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?

Since the vacuum is out, chnage th head for the brush and run it across the tops of door frames, wardrobes, window sills and anything you can. I even do my book shelves, across the radiator.

Anything I can run my vacuum over gets done, picks up the dust and saves me time.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER

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.

I so agree! Never had a maggot incident .

Always keep £150,000 stashed away in the bank for a rainy day 😂😂😂

Write the house number on balls the kids play with in the garden and then if it goes over a fence the neighbours know which direction to throw it back over if you live somewhere like us with families on every side.

The cardboard boxes foil comes in have little push in bits on each end, which I ignored for years. If you actually push them in they hold the foil roll in place and make it easier to roll.
Karcher window vac over the shower screen and tiles each morning after everyone's been in. Keeps it nice and dry and mould free.

When taking off the duvet cover button it up before washing it, saves all the other stuff you wash with it going into the cover. Also wash them inside out easier to put back in duvet

This wotsit from Sainsbury's. Got it yesterday as I have a border collie who seems to shed all year round. Hoovering and sticky things you roll over furniture/clothes etc work fairly well. The Wotsit is superb though.

Baby wipes are brilliant for getting pen marks out, wiping down tiles to make them shiny plus lots of other uses.

Quick cheat, if you have guests arriving imminently- and you're a bit of a slob like me!, quick spray of furniture polish in the air makes it seem that you've at least dusted

Hand gel is amazing at polishing stainless steel, taps etc! Just put a bit on a cloth and then buff to a shine.
Keep everything in zipped wallets in work bag - I have 1 for paperwork, pencil case, makeup and 1 for period products and spare pants. Means I spend less time fumbling around in my bag and everything is kept clean and tidy.
Keep young children amused (and save £s) by stoking up on small gifts and treats before you go on holiday. I would keep my 2 toddlers amused for a week by spending £20 in the pound shop and allowing 1 gift per day.

@BritInAus

Buy two lunchboxes and water bottles per kid for school. Then one set can go straight in the dishwasher after school, and the other can be prepared for the next day whilst making dinner. Saved me lots of time washing out a lunchbox every night before making the next day's lunch.

This only works if your ds remembers to bring the bloody drinks bottles home!!! 😂😂

This is a great thread, my tips,

1. Never put something down. Always put it away.

1. Bleach in a spray container on your shower will get rid of mould .

1. If you burn a saucepan of food put it in cold water do not put cold water in pan. Seems to make it easier to clean eventually.

@normalsaline

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

Doesn't having spare duvets take up just as much space as spare pillows?

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.
I so agree! Never had a maggot incident .

Ok this is the kinda thing I’m talking about. I put my waste meat etc in the normal bin and I’ve never had a maggot incident either. Why would you go to the faff of freezing scraps of leftover dinner?!

I'm terrible for forgetting things on a morning so I place whatever I need to remember inside the door so I would have to climb over it to get out. If it is something you can't leave there I put a post it note with, "cheesecake in fridge" so I remember it.

I have two fridges. It started by accident I had a mini fridge from living in NHS accommodation. The minifridge has since been replaced with another small fridge, it lives in the living room and contains just drinks and is set at a lower temperature than the food fridge.

The soft drinks are cans so no need for a glass and if I had teenagers they would have a can fridge too.

Hairspray is magic for getting biro marks out of fabric. Couldn’t believe it until I tried it.

@Muminabun

Marry a tradesman

OMG this, in spades. DH is a plumbing and heating engineer. He is also a jack of all trades, as many tradesmen are and saves us a fortune on bike and car and house maintenance. He also knows loads of other tradesmen...

@ladygoingGaga

Toothpaste is marvellous for cleaning the white parts of trainers and making them look like new again. Teenage DS thinks I’m a magician

You’ve not really entered into the spirit of this thread, have you? Teenage DS should be initiated into the magic circle and learn to clean his own bloody shoes.

@Operasinger

To be honest, many of these tips are more trouble than they’re worth! For me anyway.

I was wondering if it was just me thinking that

I like these type of threads but end uP disappointed not to find one that makes me think yes! That will actually save me time

@ShirleyPhallus
a) because bluebottles can apparently smell dead meat, inc. any in leftover dinner, from a mile away, so it’ll save any buzzing around your bins.
b) having that sort of thing going off in bins in warm weather is vile
c) it’s not a faff at all, especially if you use up leftovers as far as poss and so don’t have much in the first place

@Bungalowlady

Don't spend a fortune on cleaning products for a textured wet room floor. Nothing bloody works

Yes this! Although I found a HG spray that works after leaving it to soak on the floor for at least an hour, then repeat the process! I hate that floor! It's a ridiculous amount of work for it to look like shit again a few days later

@LBOCS2

This is an amazing idea! Now if you could just tell me what bits of paper I need to keep, please?! 🤣

Money in (payslips, bank statements), money out (bills, credit card statements), insurance documents. Simple!

Thank you!

Don't obsessively meal plan. What if you get to Thursday and don't feel like lasagne or whatever you've decided the week before? Just ensure your cupboards are filled with essentials eg tins, carbs (pasta rice etc) and spices, and top up fresh fruit and veg every week. Have a decent stock of meat in the freezer, take whatever you want out the night before. Voila you can make anything you fancy that night and not have spent hours obsessing over weekly meals. Don't feel like a failure for resorting to beige oven food once in a while. Serve it with a huge salad and it's not that bad.

Invest in a good fridge. It makes SO MUCH difference in not having to throw away food that has gone bad too quickly.

@FlyingBurrito
With hot summers and cold winters here we need 4-season duvets, so I’ve come up with this solution (cushion stuffers) to deal with the excess!

If you are the type to worry that you've left your hair straighteners on/left the door unlocked/packed your passport (ha!) etc take a photo of the thing in question for your reference. You can send photo to someone else for extra peace of mind.

Paying a company to come and clean your wheelie bin each week is a waste of money. What's that I hear you say? Maggots? This hardly ever happens and if it did just pour boiling hot water on them. Oh and bag up stuff properly so you don't get them in the first place.

Also, can someone tell me the Roblox hack?

When stuff comes out of the drier/off the line, hang on a clothes rail. Makes ironing easier.

I used to just shove it in my ironing basket. No more!