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?

@ShirleyPhallus

NO

I’m throwing an early strop about this thread because I’ve fallen victim to mumsnet “life tips” before

Can confirm that putting veet down the plug hole will not dissolve all the hair in there, it just goes slimy and gross

The babyliss big hair isn’t that good

Roblox thing is a useless little bastard

I won’t be sucked in to tying bags of vinegar around taps and rubbing 2p coins to get rid of limescale and whatever stuff is about to be posted

I can’t handle the heartbreak. I really can’t.

If you need an old toothbrush to clean it, you can probably just leave it.

If you have some boxes to rip up for recycling as in cat food boxes or cereal boxes, just make the boxes flat,and put them in the washing up bowl with some soapy hot water, maybe after washing up, after a minute or two, you can just roll or fold the boxes up into a small piece, and not fill your bin up with a load of boxes.. I have three cats, and it gets on my nerves to be ripping up cat food boxes every day,

Chop meat like chicken breasts, bacon, sausages etc with scissors. same goes for pizza.
Have a stash of birthday cards, stamps, coins, batteries, lightbulbs, pens, hair elastics, water bottles in stock and easily accessible at all times.
Have multiple chargers in several rooms so no need to keep plugging in and moving. Also, 3m cables are v useful.
Set reminders on your phone for everything and with enough warning if that event requires you to do something in advance (book mot, book day next week sort costume, post uncle Jim’s bday card etc).
If it’s going to school, name it, name it and name it again.
If anyone gives you an important piece of paper, take a picture ASAP before it gets lost!

I only buy one kind of socks for anyone in this house. Ten pairs at a time each for my husband and the same for each daughter. This means I never have to worry about pairing up and there are no odd ones because any two I pick up of the same size will match because they are all the same.

If a household task takes less than five minutes do it as soon as you see it.

Unfortunately my brain has translated this into - if a job takes more than five minutes you can ignore it as long as you like.

But the principle is sound.

@Muminabun

Marry a tradesman

Yeah, if you want every room half finished for all of eternity.

@allIminaglasscaseofemotion what sort of paint did you paint your flagstones with?

Keep a notebook of what you gave your children for bdays, Christmas etc. It really helps when you're wondering how much money/what the hell you gave kid 1 at 13yo etc, as kid 2 is about to turn 13 and you want to try to keep it roughly the same! Also spending on clothes, bedroom furniture, phone, laptop and other similar items for the same reason. I did not do this and have a big problem!

Drill a hole in the side of your kitchen bin at the bottom. Stops that vacuum effect where your overfilled bin liners get stuck in the bin and means they slide out easily.

This is literally the only life hack thing that has ever made a difference to my life.

@MrsBobDylan

Don't have dogs, especially don't have three dogs. Or children. Or live with a partner.

I wish I'd known this 20yrs ago!

That nothing, absolutely nothing will remove the limescale marks on my shower doors.

Have wasted £££ over the years and have just ordered new ones.

The less stuff you have, the easier life is. Ask yourself am I just an organised hoarder?
Don’t buy anything without thinking how easy it is to maintain, clean, insure etc - ie what is its overhead.

Salt your drive ways and patios in early spring to prevent ant infestations in hot weather

@quarentini

I have a plastic boxes in the fridge. All ingredients needed for tea, mon/fri go in the boxes on the day the shopping arrives. Saves messing about on a busy week night.

Set breakfast things out before bed .

Basket on the stairs for anything needed to go up and take it up and empty regular

Well this is genius.

Buy a charging station that can plug in 4 or 5 devices tidily and with the suitable cables always there tidily out of view and ready to go. Must have saved us hours of searching for cables.

@whiteshark 🤣🤣 agree with that!

Don't partner up with a lazy cocklodger

Use this kind of exfoliating gloves for cleaning potatoes.

Don’t bother ironing. Eat porridge for breakfast (so cheap).

Two small children?

Have a large box behind the sofa/in the living room. When you come downstairs from putting small children to bed pick up old apple cores, discarded clothes, toys, bits of lego, books, and every other thing that is scattered in your living room.

Throw into box and shove behind sofa out of sight.

Sit down. That's you done for the day.

Gin

Descaler the stuff you get for kettles works wonders on water marks/limescale marks on shower doors/screen.

We're in a very hard water area and it's like bloody magic!

@Muminabun

Marry a tradesman

I did this! It has taken 3 years of no bath and we have bought a bath and it is sitting in cradle but no taps or plumbing. Marry someone who won”t hesitate to get a tradesman in when needed 😂😂

99% of making a house/room look presentable is putting stuff away.

Sleep is everything with pre-schoolers. Sacrifice most other things for sleep; it’s all about survival at that stage & you will be happier for it.

Again with pre-schoolers; routine, routine, routine. They can’t tell the time so they only feel safe & happy when they know what to expect through a series of different events that follow one another in predictable order. So when they’re knackered, they know that story-time follows a bath, & milk & a cuddle pre-empt being put down in their cot(s.) Same every night, without deviation

Don’t agree to see people you don’t like/find exhausting/don’t want to see when you’re newly delivered. Promote partner into role of guardian so that he can advocate on your behalf & politely tell irritating folks you’re busy/too tired/baby ill etc etc

A carpet cleaner is not only your friend but your saviour at times of various bodily excretions from small children, vomit, poo, wee, vomit again. Kids vomit a lot & your carpets stink without a carpet cleaner to properly lift the fluid

Wash hair in fairy liquid. It takes off build up of shampoo/ conditioner/hairspray and stops it looking dull.

Making sure everyone in the house changes out of shoes into slippers - even having spare pairs for regular visitors.

Dishwasher cleaning tablets to clean sinks and oven door.