If you could share one household tip/life hack, what would it be?

[Dandelion78]

Mine would definitely be that drying clothes in sunlight gets rid of tomato/sauce stains. Am weaning my second child and it's a bloody lifesaver. No more soaking things for hours that still come out with orange marks on them.

What other gems are there that I need to know?

So many good ideas here.

Mine tip that it’s easier to keep things clean than to clean later. Straighten as you go; clean up messes as soon as they happen. It’s not my nature but I learned it watching others who always seem to have things in order.

@Koyto

Mum of boys here! magic sponges get rid of yellowing from under toilet seats. Bleach won't touch it but these sponges do it with just water 🤯

I need these - what are magic sponges?

Not sure if anyone mentioned this yet but Vicks (or unbranded equivalent) vapour rub is fantastic for fungal nail! Apparenty it's the eucalyptus oil which completely obliterates the fungus.

If you have "stainless" steel sinks (HAH!) with water spots on them, and NOTHING will get them off, cut a lemon in half and rub the sinks with the cut half. Every water spot will be gone, and the sinks will look like new. This also works on chrome taps and faucets.

Instead of a spoon plate, use a tumbler or jug which has a smaller footprint.

I use a spray bottle filled with white vinegar. Cleans toilets, sinks, taps, shower doors, kettles, mirrors, glass etc and better for the environment particularly buying it in glass bottles.

Teach boys how to pick up after themselves and do basic household chores competently. Their future spouses will thank you.

Pale carpets are far too much work.  Hard floors are easier.

 Buy nonperishables in bulk.  Don’t let household members take the last of anything without writing it down on a family board.

What is a spoon plate?

If a child of yours says they are not feeling too good right before bed, believe them.

Teach your children to leave the loo as you wish to find it.

@Staffy1

Put a bit of curry powder in empty tuna and sardine tins before they go in the bin so they don't attract animals.

Or...wash and recycle them

My top tips: All sports kit/dance kit/swimming kit is put back into the kit bag (not drawers) once washed. You’ll always be ready.

Fit shaker pegs on the corner of one wall of a child’s room (ours are behind the door) on each one have kits bags - swimming/dance/PE/school bags ready. Label the top of the peg with the day of the week needed.

Get kids to hang their uniform on their bedroom door handle before they go to bed including underwear/tights etc so there is less hunting in the morning.

Put all similar coloured hair bands/ribbons in small sandwich bags into a larger basket/box so you don’t need to hunt around for house/team coloured ribbons when your child remembers it’s sports day/st David’s day/whatever.

Have one box for costumes for world book day/ww2 evacuee day/Greek day/ space day whatever (schools tend to follow the same pattern every year) then put back into the box once used ready for the next child. Same with Easter bonnets

If your secondary school child has a locker at school, get them to leave the full sports kit and bag in the locker at school (shoes and all) at the start of the term/year and then only bring home what they have worn on PE day in their school bag and wash it that night. Send it back into school next day. Saves the chances of the entire kit for every sport being lost/left on the bus/train etc. Only provide combination locks for school lockers so no keys are needed. If your child has no locker, fit a small padlock onto the double zips on the bag to save anyone ‘borrowing’ kit without being asked. Never drive forgotten kit/lunch back into school - particularly secondary age kids. Let them get a slip/whatever otherwise they’ll never learn to take responsibility.

Have a box for each child’s school letters/permission slips/DofE /whatever and then as soon as it comes home it goes into the box. If it isn’t in the box, it isn’t my problem to look for it

Music practice is much easier to manage for 30mins before school than persuading when they are tired after school.

Second bedding for each bed folded inside the duvet cover ready for bed change day.

Use colour catchers inside zip laundry bags so they can’t get lost in the machine. Use in every wash - especially where there is makeup or self tan on towels/flannels/bedding .

Put a dose ball of white vinegar (alongside detergents) in with gym kits/school shirts to keep them smelling fresh.

Teach kids how to use the washing machine/dishwasher/iron/make basic meals. Whoever cooks or helps prep gets to sit down after dinner, everyone else clears alway.

Add things you’ve just used up into the Ocado shop as you go along. Get kids to do the same.

One idea I learned this year from MN is to buy in bulk for the year all washing powders/dishwasher/cleaning products etc in January/February when there is no council tax due. Genius.

if you only have occasional guests, don’t buy and store spare pillows. A single duvet (150 x 200) can easily be folded in half lengthwise and then quarters to make a standard 75x50 pillow form

I imagine this would very much feel like sleeping on a folded up single duvet

Laundromats are your friend. I can leave home, do all of our bed’s sheets and blankets, plus all towels and bath mats in two side by side mega washing machines, then dry them in the industrial dryer and be home in 1 hour, 26 minutes. Less time if I bring it home wet and line dry it. Would take days and endless loads to do it at home.

Best places ever to use after visitors and camping trips too.

Also- Vicks vapour rub on soles of feet then socks on top helps a child manage a snuffly nose during a cold.

Help teens understand/navigate how to shop safely on the internet or understand (pre Covid) that a movie currently in the cinema but available to watch on a laptop probably comes with a virus attached is also worthwhile

Explain to teenagers normal measures of alcohol to demystify it. At a party where you are not expecting them to encounter alcohol, knowing that glass of wine won’t render you unconscious/kill you but a glass of vodka might is worth knowing.

I'll do my usual thing.

Sharpie or permanent marker on the laminate/table/window/doorframe?

Don't use multiple/flammable cleaning fluids and scrubbing brushes.

Draw over the offending marks with a Dry Wipe/Whiteboard Marker. Then wipe them off as normal.

Buy a stock of 3,000 face masks. Hang them on a hook by the front door. Hopefully there will be at least one left when it's time to leave for school.

@Chicchicchicchiclana

For hair in plug holes you need those bendy long wire things with a little brush on the end. Put it down as far as it will go, wiggle it around in a spiral motion and pull it out. Gross but satisfying but much better and cheaper than pouring acid into the water system.

I love these. £1 in Tesco. It’s helped me free a hair rat from my bath plug many times.

Keep a shower scrunchy and a bottle of Domestos (or similar, I buy mine in Aldi) to clean your shower screen and tiles after you shower. It takes two minutes and you'll have a spotless shower screen free from built up scum.

@Netaporter

Also- Vicks vapour rub on soles of feet then socks on top helps a child manage a snuffly nose during a cold.

Help teens understand/navigate how to shop safely on the internet or understand (pre Covid) that a movie currently in the cinema but available to watch on a laptop probably comes with a virus attached is also worthwhile

Explain to teenagers normal measures of alcohol to demystify it. At a party where you are not expecting them to encounter alcohol, knowing that glass of wine won’t render you unconscious/kill you but a glass of vodka might is worth knowing.

I’ve seen/heard of the vicks on the soles of feet my whole life (but never tried it on myself or DC) and I don’t understand how it could possibly do anything for a cold by being rubbed on the FEET!?

@normalsaline it’s a reflexology thing. It really works. I do it myself (top tip use a tissue to apply otherwise if you rub your eye afterwards it stings like a bastard )

@Kenshi

Not sure if anyone mentioned this yet but Vicks (or unbranded equivalent) vapour rub is fantastic for fungal nail! Apparenty it's the eucalyptus oil which completely obliterates the fungus.

Got my dad to do this. Nothing had worked in years. He was sceptical but tried it. After a week all cleared up!

If your kids have lockers at school, get them a combination lock. That way, they will never need to worry about losing a key or having to get the caretaker to cut it off, they'll just get a friend to crack the combination in about 10 seconds flat most staff under 60 can also do this for them if asked nicely and your child will be able to do it Year 7s next year in turn . You may wish to tell them to never leave anything in it that is of value, though. Like their PE kit, travel card, phone, keys, makeup, jewellery...

Tell them that the secondary school rules about jewellery/toys/games/whatever aren't to be mean, they're to stop the things being taken or broken by others. Because it's the truth. We don't actually care that much about them having them, we care about the sobbing, crying child and shouting parents when we don't have idea who took it/smashed it and even if we did, we can't pick them up by the ankles and shake them until the missing item falls out of their pocket.

Assume that PE kit will be left at school for the holidays. They will tell you it wasn't there, it's already at home, etc. It'll be exactly where they left it. Along with their coat/hat/gloves/bag/trainers/etc. And traceable by smell on the first day back.

Don't fall for the 'a good quality coat is essential'. Because it'll get nicked. Get them Primark. It'll be safe on a rack of 29 other identical Primark coats, or at least if you name it, there is a vague chance it'll come back at some point. If it's North Face or any other brand that costs over a hundred quid, you ain't seeing that again. Especially if they have to put it in a locker.

@Koyto

Mum of boys here! magic sponges get rid of yellowing from under toilet seats. Bleach won't touch it but these sponges do it with just water 🤯

And as they get older teach them to aim properly, clean up the mess they make and put the seat down. 😉

Especially in summer, keep any scraps of meat or fish waste, chicken bones, etc. in a bag in the freezer until the night before the bin men come. Saves a lot of smelliness and bluebottles buzzing around, not to mention maggots.

Write the size of the cake tin on the bottom with a Sharpie.