Lazy housekeeping tips

[trinity0097]

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.

I have a little rota for myself- I have 2 large washing baskets one for darks one for lights.

Monday- strip all beds and wash, Hoover downstairs
Tuesday- both washing baskets emptied, bathroom cleaned, Hoover downstairs
Wednesday- Hoover and dust through
Thursday- kitchen floor mopped, tidy outside, Hoover downstairs
Friday- both washing baskets emptied, Hoover downstairs, bathroom cleaned
Saturday/Sunday- all ironing done and put away

I do dishes and spot cleaning as needed. All benches wiped down about 4x a day. Eg if the kitchen floor needs cleaning on a Sunday, I'll do it on Sunday, and then again on the Thursday.

I'm very interested in this thread. It's my main goal in life now to own a Roomba so I can never hoover again.

I don't really have any tips, but I do find that having someone over can be a good motivator to see how much tidying you can achieve in the hour before they arrive.

Oh also I don't iron. Ever.

We hoover downstairs once a week, when the dc music teacher comes here.

Hoover upstairs maybe every 3 to 4 weeks?

Sweep kitchen floor as and when, keep toilet clean, clean bath/shower when one of us has the time to do it, stay on top of dishes and laundry.

We probably between us spend an hour a week cleaning.

Toothbrush in the shower to wash corners, taps and corners, while I'm having a shower.

Cook twice as much to not cook so often (if you cook and freeze half the stuff, within 2 weeks you can go without cooking for 2 weeks, just take containers out of the freezer before going to work and microwave them on return).

Swipe the bathroom and polish the taps with the make up remover wipes you just finished using.

Clean the bathroom while the baby/toddler is in the bath.

Tidy up 2 drawers a day (any drawer will do), great to clear clutter and keep chaos at bay.

When something burns out and sticks to a pan, add a handful of rice and two cup of water and simmer while you have dinner. You can remove all the grime with a swipe just afterwards.

To keep the fridge clean. Wipe down a tray at a time, no need to do the whole fridge in a day, little and not so often does well.

Have an accordion file by the front door and file bills, notifications etc in the right place as they arrive, then transfer to main file twice a year.

Have a little bin by the door as well, so all junk mail can go there straight away (granger to recycle box on collection day.

I normally put the bedsheets in the washer drier before we go out on Sunday, so they are ready and ready to put back in the beds when we come back (I obviously have more than one set of sheets for each bed, but having so many in circulation just adds
Ore work so I only use the same.

Don't buy shirts, they needed ironing. Any thin cotton items will do too, so if you can't avoid it get thick cotton or busy patterns (neither of them needs much ironing)
Put a washer every second day, so you don't have to have a washing day or have lots and lots of clothes around the house.

Wash everything in a low spin, take out of the washer straight after finish, give it a shake, flatten up over a table and hang (no need to iron at all that way, unless we are talking of shirts (the only shirts in the house belong to DS, so I get M&S ultimate non iron ones which do exactly what it says in the tin. If you slow spin and remove from washer ASAP, no need for ironing at all.

To clean the oven... put a water in a container and put in the oven until there is a lot of steam, turn the oven off, let it cool for an hour and then spray the inside of the glass door with windex and wipe off with a napkin.

Does anyone have a roomba? I have been tempted but they are so expensive.

I agree about keeping on top of things and the use of babywipes for so many things.

Wish I was organised enough to get everything out of the washing machine that quickly after it's finished. Normally I bung it in, mentally think 'yes! I've put the washing on!' And then forget about it until the evening next day

My children (11, 10, 6 and 2) know that "Tidy Up Time" happens 7.00-7.30pm every day. Everyone (except toddler) is expected to be busy tidying.

It's so engrained it is part of the bedtime routine in our house. A shout goes out at 6.55pm that it's Tidy Up Time in 5 mins so all tech must be switched off. Kids arrive from wherever they were into the kitchen and me and DH give out tasks. They might be:

• tidy toys away
• quick-tidy bedrooms
• pots to kitchen
• Hoover all-through downstairs (they've been hoovering from about aged 7)
• put pots away
• put clothes washing away
• tidy away shoes/costs
• feed dog
• take newly purchased toiletries upstairs
• wipe dining table
• entertain toddler while we tidy

There's loads of other little jobs the kids do for that half hour. It's not the case that certain jobs are done by certain people, just that everyone is expected to be busy for the whole of that half hour.

I stay in kitchen throughout (cleaning up after dinner and ding laundry) and orchestrate everything. Kids come back to kitchen for next job once one is done. DH us either upstairs or in lounge, wherever most action is on the tidying front.

Kids all get a bedtime milky drink and biscuit upon finishing Tidy Up Time and that marks the start of bedtime.

My house would be a shitpit if it wasn't for those magic dusting thingies I got in Lakeland years ago and that PP been able get now from Matalan.

I'd buy one for each room of house if could

fold clothes from the machine or line.sounds a task but saves loads of time or need when you come to needing or ironing them.
kettle water to clean! hot water puts a sparkle in everything and get rid of the naughtiest makrs stickiest pans anything with a boiled kettle works better lol.especially for cleaning the hob.boil kettle and pour sploshes on the hob with some spray.amazing!
wilkos mucky pup wipes for use on anything.they are brill.great for floor moppin too.
iron in front of your tv.easy.
loud music.
make more mince than you need and do the (three day)meal.so you have it for tea then add spice.or have it differently over the next few days.and or freee some.

Dyson cordless is the best thing since sliced bread. We generally do a Hoover every day or so now as it's so light and portable. No more wrestling with a chunky Henry, oh no.

Love this thread !!

Can't wait to try baby wiping my stairs!!

Excellent thread and tips! Especially MemySon and also like PP said we have robot vacuum ( Neato here) which means we can do other jobs at same time. Also we regularly have 'half hour cleaning blitz' where whoever is in house all helps and like PP I orchestrate it and it's amazing what gets done when everyone assists, sometimes now by just delegating a room to each teen to blitz in half an hour. Definitely agree about teaching kids to help around the house. My son has been solely in charge of the bins/recycling since he started y7. Other kids empty DW, etc. I am going to try the baby shampoo/wipe shower screen this weekend!

Mine are laundry related. Don't wash clothes unless they are actually dirty and train children not to dump clothes on floor and wear again next day if possible . Obviously underwear gets done every day! I change out of my work clothes into leggings and a tshirt as soon as I get home, before cooking, and hang them up to air, so they stay fresh longer.

Minimise ironing When I take clothes out of the washer I put them straight on hangers to dry and they need virtually no ironing. When using tumble dryer, fold things as soon as it stops-no ironing needed.

Only wash bedsheets once a fortnight unless accidents happen.we really aren't that dirty! And don't iron, I hang mine over banisters to dry crease free if I'm not drying outside,

Don't buy anything that needs dry cleaning.

Remove mud from shoes with a baby wipe b4 cleaning. Get that shoe polish cream with a sponge in end to apply straight out of tube. Minimal mess and doesn't need polishing off again.

I think that there is nothing more time saving than having less stuff in the house, the less stuff to pick up when you are vacuum cleaning, dusting and moping the more likely the house stays tidy and clean (and the less stress/waste when trying to find something in a hurry).

Having designated places to throw junk into DOES help. A couple of years ago, I had enough of not finding pencils, glue, and other things for homework when we needed them and finding them EVERYWHERE when we didn't, so I cleared a drawer in my kitchen (inhabited by obscure kitchen utensils I never used) and put in it space to contain: stuff needed for home works, a space for clips/pegs to close bags, a little pad for the shopping list, the torch you never find when you need it, and the plastic bags I use to pack DS' lunches. It has absolutely revolutionised my life: I have a place to throw things in as soon as I stop using them, no more trying to find a pen that works around the house, homework time is an absolute bliss, and I am even going to the supermarket only twice a month, as everything is needed is written down I the pad as soon as I notice it (and I no longer loose pad).

I can't believe something so simple has made such difference.

i dont tumble dry apart from towels when necessary.
hang up immediately.

i did pair duvet covers inside matching pillow cases when putting away, but that has gone by the by

I admit that my washer/dryer can't manage well with heavy towels so after discovering Turkish hamam towels, keeping towels fresh and soft is not such an ordeal. Technically, hamam towels look like oversized tea towels but they absorb as much water as the fluffy kind, dry in no time after use, and I can stuff all of them (5 bath + 3 hand towels) in a single wash and still have space for DS' school shirts. The towels dry in half an hour under the sun. They are great for days at the beach too, as they take so little space and dry quick after each use.

I really like the idea of putting bedlinen sets into the pillow case. Thanks for that!

We have one set of bedding for each bed. Never understood why people have so many.

Dishwasher goes on at my bedtime each day, it's always full. Kids empty it as part of their morning chores.

Have a place for everything.

Deal with post as soon as it comes in.

Have a very comprehensive diary. I am self employed so i have one large diary with a line down the middle to cross reference work and home commitments.

I have a box file for each tax year accounts and accompanying paperwork. The current year is handy and i shove everything in as it comes in (receipts etc) so I am organised at tax return time.

dont you ever fancy a change nicknacks?
re bedding

I think two sets of bedding for each set is the practical minimum - you might need to change a bed without waiting for a wash-and-dry cycle.

With children you might need more because they are more likely to produce unexpected fluids.

We have interchangeable bed linen for the kids single beds. Four sets now but we could manage with three ( not always fully dry in one day or necessarily washed when changed as we dry a lot outside and may wait for a drier day.) It is stored in their bedrooms and they know where it is and change it themselves.

I buy different style socks for each one so we can pick our own out of the dry pile easily.

Fancy a change? No it's sheets. I buy new ones but then get rid of the old ones because they are not as nice anymore.

I have three children, one a bedwetter and still managed. We do have a thmble dryer though so can get it washed, dried and back in the bed in 2/3 hours.

How is baby wiping stairs any easier than hoovering them?

Definitely need minimum of two sets of bedding - my dcs have vomited all over their beds in the middle of the night before; we don't have a tumble dryer, but even if we did, two hours would be too long to wait to remake the bed.

Cauli because I can force small children to wipe the stairs rather than lugging the bastard Hoover up and down