Household tips that aren't shit.

[EIsbethTascioni]

I've been getting hugely into decluttering and keeping tidy since the new year. I've been looking on websites and in magazines for tips advice and most of it is unmitigated tripe that makes life harder rather than easier.

So I'm turning to you vipers for your non-crap tips for keeping on top of shit.

I've got three to start us off.

Clean the shower while you're in it. Gamechanger. Saves masses of time.

Storing duvet sets inside their pillow case. I was sceptical about this one but with four beds in the house it has a)made my linen cupboard tidier and b)means no more rummaging.

Using the big IKEA bags as laundry bags. They are just the right size for a load of washing in a standard machine and you can fold them up and put them away tidily instead of having plastic baskets hanging around.

Aibu to think you lot will have loads more?

Use the shelf from the top oven as an extra shelf in the bottom oven.

A lot of mine have already been posted, but haven't seen one favourite (that I got from another thread). If you use waste paper baskets/bathroom bins, buy a roll of liners for each one and put them in the bottom of the bin before putting one on. Then when the bin needs emptying the new ones are there and you don't have to go off to the kitchen or wherever to fetch them. Some of ours fill up quicker than others so doing them all at the same time doesn't work but this does.

Bicarbonate of soda paste for cleaning the fridge so it cleans properly without tainting anything that goes back in.
Coffee granules in a cup in the fridge stop onions and other strong smells from tainting everything too.
Windows open for 5 mins every morning with the beds pulled back to air them (even when it's bloody freezing) before making them up again.
10 minutes per room, per day if you're struggling for time will at least make it look a bit presentable.

How do you clean the shower when you're in it? Surely you don't want yourself coated in limescale remover?

Oh and a tumble dryer sheet in the bottom of the kitchen bin before the bag goes in keeps any smells away.

Cillit bang the purple one will kill off perennial weeds.

phoebe no just a few seconds to soften the DW tab. Use tablet to wipe over the door. I got this tip from this site and it's unbelievably easy!

If you have dog keep doggy wipes (face down) and towel in porch if you have one (or by front door if not) so they are there to clean dog when you come back from muddy walk.

Sara I don't think people mean a 'proper' shower clean with cleaning fluid, more of a wipe and a splash? I 'clean' my bathroom sink every time I use it, but it's a splash of hot water rubbed around with my hand!

I bulk buy soda bic, white vinegar and Castille soap...They do everything!

A bit of soda bic scrubbed around the sink brings it up super shiny, it is a great exfoliant.

White vinegar in the kettle, boil, leave over night or as long as you can, top out and rinse in the morning. You can even save the vinegar to use again. Gets rid of all limescale.

Soda bic and vinegar to clean drainpipes.

Always have a charity shop bag on the go.

Wipe round bathroom while kids are in the bath, if you have kids.

Have a place for everything. We come in, shoes off and in box in porch before we go in. Coats off and hung. We have a couple of baskets in the porch with seasonal stuff in, so at the moment it has ice scrapers, hats, gloves etc. In summer sun hats, our foutala towels which double as sarongs etc (we are on the beach most days) sun tan lotion etc.

Bag rack indoors which holds my two bags (quite minimalist here), one large leather shopper and one small cross body bag. On the top are all my reusable produce bags and cotton shopping bags so I don't forget.

If you are supermarket shoppers get a weekly delivery, on a Thursday used to suit us so we were stocked for the weekend.

Put all loyalty cards in Stocard app so you don't have to carry them around.

Windows on trickle vent always. Shut after lunch mid winter before everything cools down, or leave all day in summer.

Bag of scraps in the freezer for stock.

Use Sainsbury's Halo for gym stuff smelling of sweat, even ingrained. Works brilliantly and smells lovely.

never leave a room empty handed - this was a good one for me
do a ten minute tidy up with the kids in their room
have a charity shop bag in the hall and take it once filled
fold clothes Kondo style
plan space, storage, hooks etc according to your lifestyle, think very carefully about what you need and how it is best stored
well done and good luck, there are some good tips here, thanks everyone!

I used to be really bad at housework. I would let things slide and build up,until it became overwhelming. I sorted myself out with one of these.

www.amazon.co.uk/Nobo-T-Card-Planning-Kits-Mini/dp/B002C2E0NW/ref=sr_1_1?s=officeproduct&ie=UTF8&qid=1485078820&sr=1-1&keywords=Mini+t+card+system&tag=mumsnetforum-21

It's a mini version of the T card organisers that mechanics/project managers use. I made a card for every job that needed doing, some weekly (change DD1/DD2/my bed, vacuum hall and stairs etc, clean bath), some twice weekly (ironing) some monthly (dust living room, clean fridge) , some six monthly (clean windows, take clutter to charity shop). I even included things like going to the gym three days a week and a three monthly hair cut. Than I organised the cards into days of the week. As each task was accomplished I would move its card onto the next weeks slot. By the end of the week all the cards would have been moved and I had a clear planner. It was a great sense of achievement.

Looking back I think I was depressed and this system was such a helpful tool to get me organised and out of my slough of despondency. I have dug it out for a photo and think I might resurrect it for a few weeks.

Leave dirt outside or just inside the door of the house. If you can't persuade family to take their shoes off when they come in, get giant coir doormats, the biggest you can fit in and the thickest you can afford. I have one about 8ft long inside my front door. Have a doormat outside the door and another just inside.

Nearly all the dirt ends up on the mat and you can just hoover or shake it. Far less hoovering and sweeping throughout the rest of the house.

I read the above tip in a book. The author said he'd used it as a professional office cleaner. He offered cheap contracts to the businesses on condition that they allowed him to install massive mats inside the front doors of the building. The result was he only had to hoover the offices really thoroughly about once a week instead of daily. The other days he just whizzed round sucking up a few visible biscuit crumbs etc.

I don't have stained mugs - I swill them out when I've finished my drink - it drives me absolutely spare when people leave dregs in the bottom, that's how they get stained!

Am also wondering how much time it saves to have a vacuum cleaner upstairs? In my case it would be anout 30 seconds per week

It's that psychological block about hoovering to the bottom of the stairs and then carrying the hoover upstairs. I am considering moving to a bungalow instead but they are too expensive.

DesolateWaist if you take your tea without milk, or take it with milk but live in an area with very hard water, the cups get stained.

drivingmisspotty wrote "We are a shoes off house so have got into habit of..." I come from a shoes-off-country, basically, and lots of people tend to have like slippers, or clogs, or these days maybe a pair of Crocs, near the door so you don't have to put on your shoes just to take the bins out, that's nearly the only purpose of those Crocs or if you want to step out in the garden during summer. The advantage of being shoes-off is that you don't have to vacuum just as often.

Calendar use:

Buy a calendar with huge spaces in which you can write everything, including regular weekly events.

For example, when you write a dentist appt in, write the phone number right next to it in case you later need to change the appt (I often do) so you won't have to look it up again.

If you are going somewhere new, write the full address and any other essential info on the calendar. E.g. "7:30 Choir concert, All Saints Church, 14 High St, Flat shoes. Bring music!" or "4pm MOT take coupon, ask about brakes"

I use "Collins Colplan A3 2017 CMC Memo Calendar"

Keep the calendar wherever you will see it often. (I'm tempted to keep mine in the loo so DH can't claim he didn't know what was happening, but actually it is next to my landline.)

hmmm wondering if that T-card organiser could be used to dish out jobs for each member of the household? wifi turned off on saturday morning until all jobs are completed. tempting.

I come from a shoes-off-country, basically, and lots of people tend to have like slippers

Me too. DS lives in socks or nothing, but most of us wear slippers or flip flops or something else around the house.
I'm not aware of anyone making visitors take their shows off, though, but carpet is not commonly used.

shoes off...

My DSis discovered when travelling that she could use smaller towels. Unless you have long hair you don't need a bath towel. You should be able to dry yourself completely with a hand towel. Less washing and drying.

Thank you for the weed slaughtering tip Empires.

I am on my last nerve with the bloody things in our block paving.

Any time I use a baby wipe for a not-too-messy job (e.g. Removal of toothpaste dribble from DD's school jumper), I pause for a moment to find something else I can wipe with it before binning it. This is the only time tops of doorways get done in our house.

Throw something away (or eBay something) every day.

And this is one I have only just started, as a result of getting massively stressed over Christmas cards. I've created a word document entirely made up of names and addresses of everyone I know... in label format. Next year I will just need a quick edit for anyone who has moved house/died/ pissed me off and then I can print and go. Will report back on how that works out. (Considering the feasibility of a rubber stamp that says "love from Badgers and family" to further simplify the process...)