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 ??

Mine would be;

a washing up liquid filled handled washing up sponge to clean the shower, I do this everyday along with using a squeegee and deep clean about once a week-keeps the bathroom looking always clean and no build up.

folding bed linen inc fitted sheet into the matching pillowcase-an oldie but it works.

Chopped onion in a jar in the fridge keeps it fresh and doesn’t make the fridge smell.

im not naturally tidy so putting everything in clear boxes in cupboards really helps me- from clothes to spices.

folding the Marie Kondo way stops my folded clothes from getting messed up so quickly.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t understand cleaning ovens. Our current one is 12-years-old and I’ve never cleaned it. It looks fine (not spotless, but fine) to me and I do other, nicer things instead. I guess that’s my tip 😮

There's a de-icer spray thingy I bought on Amazon which is a game changer. Spray it and leave for ten mins and then the ice just slides off..

-My Bosch washing machine struggled with heavy items like blankets. I’ve found if I use the most gentle cycle it works perfectly. It was the final fast spin that was messing it up.

-Thermal curtain lining fabric from eBay! I can’t describe how fantastic this is. I bought the three metres I needed, cut it to size, sewed header tape across the top (by hand because it’s too tough for my machine), and attached it to my thin bedroom curtains with metal hooks. I now have detachable curtain liners that block out ALL light and keep the room much warmer. The whole project cost less than £20, whereas if I’d bought the fabric from Hobbycraft it would have been £30-40.

I don’t even dampen, still works like a dream!

I do this too but I use souper cubes to freeze so I have portion size bricks of rice in the fridge, makes such a difference especially with brown rice because it takes so long to cook.

I have done this for years. My life is too short to grapple with duvet covers 😂

I was thinking of going back to sheets and blankets, hospital corners. Does anyone still do this?

A recent tip which I learned from Mumsnet is to spray white vinegar on the armpits of shirts/blouses/school blazers etc to get rid of the smell of B.O.

I leave them to soak for 10 mins then into the wash. Works like a charm!

Mine's obvious, but try and food prep a couple of meals at a time.

I've just made chicken fajitas for dinner, but I chopped twice the chicken needed and half of it's gone in a sandwich bag with yoghurt and indian spices to do a curry later on in the week. I also hate cutting chicken up so doing it like this gets it out of the way.

Get a small food processer for chopping onions and stuff for sauces. So much quicker, and again, means I can double up.

Meal planning is a chore, but it's less of a chore than having to think of a dinner every day. We have at least one easy dinner a week - I've taken to buying naan and using them as pizza bases. Ten minutes in the oven and you have a "home made" pizza!

I don't always manage these, in fact I've been getting really burnt out about dinners lately. This helps.

Also - washing up liquid on greasy stains on clothing. For really bad ones you might need to do it a couple of times, but it really works. Rub it on, leave it for a bit, then run through the washing machine.

@WitchyBits where do you subscribe to for toilet roll and laundry items? I set up a few subscribe and saves on Amazon but find them a bit hit and miss for specific brands and can end up costly if not careful.

Glass cleaner on stainless steel! Or if you're out use toothpaste! (Maybe for smaller items like a toaster mind you)

Dryer sheets in wardrobes to keep fragrant

Mopping the walls is easier than wiping them with a cloth

Clean the hob whilst it's still hot (that's an obvious one though)

Deter cats with coffee granules - my cats no longer knock over the kettle

Keep the roll of bin bags in smaller bins so when it's full you take out and new one is already there (I do t do this in kitchen bin incase of spillages)

Dry food (including pet food) all go in plastic containers which are labelled

Ooof I’m ordering some now!

They are great, once frozen I pop the cubes out into a bag so they don't take up so much room and I can reuse my cubes for other things.

I always keep a Sharpie pen in my kitchen drawer to write the date opened on jars, packets etc.

Also use a sharpie to write on food storage containers the date I'm freezing on and what it is. The writing comes off in the dishwasher ready to use next time.

Ahahahah I hope it’s a clean trainer

Large machine? Our 7kg machine (can’t change) is on nearly every day. Bedding/towels/clothes for 3 .

Yes to this as well as frozen chopped garlic

Mine still look like raisins and need ironing.

So Nancy britwhistle.. I am going to look her up and make some of her cleaning solutions! Can anyone recommend any refillable bottles, not too expensive. Also, the frozen rice sounds like a great tip but.. how do you defrost it, do you warm it up in a pan ( with or without water ?? ) sorry if that's a silly question 😂

🤣🤣🤣

I use raindrop for hand wash which is really good. Naked panda for toilet roll and smol for dishwashing tablets, washing up liquid, multi surface and bathroom spray tablets (bottles provided to refill). It looks expensive but when you work it all out it's no more expensive than buying one by one at the supermarket

I'd love one of these. Should have got one in summer

Im intrigued about your twig broom and just googled. Could you link one for me if possible! Thx

Thanks for these, they're great :)
Line every part of your fridge with toilet paper/kitchen roll, then just replace every few weeks. Much easier than cleaning the fridge compartments.

If you have an old toilet with an exposed bit at the top that fills up with clean water before you press flush and it empties into the dirty part (hope that makes sense), put one or two small bottles in it. These take up the space so it "fills up" faster, meaning you use less water each time you flush.

Rather than mopping, just put a kitchen wet wipe on the floor and wipe around with your feet. Preferably to music :)