Boring tips and tricks which have made your life easier.

[NoEffingWay]

Inspired by the purchase of a flat mop thing from wilkos with removable washable pads, and some method spray and mop bottle. No longer am I wrestling with a dirty looking mop, a kettle and a mop bucket. It took 5 minutes, the house smells like rhubarb (!) and the floor is shiny as.

Any more time-saving, life changing tips for me? I seriously hate mopping so this has made me a lot happier and life's most boring jobs!

Bulk buy socks, one colour for each family member. DH wears navy, I wear black, DD1 has dark grey and DD2 has pale grey. Boring but there's no hassle sorting out socks and pairing is easy as they're all the same make.

Don't throw extra lemons and limes away, slice, freeze and pop in your g&t whenever you fancy x

I also wipe the washbasin with the flannel after I've washed my face. I've had one of those Swiffer-mop things for years.

I buy a dozen generic birthday cards (male as well as female) and keep them in the car, so that if I forget a birthday - neighbours, workmates, not family - I've always got one at hand

@NoEffingWay What does it mean squirt and mop - You pour on the floor neat ?

@cardoon

Put your folded bed set into one of the pillow cases

Great idea

Clothes (mine) in in my wardrobe in colour order black to white ( black-black/white,grey,navy, purple,brown,green,pastels.white) much easier

Everything small like socks , bras or fragile jumpers goe into net laundry or padded laundry bags . Much easier to pair up socks for one person from a bag than try to find a rougue one in the washing .
Stops clothes tangling and stretching and stops the machine getting unbalanced and noisy and maybe refusing to spin a lump of washing

When I had a dishwasher cutlery basker I had two - one tp load up , one in the machine being washed

Keep packs of tissues /masks/gel and a small jar of £1 coins by the front door .
When my DC were little I had a basket for gloves /hats/scarves by the door (and bought Primark black gloves for DS and DD that did for both and easy to wash and pair up )

I have some gadgets that holds 10 coathangers , they fold up/open out and have a hook . So everything gets hung on their non slip flock hanger , easier to put out /bring in.
Pants and socks go on those hangers with 'pegs/grippers/

I hang sheets and towels out on the line with clothespegs but everything else on these hanger holders

If your kids wear a polo shirt and sweater for school, buy them in the same colour (eg red t-shirt with red sweater) so they can all just get chucked in a dark wash. White polo shirts always went grey/pink by Christmas in this house. Coloured ones are sold online by supermarkets and work much better.

I love the admin box idea. There really is no need to separate them into ‘mortgage’, ‘phone’ etc is there?

@BiscuitLover3678

Great tip about the bagels. I always freeze the whole pack but the amount of times I've cut my finger with the bread knife trying to slice one when it's still frozen! Now I'm going to cut them before freezing!

@userxx yes, it's so easy! Will be reusing the spray bottle and using diluted floor cleaner in it when it runs out

@CakeMonster100

Children are trained to put dark clothes (as most of their unifrom ansd clothes are) straight in the washing machine. When full I just turn it on without having to gather things up. Only whites go in the washing basket waiting for enough for to make a load up. Once dry, all school uniform inc. pants and socks goes in a trug for each child in the front room to get dressed each morning. Easy to put in their rooms when visitors are round but saves having to put uniform in drawers only to take it out almost immediately.

Isn't putting it in a trug the same as putting it in a drawer, though? You're still having to place it somewhere. And how come your children get dressed in the living room and not in their rooms anyway?

Always tidy with one hand when brushing teeth. So 2 mins morning and night. I move cups to the kitchen, put dirty clothes in the basket, open/close curtains...etc. Every little helps.

I also use my used facecloth to wash taps and around sink.

I freeze cut up lemons and limes for drinks, and chunks of chilli and ginger for cooking, all in plastic Chinese food boxes.

As I lie in the bath, I can see the shelves where we store toiletries, so it's the perfect time to do an online Superdrug order on my phone for anything we're running out of.

We have a Word shopping list, ordered to match the route through our local Aldi, with all our regular basics on. It takes very little time to amend it to fill in any gaps and then print it off.

For work (I'm a solicitor), I have a single page document with everything I need to do on my active files which I update and re- order before I finish work each day. It saves a lot of " what do I need to do next?" mental energy and the incentive to clear off the list everything that I have highlighted for that day, makes me work more efficiently. The system works for other jobs too!

@ThreeRingCircus

Bulk buy socks, one colour for each family member. DH wears navy, I wear black, DD1 has dark grey and DD2 has pale grey. Boring but there's no hassle sorting out socks and pairing is easy as they're all the same make.

Step further Buy black socks for everyone and have communal socks. Everything always matches.

@Itsnotdeep I bought the Vileda spray mop you fill it with your liquid cleaner and water, and just spray as you mop. It's really simple and there's no bucket. When you're done just unclip and wash in the machine. So easy and really did make a difference.

@VioletOcean

Take off duvet cover and button the end, that way no washing gets inside it

Oh i do this!

Oops wrong thread.

@ollobololo

Take one old piece of food / out of date veg out the fridge every time you go in for something else. Keeps it clean and tidy without having to do a big fridge chuck out!

Great idea!

Duvet clips - put the top corners of duvet into cover corners and secure with these. You can then stuff the rest in, give a shake and voila!
www.dunelm.com/product/quilt-clips-1000017856

Drying sheets etc on a whirly - take the edge around the corner of the whirly and peg. Repeat on other side. Doesn’t matter how windy it is, your washing won’t bunch up.

Get a washing up brush for the bathroom - you don’t have to bend down so far when cleaning the shower. Great for cleaning around taps too.

I clean my teeth when I’m in the shower in the morning.

@WhereDoesThisToiletGo

2 single duvets on Super king size bed. Less wrestling with covers

And less fighting with your companion. Though I am thoroughly single and actually 2 double duvets on my bed ! One thin, one medium.

@PermanentTemporary I take photos of wine bottles too, but edit them with a tick or cross and save in an album on my phone.

Tip from me is to plan your next day - I never ever feel like doing this but every time I do I am grateful to myself! So, plan it when you are ending the present day - at work, in the 15 mins before you finish for the day, and at home/personal life at the end of the day/sometime in the evening.

Always just buy your kids plain black socks - you will always find a pair that way! Worked for us

@Tamarasnotmyname

Buying frozen diced onion. It’s genuinely changed my life!

I do this, and frozen garlic too :)

Storing containers with their lids on.