Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to never wash up, vacuum or iron ever again?

147 replies

MalibuStacy · 04/06/2014 15:38

OK, so this will shortly be my day:

Commuting & school run: 4 hours
Work: 6 hours
Park & helping with homework: 1 hour
Cooking, preparing lunches & general tidying up: 1 hour
Running my small business: up to 3 hours.

That doesn't actually leave any time at all for anything else, does it? DH can't really help as he works more hours than I do. But I can't do it all. Money is a bit tight for us right now, but I am hoping things will improve.

I can't afford to get a cleaner in every day, so… I am thinking of employing a range of different household gadgets to take the pressure off. This is my list:

Roomba
Dishwasher
Tumble dryer (so I don't have to iron)
Slow cooker.

Is there anything else? I would love to hear from other stressed working mums about ways that they have reduced the workload also.

OP posts:
JugglingFromHereToThere · 04/06/2014 17:49

"Loads of people on Mumsnet never iron anything but Hama beads"

Yup, that's me LadyIsabella - and even my Hama bead days are fading from memory now Smile

Seriously thinking of getting a dishwasher to help us, particularly with me starting my new job soon

Is a slow cooker any good for veggie recipes - beans and pulses based ones perhaps?

"Love my tumble drier more than my children" Like it MrsJayy and yup that's me too Grin

PuppyMonkey · 04/06/2014 17:51

BabyMonkey must have a) an amazing Hoover and b) a really crap tumble dryer. Wink

Original poster
MalibuStacy · 04/06/2014 17:51

PixieofCatan, I am also veggie! Please, please share some slow cooker recipes Grin

OP posts:
PlushSuppie · 04/06/2014 17:52

Tumble drier - cuts down on the ironing massively for me.
Hang them outside or on a clothes horse and I can't get away with not ironing..

Dishwasher - love, love, love mine. To those who say it's quicker to do by hand, that's bollocks. Do you hand wash your clothes or get a machine to do it?

Roomba - fab, it definitely saves time but every now and again I have to get the vac out to do a proper job.

Slow cooker - I use mine a lot in the winter not so much in the summer but it is lovely to come home to a prepared meal.

I say go for it, the dishwasher would be top of my list.

Original poster
MalibuStacy · 04/06/2014 17:53

PlushSuppie, thanks for giving the thumbs up for my Wish List of gadgets. May I ask, what else do you have in your house that saves time?

OP posts:
Original poster
MalibuStacy · 04/06/2014 17:57

And for those who question if I need to vacuum every day… we have ceramic tiling throughout the house. Last Friday we were eating pizza and garlic bread in front of the TV with the baby in her highchair. She dropped a piece of garlic bread but I didn't notice.

Then out of the corner of my eye I saw something moving. When I looked, it was an army, literally an ARMY of ants taking this piece of garlic bread away.

DS (aged 9) was fascinated. I was a bit grossed out, tbh. We also have cockroaches and geckos occasionally. So yes, I do need to vacuum every day. Or employ a robot to do it.

OP posts:
OnlyLovers · 04/06/2014 18:01

Can you sweep small areas of floor, like where you sit to eat? Rather than sweeping/hoovering everywhere every day?

TSSDNCOP · 04/06/2014 18:02

Dishwasher total no brainer. I have a Neff. Excellent.

Slow cooker can't comment, but there's loads of things you can do in the time it takes to chop up and fill up the cooker

Tumble dryer if. I don't overfill mine most stuff comes out needing minimum iron at most. I don't have a line or an airer total waste if effort IMHO.

As to hoovering in 5 minutes. I believe that to be a myth. Like the MN chicken that can feed the family for a whole week.

I had 5 minutes today and got 2 rooms done. That was because the Hoover was there for 3 days before I actually got 5 minutes!

Original poster
MalibuStacy · 04/06/2014 18:09

As to hoovering in 5 minutes. I believe that to be a myth. Like the MN chicken that can feed the family for a whole week.

Grin
OP posts:
PoirotsMoustache · 04/06/2014 18:11

I'd like to know why babymonkey thinks these time saving devices cost 'thousands and thousands of pounds'. You can get all 4 for under a grand. As long as they're not gold-plated and diamond encrusted, obviously Grin

Original poster
MalibuStacy · 04/06/2014 18:13

I think that babymonkey just isn't a very nice person.

OP posts:
Mrsjayy · 04/06/2014 18:14

Op get a dog they scoffpizza crustsGrin

drinkingtea · 04/06/2014 18:16

Thinking of hoovering... I recently bought a cheap hand held hoover for the car - the kids love using it for normal house hoovering - after eating etc. Even the only just 3 year old can do it. How old are your kids - my 6 and 8 year old can do tons, though atm its a bit sporadic - if I needed them to and we talked about it, and rewarded them for taking responsibility, they could and would take onthings like washing up and some cooking (8 year old does cook full simle meals sometimes for the family - she has a kids recipe book and I just have to be close by, but usually not much involved. Botb 6 and 8 uear old could fill a slow cooker...

Original poster
MalibuStacy · 04/06/2014 18:18

That's really interesting drinkingtea. I might try giving them a few chores.

OP posts:
rookiemater · 04/06/2014 18:22

Oh yes hand held hoover is v. good for avoiding having to lug out the Dyson - I always feel when I get the big hoover out well I might as well do all of it seeing as I've gone to the faff now.

PixieofCatan · 04/06/2014 18:25

Oh no! Don't ask me to share, that means I've got to come to the realisation that I have the same three meals every week! Wink

I shall have a look and dig some out when I get back from Scouts later :)

TBH though, I mainly do standard casseroles and everything else is a case of finding a normal recipe and thinking "ah fuck it. I'm sure that it'll turn out fine if I put it in the slow cooker...." And it usually does! Though quorn chicken pieces need a stir and lots of water, it gets stuck to the sides, not that I know from experience of course Wink

RE tumble drier, I discovered a half-full trick at work. Anything over 2/3rds and it'll crinkle badly, so aim for a half and then chuck one or two more bits in. I still have to iron everything though, but I'd be happy to wear stuff straight from it. Not that I iron for myself or tumble dry anyway, I rely on body heat to decrease as the day goes by Hmm

drinkingtea · 04/06/2014 18:31

Might be the only way if things are this tight Malibu - have an "all pulling together" talk AND emphasise how much you will appreciate their help - its actually really good for their self esteem too, and under 10s tend to rather like heling, being able to do stuff themselves and being an important part of the house not just a parasite :o I work from home so am slack about enforcing chores, but they do a lot when they feel helpful, and they especially love cooking. Obviously you have to teach them / show them things initially, but my 8 year old takes pride in following a recipe and cooks German recipies I've only eaten in restarants sometimes (we live in
Germany) She takes great pride in it, and 6 yo DS is
showing all the signs of being equally capable once
he can tead well

Suefla62 · 04/06/2014 18:33

We've got one of those old fashioned carpet sweepers (£10 at Argos), the kids love pushing it around and it covers the day to day debris. One good Hoover at the weekend is all that is necessary then. Also, the kids take turns to do the dishwasher. One loads and the other puts away. Have a drier, can't remember the last time I ironed. Slow cooker is a godsend.

drinkingtea · 04/06/2014 18:34

The DC should see your DH pitch in in some way too if they are asked to help IMO... also an issue here Angry

OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat · 04/06/2014 18:40

I got a new Bosch dishwasher for £240 from currys a few months back. No need to rinse.

Vacuuming doesn't need doing more than once or twice a week .

I find that tumble driers do make clothes all creased.

I would quite like a roomba but the cats would report me to the RSPCA Grin.

4 hours commuting a day sounds like the real killer. Why so long?

MrsKoala · 04/06/2014 18:44

I love my slow cooker and dishwasher. Sadly i have no room for a tumble drier, but we are moving soon so will have one again.

If you are getting a slow cooker (i have 3) i would recommend one you can brown stuff in first. Robert Dyas has a 6 litre 'seer and stew' for about £30. I do massive batches of chilli, stews and bolognese and then freeze them - then it's just bunged in the microwave - which is even quicker ;)

Also our old slim dishwasher and tumble were £200 each - so defo not thousands. AND i put everything in. Saucepans come out fine. (we have stainless steel and le crueset - altho i also put my non stick frying pans in and have had them for 3 years and they are also fine)

Cleaners, while good, don't do daily tidying and washing up so i don't think getting one in once a week would make much of a difference to your daily chores. It usually took me 3 hours to tidy every week before our cleaner came just so she could actually clean underneath all the crap.

Laundry and putting it away is what takes up all my time. We rarely hoover. Once a week/fortnight maybe.

alemci · 04/06/2014 18:53

dishwasher is a great idea as it will give you more time.

disagree about hoovering. it doesn't take 5 mins especially if you are tired and it's clearing all the clutter up as well.

wowfudge · 04/06/2014 18:58

I wouldn't live somewhere I couldn't have a tumble dryer in. That would not be the home for me.

Can't believe someone said dishwashers were stressy! What, as stressy as a pile of dirty stuff cluttering up the kitchen? shudder

OP put a wipe clean plastic sheet under the baby's highchair - then wipe it clean at the end of the meal. Won't work if she really lobs things a long way, but that's not that likely.

Petitgrain · 04/06/2014 19:06

When I read the thread title, before I looked at the rest of the OP, my first thought was "she needs to get a dishwasher, roomba and a tumble dryer". I absolutely wouldn't be without mine, if you can afford them why on earth wouldn't you? No need to be a martyr to housework.

erin99 · 04/06/2014 19:14

Sounds to me like you need to blitz the cleaning and washing at the weekend, and stack the dishwasher religiously every night. If ants taking a piece of garlic bread mean that you absolutely have to vacuum every day (I don't get that, myself) then limit all food to the kitchen and just sweep/vacuum/roomba that every day.

There are loads of ideas to cut down the work on Good Housekeeping but they are not going to cut the worktime down to zero. Your other options are lowering your standards or carving out extra time, eg a night or 2 off from your business, after school club, swap school runs with friends.