What is your housekeeping routine?

[pecka]

Come on..... love to read about peoples domestic habits.

What do you do to make sure how is tidy and clean throughout the week (or not as the case may be)

You lot made me clean the house today! Actually got halfway through and then went out for lunch in Manchester to recover!!
I'm a non ironer too but VERY obsessive about my hanging out/radiator drying. Only use the tumble drier for nappies when it's wet and miserable (like for the last month!!)

Maybe this ironing thing comes down to what clothes you have. I mainly wear t-shirts and jeans, and all my trousers/skirts for work are synthetic mixes that don't need ironing. I expect you ironers are wafting around in linen everyday. I appreciate that it is nicer to have ironed duvet covers, but it is also nice to have home made profiteroles, and I am not attempting either.

Ironing is one big waste of time, what's so great about flat clothes anyway? Actually I feel quite affronted by all the crinkly-look clothes in the shops the last year or two, that was MY style!
Actually Laundrylover, you are so right, you just have to be on top of the hanging out/radiator drying stuff and then you don't really get crinkles anyway.

Cat64, what a great idea about cleaning together with friends!! Although I'd have to check what was in my drawers and cupboards first.. and would find it rather tempting to poke about in theirs too. Guess you'd have to know eachother v. well...!!!

What about time-saving tips?

I stack all cutlery & crockery by item in the dishwasher, eg all spoons together etc, makes unloading quicker

Sort laundry in a divider as it goes in the basket

Leave a little bleach or steriliser in the sink overnight to lift the worst of the teabag stains

Hang all shirts to dry on hangers so ironing is an easier job

Have drilled DS into sorting clothes by colour then putting them in basket, putting nappies & other rubbish in bin, wiping table after himself, putting 1 toy away before playing with another (he is 3 yrs 1 month)

What about time-saving tips?

I stack all cutlery & crockery by item in the dishwasher, eg all spoons together etc, makes unloading quicker

Sort laundry in a divider as it goes in the basket

Leave a little bleach or steriliser in the sink overnight to lift the worst of the teabag stains

Hang all shirts to dry on hangers so ironing is an easier job

Have drilled DS into sorting clothes by colour then putting them in basket, putting nappies & other rubbish in bin, wiping table after himself, putting 1 toy away before playing with another (he is 3 yrs 1 month)

Clip/safety pin pairs of socks together so that you don't spend forever sorting them and searching for that everelusive one that the machine ate.

My dishwasher instructions say not to load like cutlery with like, or they don't wash as clean as they tend to fit together and the water/soap can't get in so well. So I just chuck mine in!

mummyhill - good one (but don't the clips rust?)
claire - huh, those people that write instructions don't live in the Real World!!

you can get plastic ones from lakeland.

Olipop - care to share your mega-organised spreasheet??

I'm ashamed to say I've hardly done a stitch of housework since DD was born 5 months ago. The bare minimum of superficial tidying gets done with DH's help but the place is beginning to annoy even me. DH has gone away with work for 10 days so I have started by deep cleaning the kitchen (in between feeds/changes etc so has taken me two days).
I'm determined to get the place sorted then get a routine. To this end I've bought every book I could find on the subject:
Confessons of an Organized Homemaker (Ok fess up, which one of you mega-organised super-mums wrote it??)
Sink Reflections
The Family Manager's Everyday Survival Guide
One of these days I may even get around to reading them rather than just letting them gather dust (and lots of it)

After being on this thread, I finally felt guilty enough yesterday to clean my oven... moved here 2 years ago, and this was the first time... Now very self congratulatory and proud. Not sure it's going to have any long lasting effect though...

I tidy up a little every day but Wednesday is when I try and blitz the whole house. When DS starts full time school in September Wednesday is going to be my assigned day for spring cleaning from top to bottom.

I got the Kim and Aggie book and if ever I can't be bothered I read that and it really does motivate me.

I don't clean my oven as often as I should (probably once every three months - ewwwww) it needs doing so thats first on my list on Wednesday.

crazydazy, you are very good. My oven cleaning the other day was the first time in 2 years. It will be the last time for another 2 probably. No-one's yet died after eating here!!!