Housekeeping life hacks that changed your life

[Newmumburnout]

A bit dramatic of a title 😂. Wanted to start a new thread for great ideas we can share where something easy and small has made your life so much easier ! having a 1 year old and 3 pets and it's a chore to keep on top of everything. Even if it's not housekeeping please share !
Mine are:
Getting as much as possible delivered on a schedule. One being hand wash. I use the brand raindrop they supply a lovely bottle and send tablets to refill so you don't have to keep buying plastic hand wash bottles and they are always full.
Making chicken and rice bowls in one pot. When I cook dinner I will make a few lunch pots, you add rice, chicken, stick , veg etc with whatever spices and cook for 30 mins in one glass tupperware pot. That's it, eat from the.same container after warming up !

Anyone else ??

Have a laundry basket at the bottom of the stairs, lob everything in that belongs upstairs. Tell someone else where possible to carry it up .

Washing.

Once a week for clothes.
Different day for towels
Another day for bed linen

Me too

In the South it is called Sunday Lunch! Never heard of it being eaten in the evening.

You've read "The Women's Room". By Marilyn French?

I learn recently that the easiest thing to do when opening a jar is just bang it on top first with the palm of your hand and then it definitely opens easier

I have a new Insta hack which actually works which is soaking a bit of toilet roll or cotton wall in bleach and pressing it against mould marks on white bathroom sealant.Leave it for 12 hours remove and the mould marks have gone. It’s like magic

Soap scum build up in the bath, scrape off with a credit type card.

Long handled brush and dustpan

A builder told me that tip - it really works.

You all need a damp duster, it's magic!! Works on dusty surfaces and hairy carpets, quick rinse, repeat! amzn.eu/d/4G1ZoBN

You can also remove all food from the freezer, cover with a duvet well tucked in will insulate in the summer and crack on defrosting. I use my hair dryer on obstinate chunks otherwise bowls of hot water.

They do this in hotel rooms

@Rasputin123 it's bloody brilliant. I literally can't believe I never worked it out myself.

I mean it's obvious. Mow grass, grass chopped and gone into bag. Whoever thought leaves = essentially loose grass is a bloody genius and I salute them.

I'm going to try doing Sunday dinner at lunch time. The issue for me is that we rush about so much on Saturday, I kind of like pottering about and maybe going out for brunch. Maybe I can flex - hmmmm,

Just ordered a robot hoover from Amazon - should be here by tomorrow lunchtime. I HATE hoovering and I honestly don't know how our carpets get so nasty so quickly?!

Other than that, decluttering. We are a terribly untidy family, and we're also collectors. We have SO much stuff, it's ridiculous. Realistically, we should have a one in one out rule for stuff but we need to declutter first. I got rid of 10 single bed sets the other day - I remember getting rid of loads when we moved three years ago (we replaced two single beds with doubles) - so why did we still have so many?! We moved from a three bed terrace to a 4 bed with garage and it's still filled with crap!

Sorry that's not helpful really! More of a moan!

Son and partner had an issue with condensation in their flat. Wet washing. Bought a dehumidifier for the second bedroom/office put all the cleaned washing in there, shut the door. It's dry by morning. Their flat windows don't run with water any more.

I don’t think feminist literature is even a remote thought on this thread. I note children are co-opted but never husbands. Mmmm…

My life changing tip, sorry, ‘hack’, is to fully expect every other grown adult (not children) you share a house with to pull their own weight when it comes to the domestic arrangements.

When I cook I clean up as I go. I put the things I use away straight away and stick the dishes in the sink with some soapy water. I wipe up any spills and have a small bin for any peels and bits of food when chopping. Then when I have some down time like when the food is in the oven or simmering I quickly wash up the dishes and wipe up the surfaces and sweep the floor. I give my cooker a quick spray and wipe as soon as I finish cooking I rarely need to scrub it.

When dish up the food, I put the leftovers straight away In containers and quickly wash the pots.

After eating, I pick up my dish straight away to wash and ask everyone else to also wash their dish including older children it saves a lot of time.

I make sure before I sleep the kitchen has been cleaned, the house tidied and hoovered surfaces have been wiped. It doesn't take me too long when I keep on top of it and it makes such a difference.

Train your kids to put all their stuff away. I don't give my kid chores but I expect him to clean up after himself and keep his room tidy. It's not easy as you have to be on top of them all the time once they get the hang of it, it makes such a difference. Children can be like mini tornadoes In the house!

Sometimes it also helps to break up weekly tasks during the week. For example, Monday you can do a mini kitchen deep clean, Tuesday you can focus on washing all the bedding and putting new bedding on the beds. Wednesday bathroom deepclean Thursday dusting etc.

Hang your duvet on the washing line for a few hours on dry days. This is absolutely the norm on the continent.

if you have clothes that need dry cleaning but aren’t actually dirty, hang them outside in a stiff breeze for 72 hours. They’ll smell completely fresh and you’ll save a fortune.

White vinegar is a miracle cleaner.

Don't put something down put it away.

If it takes less than 3 minutes do it now

Use a big basket (laundry basket ideal) as you tidy up. So sort the living room and throw all the upstairs stuff on the basket have another for kitchen stuff. Then you just take the basket to the designated room put it all away and use it for the crap left in they room.

Clean kitchen while you cook. Clean bathroom while you bath kids

Heated clothes airer. When you wash the bedding throw a sheet over it and it dries inside much quicker.

Multiple layers of sheets/waterproof sheets on the kids beds. I also keep a clean and made up duvet and pillow in a storage bag under the bed. Then if kid wets bed/is sick etc you strip it and throw clean duvet on with ease

Teach kids to bring their plates out after dinner and put in dishwasher. My 2 year old will bring his plate out. Give kids chores. My big ones do more but 2 year old passes me the washing when we hang it (and then needs distraction asap before he starts pulling it off again!)

Shark steam and scrub mop. It's a steam mop that has rotating cloths on the bottom. Amazing

Batch cook and freeze! Whole meals like shepherds pie and lasagna but also the base veg for other dishes.

Silicone baking stuff. Soooo much easier to clean

Online food shop. Delivery of toilet paper and cleaning products etc.

This! I'm not consistent enough but trying to get better as when I am my life is so much less cluttered.

When selling on vinted I give an item a month to sell, if it doesn't it goes to charity so I don't just keep storing old clothes and clogging up space

Totally thought that too! Although part of me admired Myra's record card system and wondered if I could emulate it 😂

I just remembered the house wife using index cards for cleaning jobs. Never thought about the feminist aspect of the book.

In my 2year old's room I have one box for "too small" and one box for "too big" for clothes. Helps with the rapid size shifting. When the Too Small box is filled, I donate.

That's lovely. My DIL does this donating to the local women's refuge.

Read the thread and do much of the suggestions. But as a mother of five children ranging from 13 years to 13 weeks, tomorrow I will be laminating photos of clean room to stick around the areas my eldest three use. Genius, thanks to whoever suggested this!

I read the book three times amazing eye opener. However, I was more Shirley Conran "Lifes too short to stuff a mushroom" 😁