Weekly Flylady Thread 25th February 2019

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.

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

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

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
Right here we go!!!

Happy Monday: Kitchen
Level One
Remove floor gubbins. Yes, you, that pile over by the door. Does it live there? I think not!
Now do the same with the unnecessary worktop clutter! There you go! Well done!
Level Two
Give the work tops and cupboard fronts your attention (with a cloth, don't flutter your eyelashes at them )
Shine your sink, flylady basics
Splash backs and greasy tiles? Yep, swish there too!
Level Three
Pop the bin and doormat outside, then sweep and mop your floor
Wipe over the small appliances
Extras:

• Do you need to test your smoke alarms?
• Wipe over your big appliances
• Run the WM and/or DW on a hot wash to keep its insides happy
• Count your baking tins and sheets. How many??? Do you really need all of them?

Cheerful Tuesday (d'ya see what I did there?): Dining Room, Hall, Stairs, Landing
Level One
Dust from top to bottom
Sweep or vacuum / mop -including stairs if you can, safety first please
Level Two
Scrub the table top and replace tablecloth if needed.
Wipe a window or two
Level Three
Wipe the front door, inside and out
Tidy or declutter a hotspot
Extras:

• Collect stray laundry
• HHI
• Find homes for the coats and shoes that are hanging around
  

Whoopee Wednesday: Bathroom
Level One
Let some fresh air in, pop the radio on
Wash the sinks and loo, don't forget the pedestal
Level Two
Clean the bath / shower
Replace towels, sponges etc
Wash the window
Level Three
Wipe down the tiles
Mop the floor
Extras:

• Wash out any grubby toothbrush holders / fill your soap dispenser
• Do you need to wash the shower curtain / screen
• Wipe down the door and disinfect the door handle
• Have a bit of me time and use one of your many products

Thankful Thursday: Bedroom(s)
Level One
Start off clearing that floordrobe! Can any be flung?
Then dewebbing and dusting the fluffy surfaces
And then vacuum...
Level Two
Strip the bed. Air and turn the mattress if needed.
Is it nice enough outside to get the duvet out to air? Or even put the summer one on?
Choose your brightest, sunniest bedding to replace.
Level Three
Wash a window or two
Wipe door handles and light switches
Dust your light fitting
Extras:

• Tidy a shelf or drawer
• Have a mini fling boogie
• Put any out of season stuff away
• Make a brew, and just sit and be for a while!

Phew it's Friday: Living a Room and catch up
Level One
Dust and deweb - lots of spidders around at the mo!
Sweep / vac - maybe get the tools out and do the edges and skirting?
Level Two
Polish a mirror and wipe a window
Sofa - vac again? Or a wipe? Mine are grotty
Declutter a hotspot
Level Three
Catch up - do you need to S&S the sink again?
Catch up - any piles of gubbins starting to regrow?
Catch up - bills / paperwork / phonecalls?
Extras:

• Fling 5 things
• Plan something nice for the weekend
• Have some time outdoors
• HHI