Household habits you've 'inherited'

[MrsBosh]

Have enjoyed reading the housekeeping tips thread over in Chat this week.

I wondered if you 'inherited' any housekeeping habits from your parents/grandparents growing up? Good and not so good ones. Lighthearted please .

I'll start. My mum always used clothes pegs to close packets and things if she'd run out of those clippy things. I automatically did the same at uni/when DH and I moved in but he thinks it's really strange and is always taking off my pegs off and putting clips back on! I think they work better than clips.

Mum also sorts her dirty laundry from the basket on the landing floor into several piles (woollens, lights, darks etc.) which she leaves on the floor for the morning whilst she's doing it causing a big trip hazard. As a teen I'd just toss worn stuff onto the correct pile on the landing floor. I've found myself doing the same thing in my own house. My DH hates walking into our bedroom into a pile full of dirty shirts on the carpet. So do I. Need to find a new system!

Anyone else?

Shopping lists must be written on the back of used envelopes, no matter what.

Haha i do both of yours op. But i dont actually own any clippy things, pegs are just what is used here!

Calling a remote control a 'switch'.

I've actually turned into my mum. . I never thought it would happen as I used to be a slob but now I'm hoovering every day, tidying, and I wouldn't dream of leaving the pots until tomorrow.

Putting EVERYTHING into zip-lock bags. Half an onion = zip-lock bag. Half opened bag of nuts = zip-lock bag. Leftover rice zip-lock bag (and into freezer).

I've actually inherited that quirk from my (American) husband. Guess they had an abundance of those growing up! Bit of a culture shock when I visit mum, where everything is left to the elements and rarely covered up in the fridge or left on the cooker for a couple of days .

As a plus I have, and always have had, a strong stomach!

This is a great thread.

If I'm entertaining I always organise as much as I possibly can in advance so I can enjoy the actual event. My Mum excels at that!

I'm off to order ziplock bags from Amazon. That is a great tip!

Yes, to the clothes pegs on opened food packets. I keep clothes pegs in the cutlery drawer for that purpose.

Different coloured clothes for bathroom cleaning "pink for the sink" and "blue for the loo"

Using a spatula to really scrape out the last bits of cake mix into the cake tin

Giving an extra final polish when cleaning for that sparkle and shine

Cleaning out kitchen sink and sweeping the floor last thing, so all looks welcoming in the morning

On 1st January taking down the Christmas decs and welcoming the new year into the house with a bunch of white flowers on the mantlepiece

YY to sorting the clothes on the landing, DM did that too.

Mind you the DM of a schoolfriend did it, tripped on some sheets, fell downstairs, broke her leg, had problems healing and is now in a wheelchair.

Bathroom window always left open, even in Baltic winter. A bathroom needs airing!

Windows thrown open when you're doing the weekly clean.

Washing won't dry outside if the paving is still damp.

Bake a cake every week.

Electric blankets in winter, plus a thick eiderdown. I have a single electric blanket as dh hates them.

All these are from my wonderful Grandma. She ran a brilliantly tight ship, including re-painting her entire house every spring, until she was well into her 70s.

Your Grandma sounded great ItsNice, I always wondered about drying washing outside in winter, I just don't bother atm. I also might try the cake a week.

Thanks ulyana she was brilliant. The washing one is v useful to stop you wasting your time.

I use polish to clean my bathroom, like my Nan. Using a wet cloth just seems to push the dust/hair around, polish and duster is much easier!

Soap bags. My mum always put soap for the shower in a nylon mesh bag so that it was less droppable. She had another bag for putting all the little leftover bits of soap in. Those drawstring mesh bags that came with laundry tablets a couple of decades ago were brilliant. When DD left home and decided soap was better than shower gel, she phoned me and asked where to buy soap bags. None of her flat mates knew what she was talking about and she couldn't find them in any shops. Had to explain, it was just a family quirk.

My DM - who I adore - is a total skutter so no housekeeping habits really! But I have inherited her infuriating habit of checking the back door is locked 45322675 times before leaving the house.

These are great, thanks!

I've had zip-lock bags on my to buy list for months but baulk at the price every time I see them so never actually purchase. Anyone found any cheaper versions?

Goodness, Old, that's awful

That's funny Pestilentialone, your DD's housemates must have been so confused.

One I didn't inherit is from my dad who soaks bit pots or saucepans in the sink overnight. I know the soaking is helpful but I always felt ill coming down first thing in the morning and looking at a full sink of greasy cold water with a pyrex dish sitting forlornly at the bottom.

Just seen ferris was getting hers on Amazon. Off to look!

Airing the house regularly, and storing things in all sorts of baskets or boxes in kitchen cupboards. I have a particular approach to storing fussy to make things fit well and easy to reach, in cupboards, fridge and freezer. DH has learned to just leave me to it! I got that from DM, as well as the irrational reaction if things aren't stored properly I remember thinking she was a bit bonkers when I was a teen yet here I am...

Storing things in plastic boxes or sealable bags in the fridge, e.g. Opened back of bacon, half an onion, leftovers. I think that's normal but I've learned a lot of people don't do that and leave as is, or in the pot it was cooked in etc.

Checking through tins and fridge staples regularly and chucking out / giving away (as appropriate), rather than keeping for ages, from DGM. Same for clothes and household items.

Storing plates, bowls and mugs in a drawer. Got that from DF.

Desperately trying to get all laundry done in a weekend, every week

I buy zip bags from the pound shop. They do a couple of sizes.

Airing the house and zoflora. That's about it. Bless my mum but her cleaning standards weren't great and our house was unorganised growing up. In comparison I'm super organised now and have a cleaning schedule.

When bringing the dirty washing from upstairs to the machine my mum would open out a large towel that was amongst it and put all the washing on it then gather the corners together so it was easy to carry down. Far less clunky than a laundry basket. I caught myself doing this recently and had an instant flashback to my childhood.

She also "saved" things. Like containers and paper for us to make things, store things, draw on. I've always done this too for my DC. In my work a lot of the stock arrive with this grey recycled paper in the boxes. I have no idea why. My boss just chucka it in the bin but I've started collecting it for my DC to draw on. We've got stacks of it now!

Washing won't dry outside if the paving is still damp.

That's a good tip!

Plumping the cushions on the couch before going to bed and positioning them "correctly" on the couch.

Folding pants. MrNC thinks I'm bonkers, because I'm not exactly houseproud. Though he quite likes a line of Kond-style boxers in his drawer.

Plastic boxes for storing stuff in - ziplocks for food are wasteful (unless you actually wash them like MIL?). Mum's were proper Tupperware, mine are from the take-away! I never run out though.

Grew up where laundry was a load of lights, a load of darks, and maybe a separate sheet load, weekly at the laundrette. So I'm not as fussed as MrNC about sorting by colour, and will sponge spots off clothes (mainly dd's school uniform) rather than chucking them all in a machine.

popcorn I've inherited this from my mum but have only just realised!

I do it every night before bed and my DH always moans at me faffing. But I can't settle knowing the sofa is a mess. My mum used to say the same!

Learnt from my Godmother - keep onions in the fridge and they are far kinder to the eyes when chopping! Doesn't work as well on red onions though...