Post by miniroller on Dec 29, 2019 19:13:48 GMT -5
Curious to see if anyone else is interested in doing a thread to gather tips/ tricks/ shortcuts/ recommendations for all that is entailed in keeping house. I know I’ve gotten a couple goodies from this board such as Apple Cider vinegar instead of fabric softener when washing towels. And so I was wondering if others care to share tips/ discoveries/ etc they’ve made throughout the year (or whenever!). I know there’s a pretty slow cleaning board; but I’d hoped others might be getting things in order at year’s end & wanted to tap wiseCEP brains. I do, however, realize this would be prime time to share my genius cleaning hack. It’s been a really long day, & I’m so not there right now, but I wanted to make a thread in case I don’t get a chance tomorrow. Let’s hear ‘em if you got ‘em, please!🤘 (Also, just in case, please no @@@ in here unless very necessary & properly warned)
Interested...as we just had a realistic discussion about not being able to afford to hire a house cleaner 😖 ETA: My best tip right now is that I schedule appointments with myself to clean bathrooms on a rotating basis, change the furnace filters, etc.
Post by cinnamoncox0 on Dec 29, 2019 19:38:11 GMT -5
I get overwhelmed easily and overestimate how long chores take so I’d kind of just freeze and do the bare minimum because everything takes “forever “ to do and I have no time. Well. I recently went through and realistically timed chores so I can now plan house chores based on which days I have more/less time using the time list. Things are getting a bit better. I also am implementing a planner for 2020 hoping it helps track housecleaning and spending and bills etc.
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I recently decided my youngest two (9) can carry up and put away their own laundry, so I’ll sort it, bring it down, wash dry fold, leave it in the laundry area, and they know to go get their clothes on a regular or as needed basis, whatever works for them.
Actually same for dh and ds (21) I leave theirs down there too now.
Cook enough chicken Monday night to last school lunches tues through Thursday (they want school lunch Mondays) and on fridays just give high protein yogurt and crackers and odds and ends lunch, makes packing lunches easier.
None of these might be hacks per se, but they’re things I’m doing to try to simplify life. Hope something helps you or inspires you in some way
Taking 5-10 minutes to tidy up each evening makes a huge difference. Just straightening up makes the house fell so much better.
This is huge too, I realized recently a big issues for me was overestimating how long each chore truly takes, so 10 min can really make a big impact and before I realized this I’d just do nothing since I didn’t have time. Huh.
Laundry is the easiest "hack" for me. I have two laundry baskets in my closet- one that I toss the items I'll use the "hand wash" cycle on my washer for and hang to dry and the other that I throw literally everything else in. The only items I fold are bath towels and socks. My underwear, kitchen towels, and sleepwear don't care if they're wrinkled. I buy casual t-shirts for the drawer that have a little stretch to them, so they don't really wrinkle. When I iron a pair of dress pants, I have a hook in my closet that I hang them on to wear at least once more before I need to re-iron them.
For dishes, I dropped the idea of a silverware drawer when we first got married (because our tiny condo's drawers were too narrow for a separator) and bought a cheap flower pot. All of our silverware goes in there with no sorting required.
If I know I have a crazy busy day on Tuesday, say, I'll either make Tuesday's dinner after we finish dinner on Monday night or I'll get up a little early and make it Monday morning. Then, just pull it out of the fridge, heat it up, and eat it.
Eufy cleans our floors.
I realized that no one in the history of ever has ever looked under our books in the bookshelf, so I only actually move that kind of stuff to dust under it once a year or so.
Finally, have a couple of glasses of wine before cleaning- it's how our foremothers did it in the 50s, right?
I SAH so I do a majority of the housework. My tips:
-tidy at the end of the day for a set time -dishes after each meal so they don't pile up (no dishwasher) -sweep once a day (no carpets so dirty shows easily) -separate deep cleanings by each day such as bathrooms day x, mopping day x, laundry day x, etc. so it doesn't feel overwhelming -make the beds each morning (this just makes it feel cleaner to me) -wipe as I go
I SAH so I do a majority of the housework. My tips:
-tidy at the end of the day for a set time -dishes after each meal so they don't pile up (no dishwasher) -sweep once a day (no carpets so dirty shows easily) -separate deep cleanings by each day such as bathrooms day x, mopping day x, laundry day x, etc. so it doesn't feel overwhelming -make the beds each morning (this just makes it feel cleaner to me) -wipe as I go
Mostly this. We have a set laundry day or 2 days, but I don’t really have set bathroom days etc. We do have rugs so we have a roomba that vacuums every day. Decluttering, picking up and making beds makes everything look more visually appealing.
I used to let it pile up because I do work and DH traveled for work do it was survival mode. Now that he is home and can help out more I am able to keep up better, so my hack is keep up daily with quick tasks (don’t spend a ton of time) rather than letting it pile up. Besides dinner and dishes which DH and DS do a lot, I don’t do more than 20 min a day because it’s all supposed to be maintenance (excluding laundry and deep cleaning which doesn’t happen super often).
Post by pierogigirl on Dec 29, 2019 21:42:00 GMT -5
Do 1-2 loads of laundry every day I never leave the house with dishes in the sink (we have a dishwasher and I'm trying to make sure the dish drain in the sink is empty most of the time - it looks so much tidier) Make my bed every morning I'm starting to get others to do their part - I'm not the only one who can load/unload the dishwasher or scrub a toilet *Get rid of stuff - we give outgrown clothes and other stuff to a family friend who can use them, I have already donated the awful gifts I got from my SILs, old towels go to the vet, have a garage sale (if needed), buy less junky crap "just because", I try not to buy too many clothes and I wear them for a long time
Edit - I pay bills/ put $ in savings twice a month when we get paid - I have a schedule planned out for the year. I don't trust auto pay, but have it set up so I manually pay it through my bank
Do 1-2 loads of laundry every day I never leave the house with dishes in the sink (we have a dishwasher and I'm trying to make sure the dish drain in the sink is empty most of the time - it looks so much tidier) Make my bed every morning I'm starting to get others to do their part - I'm not the only one who can load/unload the dishwasher or scrub a toilet *Get rid of stuff - we give outgrown clothes and other stuff to a family friend who can use them, I have already donated the awful gifts I got from my SILs, old towels go to the vet, have a garage sale (if needed), buy less junky crap "just because", I try not to buy too many clothes and I wear them for a long time
Edit - I pay bills/ put $ in savings twice a month when we get paid - I have a schedule planned out for the year. I don't trust auto pay, but have it set up so I manually pay it through my bank
So much this. Since my last move where I could only take what could come on the plane and was limited to a 5x5 storage unit, I get rid of things quickly. This has decreased how much stuff is in the house especially @@@ stuff.
I switched to laundry day, and it has been a game changer! I chose Thursday because it’s the day I’m most likely to be home. Wednesday night, I gather the laundry and sort it. Sometimes I’ll do a load that is OK to stay in the dryer overnight. I put a load in the washer and set it for delay wash, so it’s just finished when I wake up. Then I switch to the dryer and start a new load. Doing this means that I’m basically on my third load of laundry before my day even starts! I don’t always finish on Thursday, but the best part is that I don’t add to the pile after Thursday. And when I finish the pile, I’m DONE with laundry for the week. Sometimes I start laundry on Tuesday to “get ahead.” It’s an exercise in mental gymnastics, but being able to feel like laundry is done has been huge!
@@@i got this tip (and others) from the podcast “The Lazy Genius.” She talks about “how to be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don’t.” She often has @@@@content, but she talks about how her tips are applicable to everyone.
Post by lemoncupcake on Dec 29, 2019 22:22:09 GMT -5
Check your smoke detectors every 6 months and write on a piece of tape the date you last changed the battery - we usually do them on the days that the time changes forward or back because it’s easy to remember.
(EtA which is to say that I have always struggled with this stuff and I've been much more content since just caring a lot less. There are dirty dishes on my counter. Oh well.)
Do laundry based on person, not type or color. Everyone gets their own dirty clothes basket so no sorting. Makes it easier to fold and put away too. I find this method particularly helpful if you live with more than two people.
Label maker everything, including the fridge. If you can find a hack to get your people to abide by the labels, let me know.
Make a master grocery list of things you buy all the time. Organize it based on the layout of the store. Print a bunch out. Hang on fridge. Cross items off as not needed. Never make a grocery list again.
Have household items delivered to you. I never buy TP or paper towels anymore. All that shit comes from Grove on a schedule.
Purge your crap. Makes it easier to clean the less you have.
Super pro tip: Don’t fold clothes the Marie Kondo way.
I have four laundry baskets - one for towels, one for lights, one for darks, one for my work clothes (washed on delicate cycle). We do laundry on weekends, and there's no sorting. I don't put anything in the sink. It goes straight to the dishwasher. If the dishwasher is clean, it gets emptied if something dirty needs to go in it.
I use the washcloth I've used for my face to wipe down the bathroom counter and sink area each day, and then clean that counter and sink as needed.
After dinner, the kitchen counters get wiped and the sink washed.
Bed is made each morning.
I try to put stuff away before bed.
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And no kids, probably the best cleaning tip.
Thinks can still get dirty. I spent some time scrubbing the toilet and some shower stuff today. But trying to wipe stuff during the week helps.
When I get the mail I walk directly to the outdoor recycling bin. 90% of the time I throw every last piece in there before walking in the house. Once something comes into the house it gets 10 times harder to get rid of it. Also--anything I need to do like pay a bill or whatever gets put in my purse. I deal with it while eating lunch at work the next day.
I do laundry once a week. I like that I don't feel like I'm always doing it.
The biggest thing though is that I have more lax "rules" for how often stuff needs to be cleaned. I'll probably be shamed for this, but I wash sheets once a month and towels once a week. I vacuum only once a week. Stuff like that. Would I love fresh sheets weekly? Sure, but I'm realistic in that I don't have the time or energy to strip all the beds once a week.
My H is not a great cleaner so now he cooks and I clean up dinner. I make sure the kitchen is very clean before bed. That really helps make the whole house feel cleaner.
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Also, I don't go crazy making sure toys are put away nightly. It's not realistic. We have little time so I don't really make the kids clean up toys before dinner. There's no time. Instead the rule is that all toys sleep in the playroom. Toys get cleaned up weekly. At least I don't see them after bedtime though.
Small tip but I keep a golf towel hanging by my laundry (hangs by a metal chain on a hanger). It’s so helpful to have there, doesn’t fall or take up much space like a hand towel on a hanger.
Eta, I’m not sure how kondo folds everything but I do like how she folds pants @@@ esp for kids pants
Post by Velar Fricative on Dec 30, 2019 9:01:20 GMT -5
This is so timely. Today is my first day back at work from vacation and it never actually felt like a vacation because we hosted a large Christmas Day meal, and our house renovation was mostly done just two days before Christmas so the rest of the week was cleaning up from Christmas *and* from the reno...and we're still not done. DH is taking care of the rest since he's home through Wednesday. I guess that's tip #1 - if you live with someone else who is able-bodied, housework is their responsibility too.
As for other tips:
heyjude brought up Marie Kondo. Almost a year ago, I started folding clothes the way she recommends. I hated every minute of it and it just wasn't sustainable. I can still find my clothes even though they're in regular (neat) piles. Honestly, the key for keeping clothes tidy is to just not have a lot of clothes. I've never been much of a clotheshorse and I do keep my piles and drawers organized so that each pile has the same type of clothing in it.
The robot vacuum is a lifesaver. I love coming home to clean floors. It also forces us to declutter, although it's pretty good at not getting stuck on anything if something is on the floor.
I'm currently figuring out a way to organize laundry. Up until our upstairs bathroom was destroyed due to a leak, we kept shared hampers (one for darks, one for lights) in the bathroom. Now we divided that bathroom into two separate bathrooms and don't have room for hampers inside either one, so I think we are likely back to hampers for each person in their respective bedrooms. And I think I will add an additional hamper to our hallway outside the bedrooms/bathrooms for towels.
We have three floors in our house so I like keeping reusable bags or bins near each step for stuff that needs to go on another floor. As we go to that floor, we take the bag/bin with us and put stuff where it's supposed to go and then bring back the empty bin when we go back or put stuff from that floor into the bin to bring upstairs/downstairs. Usually it's stuff that needs to leave the main floor and either go upstairs to the bedrooms or downstairs to our basement/family room/laundry/storage area.
I guess I don’t see how MK folding is all that different from regular folding? I end up folding things in thirds instead of in half, so it’s one little extra flip per item, and takes almost no extra time. And I like the way they sit vertically in the drawer.
This is so timely. Today is my first day back at work from vacation and it never actually felt like a vacation because we hosted a large Christmas Day meal, and our house renovation was mostly done just two days before Christmas so the rest of the week was cleaning up from Christmas *and* from the reno...and we're still not done. DH is taking care of the rest since he's home through Wednesday. I guess that's tip #1 - if you live with someone else who is able-bodied, housework is their responsibility too.
As for other tips:
heyjude brought up Marie Kondo. Almost a year ago, I started folding clothes the way she recommends. I hated every minute of it and it just wasn't sustainable. I can still find my clothes even though they're in regular (neat) piles. Honestly, the key for keeping clothes tidy is to just not have a lot of clothes. I've never been much of a clotheshorse and I do keep my piles and drawers organized so that each pile has the same type of clothing in it.
The robot vacuum is a lifesaver. I love coming home to clean floors. It also forces us to declutter, although it's pretty good at not getting stuck on anything if something is on the floor.
I'm currently figuring out a way to organize laundry. Up until our upstairs bathroom was destroyed due to a leak, we kept shared hampers (one for darks, one for lights) in the bathroom. Now we divided that bathroom into two separate bathrooms and don't have room for hampers inside either one, so I think we are likely back to hampers for each person in their respective bedrooms. And I think I will add an additional hamper to our hallway outside the bedrooms/bathrooms for towels.
We have three floors in our house so I like keeping reusable bags or bins near each step for stuff that needs to go on another floor. As we go to that floor, we take the bag/bin with us and put stuff where it's supposed to go and then bring back the empty bin when we go back or put stuff from that floor into the bin to bring upstairs/downstairs. Usually it's stuff that needs to leave the main floor and either go upstairs to the bedrooms or downstairs to our basement/family room/laundry/storage area.
My mom calls those "as-you-go's". As in "GRAB YOUR ASYOUGOS!" Shouted at a child who tried to run upstairs empty handed..
I guess I don’t see how MK folding is all that different from regular folding? I end up folding things in thirds instead of in half, so it’s one little extra flip per item, and takes almost no extra time. And I like the way they sit vertically in the drawer.
It took me forever to fold laundry but maybe that's just me. Also, a lot of my clothes just don't sit vertically very well, and I have limited closet space so I couldn't/can't hang absolutely everything that I want to hang.
Post by jordancatalano4ever on Dec 30, 2019 10:31:05 GMT -5
I don’t have much to contribute tip wise. I am fine with doing laundry on Sunday. It gives me an opportunity to sit and watch some tv because otherwise I never get to. We also have a DJ roomba so that helps and I only have to deep vacuum once a month. I also only wash sheets once a month cause I just don’t care how often our sheets get washed. I tidy all the clutter daily. We load/unload dishes daily.
The one area I struggle with is the bathroom. I can never keep it clean enough. How do y’all keep the shower clean? Any good daily sprays that I could use that require less scrubbing from me.
Also. This year I am thinking about keeping a daily journal and writing in all the chores I do and all the chores my DH does. He thinks he does the same amount as me. Haha no. Then for Christmas I will present it to him and maybe this year I will get the gift of a housekeeper for the twice a year stuff that takes me a full day (windows, oven, baseboards,etc)
I guess I don’t see how MK folding is all that different from regular folding? I end up folding things in thirds instead of in half, so it’s one little extra flip per item, and takes almost no extra time. And I like the way they sit vertically in the drawer.
This. I MK'd DH's tee shirt drawer and it has saved me so much time -- because before, he would rummage thru the stack to find the one he wanted and it kept getting messy. Now he can see them all and get to the one he wants w/o messing up the rest of them. It's great. I didn't MK anything else of his or mine, but it really solved the tee-shirt drawer problem so well.
I guess I don’t see how MK folding is all that different from regular folding? I end up folding things in thirds instead of in half, so it’s one little extra flip per item, and takes almost no extra time. And I like the way they sit vertically in the drawer.
It took much longer to fold and put away laundry. You pretty much have to fold one item, put it in the drawer. Fold another item, put it in the drawer. Otherwise the neat and tidy stacks tend to fall over. They need the compactness of a drawer to stand up. This became a PITA for my life.
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And my kids don’t care about neatly folded drawers that look pretty. They would grab something and the stacks would become a disaster quickly. Pretty much requiring entire drawer reorgs every week in order to accommodate clean marie kondo folded laundry.
I guess I don’t see how MK folding is all that different from regular folding? I end up folding things in thirds instead of in half, so it’s one little extra flip per item, and takes almost no extra time. And I like the way they sit vertically in the drawer.
It took me forever to fold laundry but maybe that's just me. Also, a lot of my clothes just don't sit vertically very well, and I have limited closet space so I couldn't/can't hang absolutely everything that I want to hang.
I've done the MK folding for a while and I'm glad that CEP has given me permission to not like it. LOL. I thought I was just crazy. I do like the way they sit, but folding them and putting them away is a PITA. I sort everything on the bed and then move everything over in stacks to the closet and put it away. Carry clothes MK style does not work as well and I always end up dropping something and having to reroll it.
I do like it better for summer stuff that is less bulky.
It took me forever to fold laundry but maybe that's just me. Also, a lot of my clothes just don't sit vertically very well, and I have limited closet space so I couldn't/can't hang absolutely everything that I want to hang.
I've done the MK folding for a while and I'm glad that CEP has given me permission to not like it. LOL. I thought I was just crazy. I do like the way they sit, but folding them and putting them away is a PITA. I sort everything on the bed and then move everything over in stacks to the closet and put it away. Carry clothes MK style does not work as well and I always end up dropping something and having to reroll it.
I do like it better for summer stuff that is less bulky.
Exactly. It’s not necessarily the extra folding that adds the trouble, although if you do laundry en masse on a weekend like I do the time can add up, it’s the logistics of getting stacks of little clothing packages into drawers that became the biggest impediment and why I stopped, after giving it a valiant effort, I might add.