.... ready.. set.. go!!!!!!!!
• Empty out the bathroom cabinet.. clean it.. fling what you don't need and stash the rest in a beautiful manner.. in alphabetical order please!
• Wash your bathroom mats, nets, clean blind/curtains etc whatever needs cleaning.
• Do any toothbrushes/sponges etc need replacing?
• HHI... a bit more gone!
• Throw out/get rid of 3 things from every room in your house!!

Carry over from Wednesday - Master Bedroom and Landing
Strip off smelly bedding and sling it in the wash, replace well before bedtime!
Vacuum the mattress and air the duvet
Find 10 things to get rid of!
Make sure those smoke alarms are working!!! (DO NOT put this off as it was a life saver for me when we had our little kitchen fire!!!)
Remove anything that should be elsewhere.. your bedroom is NOT a shed!!
Remove some dust bunnies and wipe over the light shades
15 minutes sort out of the landing gibble.. see if you can find something to rehome

Freaky Friday- those frightening kids rooms and spare rooms
Level One…
Clear away anything that isn't in it's place, clothes, toys, books etc
Spend at least half an hour doing something for yourself!!!!! paint your nails, make an appointment to have your hair done, a lovely soak in the bath.. whatever you feel like!!
Level Two…
Vacuum the floor
Dusting.. all those shelves and flat fluffy surfaces!! Don’t forget the light shade and curtain pole!!!
Strip beds, turn and vacuum mattresses!! and replace with fresh linen .. check if duvets need freshening up too!!
Level Three…
Drag everything out from under the bed too.. there is floor under there!!
Sort through a cupboard/chest of drawers and get the clothes out which are no longer wearable, too small or out of season!
Wipe the grotty patches of the walls and woodwork
Wipe the radiators, skirtings and window & door frames!
Extras

• Wash a set of curtains, nets, duvet or throw
• Sort through one box or toys.. if you have no children find a box of junk.. is there anything that needs to go?
• End of week fling!! grab a binbag and fill it with stuff to leave the house.. rubbish or charity shop or to donate to a friend!
• Clean out any pets!