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 ??

Put washing on for an extra spin cycle, this removes lots of the excess water and means clothes dry faster, on the airer or in the dryer. Particularly good for bed linen/towels.

I just take the drawers out and stack them on the side. Get a big towel (one that’s going in the wash) roll it up and put it in front of the freezer, the washing up bowl, dish cloth and a metal fish slice, then I get my hairdryer on the hottest setting and melt the levels, one by one. Pulling the ice (as it melts) and water out into the bowl with the fish slice and cloth. Thn I go through the drawers and give them a wipe out if needed before I put them back. It’s all done in about 20 mins, which is no longer than frozen stuff would have been out on a journey home from the supermarket.

I used to use a hairdryer 🤣thankfully the current one is frost free

Wish mine was. It gets like the North Pole in there!

All my socks are identical where possible. So all my day to day socks are the same (black) and all my sports socks are the same. Means I don't end up with random spare socks, and makes matching them up a heck of a lot easier.

I learnt about this on MN what a difference.

I use the blasts from a steam cleaner to defrost the freezer. Works very very fast. Have your bowls and towels ready! (Have frost free now though)

Top flat sheet on beds. Change the sheet as often as you want, easy. Change the duvet cover less often.

Coverless duvets in my house because I LOATHE changing the beds with a passion. And I'm dyspraxic, so the burrito method or whatever really doesn't help me, just in case anyone suggests it

After every wash, the detergent drawer and the door of the washing machine remain open. No damp, stinky smells.

For food prep use a normal chopping board with a thin plastic board behind it, tucked slightly under the edge. As you prep veg sweep the discards on to the plastic board, leaving the main board uncluttered for chopping. When you finish you'll have a big pile of discards on the flexible plastic board which can be taken to to compost/rubbish bin and tipped in easily. Both boards can then go under the tap. Stops endlessly wiping the worktops, chasing odd bits of onion skin etc around, and gives more working space.

Me too. I tell anyone who will listen 😂

That’s an excellent tip. Thank you!

Laminated photos of "this is what it looks like tidy/ "for the children" everywhere so every family member can tidy up their own crap I mean stuff.
Loving this!!!

I second the top flat sheet! I particularly like it as you can tuck it in as well, so it stops your duvet sliding off in the night and your feet getting cold.

Im going to start doing this over the winter-thank you

Why do you think it’s feminist to believe it is up to women to co-opt their male partners/husbands to contribute to household chores? Men are adults who are more than capable of showing their initiative and keeping the house clean and tidy.

There are men on Mumsnet and some of them are dads. They are equally as welcome to post their housekeeping life hacks (who knows some of the pp on this thread may have been written by men).

As for teaching children various housekeeping chores that is entirely up to the discretion of their parents. There are a lot of benefits for children doing chores and being helpful; being an important member of the household and pitching in. It builds up their self esteem, their self confidence, gives them the opportunity to develop important life skills etc.

What I do find counter productive to feminism is women putting other women down. Or blaming them for men’s behaviour.

Well said.
There is nothing unfeminist about a bunch of posters, most of whom happen to be women, sharing housekeeping tips.
There is something very unfeminist about behaving as if something that is essential to life and has traditionally been done more by women, though that isn’t the case for all of us, isn’t worth discussing.

Stealing this idea - thank you.

With odd socks I just roll them all into a giant Socktopus ball and keep in a cupboard till I was next time.
It's so satisfying to pair lost sock!

OH I have a socktopus ball for OH and did for sons. Eventually admitting missing sock was either thrown away because of holes, eaten by the Labrador or other means of disappearing

I just use the little notch on kitchen scissors.

@Callipygion
Try the notch on scissors - meant for a bottle but works well for jars too. Even Dorito salsa wide jars.

My hacks:
Never pick clothes up from the floor, you want it washed it's in the bin
Never pair socks (except mine) that's up to the owner
Pile clean clothes up - owner can put them away/hang them where they want, then they know where they are and won't keep asking me
Teach children to deal with their sports kit when they get in - then they won't have wet togs and wet towel next time
If your towel needs washing, put it in the bin ie only items in laundry get washed
Want to get into a nice made bed at night? - pull the duvet up in the morning and puff pillows

I'm all for 'hacks' that make my life easier and I focus on this and encourage children to develop good habits so reduce things like not being able to find anything. I also advocate '1 touch' - deal with something immediately otherwise it can get forgotten or take head space.

Half-inch of water in the grill pan under sausages etc to stop the fat burning on.
Same in the vomit bucket, similar reason.

Tight jar lids can be eased by pouring hot water over them, I often use the rest of the tea kettle when faced with toast and a new jam jar.

I’m trying to think of some housekeeping hacks that haven’t already been mentioned.

I once read that you can use shaving foam to clean tiles and grout. So, I clean the shower with cheap shaving foam and a scrubbing brush while I’m having a shower. My dd loves playing with or finger painting with shaving foam so I have left the scrubbing brush and squeegee in the shower for her to use if she wants to. She doesn’t have to scrub the shower but she does need to rinse the shaving foam off the wall before she gets out.