Lazy housekeeping tips

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So what are your housekeeping tips if you are fundamentally lazy?!

I have bought a stash of cheap paper bags with handles. I use these as recycling bags upstairs so I don't have to have a receptacle to take back up when it is emptied - being paper the whole bag can just go in the recycling.

Give up throws, fancy cushions and keep ornaments to a minimum, and be realistic - who wants to be a domestic goddess anyway?

Elbekind, how do you iron so quickly?! It takes me about an hour to iron 4 shirts and you did loads of other stuff!

I'm no lazy or book marking at all

Using egg boxes for dds painting saves a load of hassle. When she has finished I just bung it in the bin instead of scrubbing paint out of pots. The little bits the eggs sit in are perfect for putting different colours in and the flat side is good for mixing colours.

I also clean the bathroom when dd is in the bath.

I use baby wipes to spot clean the floors so they need mopping less often.

When doing a quick tidy, I carry a bag around to each room so I can bin anything in one go. I usually do this first before then quickly tidying everything in each room.

when i have guests or need a super quick tidy, I bring out the baskets.
We have one a room and everything goes in there to be sorted later.
Everything looks immaculate

Keep floors and surfaces clutter-free so cleaning is quick.
Get a weekly routine and stick to it.
Teach children to tidy away one toy before getting out another.

I'm very lazy and my house generally looks ok , my methods are

1. Have a stair basket and empty it weekly
2. Use as many electric devices as needed to make life easy
3. Employ an ironing person
4. Put clean washing away as soon as its done / back from ironing person
5. Keep a vacuum upstairs , ( as well as downstairs) you are more likely to vacuum
6. Make towel animals for the bathrooms , it stops people noticing how clean the bath is

I keep a Dustbuster (one of those mini vacuum cleaners) right next to the breakfast bar and get the kids to vacuum up their crumbs after breakfast and afternoon tea. They don't mind; it's fun for them (they're almost 6 and 4.5).

I remember reading on here about baby wiping your stair carpet. Oh how I laughed... Then one day tried it. DH came in and said 'Aah thanks for hoovering the stairs'
I obviously graciously accepted the thanks dishonestly and now make the kids do it in between very well spaced out hoovering

I discovered recently that if I zoom around between dinner and bedtime for about half an hour I can have a tidy house.
I used to wake to chaos, spend morning tidying only to have more soul destroying mess by bedtime and be too shattered to tackle it and leave it til tomorrow.
Now I ignore most of it until after the kids dinner, and because I'm not demoralised I can find the energy to run around putting everything away. The kids join in a bit or get sent upstairs for a last bit of play before bed, and I mop us out of the kitchen so that when I come down after reading bedtime stories the place is lovely and then Dh and I have our dinner when he finally comes home which now feels very adult and civilised compared to sweeping a space through the Lego to land the dinner plates and sharing my chair with dolls.
I'm spending a lot less time, energy and angst on housework and I have a lot more to show for it.

I'm not completely idle obviously chance would be a fine thing real deep cleaning gets done in morning, but not every morning. I try and wash a load every day and keep it moving. once its dry I sort, iron and put away. I used to let it pile up until the laundry mountain became a mountain range and was in danger of attracting actual hikers. I got a tiny ironing board in ikea and I pop it on the table and iron a few bits while the kids are playing and chatting. So now I never iron for more than ten minutes and I keep my iron ready instead of putting it away cos if I have to get it out I know I just won't. It helps that the kids are a bit older and no longer obsessed in committing suicide by pulling cables.

I have a strict no screen time policy during the week and at weekends they can watch Netflix for free but have to earn the iPad or x box by doing chores. The difference in their attitude to helping is miraculous and I don't nag anymore, I just praise when they do help and award minutes. And if they haven't earned enough time at the weekend they can always go up and tidy their room and get more time.

Inspired by a suggestion on another thread, I have just used johnsons baby shampoo to clean the inside of the shower glass. I used a baby wipe to do the wiping so that can go in the bin. They have come up sparkly despite months weeks worth of gunk. Took me 2 mins whilst having my shower.
(Dammit now I can see straight through the glass to the grubby shower tray)

I have been disgustingly lazy.

We have a shoes off rule upstairs so that it doesn't really matter if the hoover only get put round once a quarter.
In the summer the DC's sleep in such thin duvets that in the summer holidays I don't bother with a duvet cover, I just throw the duvet, pillow case and bottom sheet in the washing machine.

I don't iron much at all and I have cut the DC's clothes right down (especially school uniform) so that there is much less washing to do.
Wet wipes to spot clean the kitchen floor and mop once in a blue moon.
Dust pan and brush after meals to avoid getting the hover out.
I don't buy things that won't fit in the dishwasher and I always have a stack of paper plates.
I have learned the art of being able to relax in an untidy house.
I always forget to dust during the day time so in the evening I put the lamps on so I can't see it anymore, I make a mental note to dust the next day and then completely forget.
Somehow the house manages to always look clean and tidy...

I dust skirting boards by running my foot (wearing a sock) along them whilst talking on the phone. This method also works well for the ledges along the bottom of patio doors. I also run my finger along the top of plug sockets every time I switch one on or turn it off (the dust can be easily hoovered up later or ignored). I do the same with light switches and will often give the light switch plate a little wipe in passing if I happen to have a wet wipe to hand.

But mostly I find that it's easier to have a clean-looking house if you're lucky enough to live in one with plenty of space, which isn't much help, really. I just keep it free of clutter and race about a bit with the cordless Dyson as necessary and it looks fine. When I lived in a very small house it was hell trying to keep it clean and tidy.

We have a linen bin for each person...well me and DH share.
The kids have their own linen bin and I then try to wash one lot of stuff from a bin in one or two goes.

That way, when it's done, you don't have to sort each person's washing and match up socks etc because they're already ready for that person (normally me) to put away.

I find it difficult to fathom why some people only have one laundry bin for the whole family on the landing etc. Makes it hard work.

Oh and another tip, buy an 11kg washing machine. You spend a lot less time putting multiple loads on.

Love this post!

PosiePootlePerkins do you just pour baby shampoo on neat to the door and then wipe over with wet wipe? I am intrigued by this.
Also like the wet wiping the stairs suggestion too FeralBeryl - that's my first job when I get home from work tonight.

When I had an upstairs, I used to have one hoover downstairs and a crappy old one upstairs to avoid having to carry it up the stairs.

Baby wipes are surprisingly hardcore. You expect them to be these gentle feathery-light things that will soothe your precious baby's delicate areas, but no, they're apparently industrial-strength household cleaning products! I cleaned the interior of my car with one once and it took off all the little white marks on the indicator/wiper levers/air vents etc.

I clean my bathroom every day. I realise that sounds a lot, but it actually saves me time on the weekly clean because it is literally a matter of seconds to wipe down the sink and all the surfaces as they are not that dirty. I use a microfibre cloth, which gets slung in the wash straight after (one a day) - this means I'm never just moving dirt from one place to another, but always picking it up.

I think a lot of problems with housekeeping arise when organisation isn't really sufficient. . Sorting out the underlying problem sorts out the cleaning too.

This is a good thread. I had just cottoned on to cleaning the bathroom whilst the kids are in the bath and then I read about other people doing it on here. It's a good way to keep on top of it anyway.

I usually fold clothes straight from the washing line in a way that each persons clothes are together in the basket and then just need to be put away. I also peg up pairs of socks to dry together.

I'm definitely going to start training up the kids!

When my three were small, as soon as they were in bed I would tidy up so we could have an adult evening without looking at loads of toys etc all over the place.
I usually clean the bathroom before having a shower, in my pjs, so once the room is clean, pjs go for a wash and so do I.
I thought I was slow with ironing (oh I HATE it so very much) but an hour to do 4 shirts!? I can do one shirt in 4 mins. I have a routine and can pretty much do them with my eyes shut. Collar, shoulders, button and button hole edges, sleeves, front, back, front. Done!
I use baby wipes (which I have in the house even though my 'babies' are teens) to clean anything. Not tried the stair thing though, so if anyone can shed light on that, it would be great. I use rubber gloves to get hair off them.

I can use a baby wipe on my carpeted stairs and it will look like i hoovered!?

I dettol wipe everything.
I keep a steam mop upstairs for bathroom floor.

I mop my floor almost everyday

Worlds I did do that this morning, but then I started wondering if I could dilute some in a spray bottle... I will report back if I try it!

I am forcing DH to buy easy iron shirts. Ironing is my job in our division of household labour, but I HATE fussing around with his shirts. Some of the most expensive 'designer' ones are actually terribly made and difficult to iron. Paul Smith are the WORST. The easy iron stuff is so good now you really can get it done in seconds.

Buying a dishwasher was one of the best things I ever did too!!

Definitely train the kids- start them as soon as they toddle - they love helping at that age and then it becomes second nature

I do 'advert olympics'. It's amazing how much stuff you can do in advert break.

I do 'advert olympics'. It's amazing how much stuff you can do in advert break.

This is my main housework strategy too.
However it all ends to go to tits up as I watch a lot of Netflix and BBC nowdays.

I use timer on for 20 minutes and attach a room/area method from Unfuck Your Habitat. tis great.

fold everything out of the washer as soon as it finishes = never iron anything
use baby wipes for most cleaning tasks - removed an ink stain from carpet with them yesterday!