Time saving tips for anyone who hates housework

[hotpotmama]

Ok, I hate it and would love to know how I can have a clean house with the minimum time spent being a domestic slave (cleaner is out of the question unfortunately )

My top tips to save time:

only iron some things on one side like tshirts and dont iron sheets, undies, pj's, towels, socks.

clean the oven when its hot.

Thats all I can think of at the mo, pathetic I know, hence why I need your tips desperately!

never go upstairs without caryying something up that belongs there - same for going downstairs

Do one thing at a time instead of trying to do a million things at once.

Clean round sink and bath when you are getting ready in a morning.

Put things away as you use them.

nice one zookeeper.

A bit of a bad one I have is using the tumbledryer too much as it saves on ironing.

think thats where I go wrong comewhine, am always trying to do a million things! And am not great at putting away either, try hard tho, think I am naturally untidy. Wonder if its genetic?

Do your bathroom first when you are doing a big sort of room once-over. It is a small room and will look nice and make you happy & give you motivation to get the rest done. I do one room at a time usually but always try to remember to keep laundry ticking over while I am doing other stuff.

Message withdrawn

That is so true you can do so much in 15 mins! It always amazes me! And the more you practise at it the more you learn the most effective things to do in that time to make the most impact. Also I have a rule that I always clean while the kettle is boiling & tea is steeping. That is enough time to unload the dishwasher & start reloading again.

Plastic garden lawn rakes are brilliant for collecting up a million pieces of lego etc.
Quite young children are capable of stripping beds.
Eat outside as often as possible.

Brilliant, will soon have it down to 5 mins a day with all these tips!

Say goodbye to ironing (apart from certain shirts).

Hang clothes out to dry on the line. Give them a vigorous flick before you peg out. Hang t-shirts and shirts upside down so there are no peg marks on the shoulders.

Smooth jeans with your hands on the line. When they are dry bring them in and hang up or fold and put away immediately. If you leave washing around in piles they will end up needing ironing. If I don't have time to put things away I lay shirts etc over a chair so they don't crease. DH and I hardly do any ironing by using these methods, only the occasional cotton work shirt really.

get a couple of big baskets for toys and make it a rule that the dcs chuck their toys in at the end of every day. Same for shoes.

Do not sit on mumsnet dispensing tips whilst ignoring chaos in own home

Yeap zookeeper just came on to say don't click on active convo to have one last look before you going to do any housework, I'm still sitting here, this was my last look!

lol have to say my house looks like it's been burgled - don't know where to start - will try the fifteen minute thing

Insist on everyone taking shoes off at the door - without exception. Stops dirt getting in the house and if it does not get in - then it does not need cleaning up.

Clean the bathroom while the DCs are in the bath. You can supervise/entertain them while you clean round them, then all you have to do is wipe the bath over when they are out.

Peg socks out in pairs: leave a gap next to each odd one, then peg up its pair when you find it - takes no extra time on the pegging out but saves a job later.

Take stuff off the line in the order it gets put away - all t-shirts together, etc. Again, saves a sorting job later.

Make sure everything has a 'home' - so you don't waste time looking for somewhere to put it.

All these replies, am going to have so much free time soon, keep em coming!!

Declutter! The less stuff you have and the less toys your kids have the less mess that can build up.

Also have a look at the flylady american website. You may hate it. But you may love it. It gets you sorting out the house in small steps and stops you feeling too overwhelmed where to start.
[[www.flylady.net/]

A tip to stop the ironing getting too big. I make a rule of (generally) only watching tv when I'm doing the ironing.