Post by Velar Fricative on Dec 30, 2019 11:14:43 GMT -5
This is not physically organizing, but has been great for us. We have a shared Google Calendar where we add everything - social commitments, appointments, and yes, household tasks. Sometimes I'll just forget when we last did X but then I open the calendar and I can see when I did it and whether it needs to be done now or another day.
I’m trying to purge things we never/rarely use. MH is a big “oh we might need that someday so let’s keep it” or “it’s still good, I hate to get rid of it” guy, ugh. I’ve given away a few things on FB Marketplace for free, but getting people to take stuff for even a few bucks is really difficult.
We have, literally, hundreds of VHS tapes we just cannot find a way to get rid of (aside from home movies which I wouldn’t ever trash) and it’s stressing me out ... and even those, MH is all, “oh we should hang onto some of these classic Disney tapes.” NO, WE SHOULD NOT.
I just try to buy less “stuff” in general. If it’s not here in the first place then it can’t become clutter or get dusty or whatever. My family also started a “no gift giving between adults (although stocking stuffers are ok)” deal last year and I am really happy about it.
I try to wipe down the kitchen counters and bathroom as I see they need it.
MH does a more thorough cleaning on Saturdays when I go to the supermarket.
I love my pets, but in all honestly I’m going to think REALLY hard about adopting new ones once my current guys are gone (hopefully in the very distant future, of course). The expense of food and vet bills, keeping their dishes and surrounding areas clean, dealing with shedding and barf and litter boxes ... argh. They’re good little buddies but I wish they could clean up after themselves.
Post by Velar Fricative on Dec 30, 2019 11:28:39 GMT -5
mbcdefg , I used the Decluttr app a while back to get rid of DVDs and books. We had a ton and made about $20, but hey, I was happy to get $20 just to get shit out of my house. I just checked their site and they don't accept VHS tapes though. I would just donate to willing recipients or discard them (not sure about your town's rules on discarding VHS tapes). Tell your H about Disney Plus lol.
Anything that is remotely delicate, can snag, and all bras/sports bras go in lingerie bags in the wash. There's no way I'm hand washing my clothes. And I got really tired of trying to extricate my sports bras from the knots they wound themselves into around other clothes in the washer. Oh and I toss some vinegar into the wash. And workout clothes get sprayed with Nature's Miracle to reduce odor.
I have cats (which is why I have Nature's Miracle on hand). So when I clean the cat boxes (ugh...) I let one piece soak and then sweep the wood floors. Then when I get to the other part, I let that soak and mop the floors. It sounds stupid, but it ensures that my floors get mopped every two weeks.
My best tip is sending out all our laundry to the local wash n fold. So much easier than dragging it down to the communal laundry and fighting for washers and dryers.
And they fold things soooo much more nicely than I ever could.
I got an eufy robot vacuum for Christmas so hopefully we can keep our floors cleaner.
-Hang as many clothes as possible in the closet. I really don't fold clothes unless they're seasonal ones that will sit for a while. -Dishwasher gets run nightly and emptied every morning after breakfast. -I don't vacuum or clean as often as I 'should' except the kitchen. -Bed and towels get cleaned as needed, not on a schedule of any kind.
I actually like doing laundry twice a week. With 2 people, we really just need 2 loads of clothes and 1 load of towels and/or sheets unless it's something weirdly specific. I like to do 1 load of clothes on Wednesday and then the other 2 on the weekend so I don't feel like I have to do laundry all day. Also, the biggest annoyance about laundry for me is having to tote it all from the second floor to the basement and then back up. Someday I would like a house with second-floor laundry.
We used to get Blue Apron a lot, but now we do frozen meals with Dream Dinners. You have to pick it up (you can either put together your own freezer meals there or you can have them make it for you and pick it up), but it's nice to just take something out of the freezer whenever we need it and cook it the next day. The meals come in 3 servings or 6 servings. My house has 2 people and I always get 6 servings so we cook once and have leftovers for 2 nights. And it makes it easy because it's not just a recipe I have in my head - my H can start cooking if he gets home before me.
I do laundry by person as well. I do 1 or 2 loads on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I bring DHs basket of clothes up Tuesday night when he is watching TV and he will fold as he watches. I literally just figured that out a couple weeks ago. I was constantly like TAKE CARE OF YOUR DAMN CLOTHES. They once sat for a month growing into a mountain of his clothes.
I use baking soda for dishes with stuck on food. Run hot water and sprinkle baking soda. Let it sit 20 minutes or so and then it comes right off.
I clean as I go. Clutter makes me anxious, it takes an extra minute or two to put things where they belong and I never waste a Saturday cleaning.
Post by penguingrrl on Dec 30, 2019 15:16:52 GMT -5
I prefer to spread laundry out, having tried for years to make a dedicated laundry day work for me. But our washer is painfully slow (it’s a first generation energy efficient that often needs two runs with extra rinse to get the soap out, which defeats the purpose entirely), and there’s never a day a week I can plan to consistently be around all day to babysit it.
Instead we have three laundry baskets upstairs in a closet we weren’t otherwise using. One basket is white and for whites, one is aqua and for lights and one is navy and for darks. As clothing is taken off it goes straight into the appropriate basket and whichever one is most full every weekday morning goes into the wash as I get up, then the dryer either when I get back from the gym or from work (I don’t work a consistent schedule or typical hours). It seems never to get out of hand that way, and it gets done around the rest of my day. Linens (towels, napkins, etc) stay on the first floor, which is where laundry is, and get done when the other baskets aren’t too full.
I read on one of these boards a while back that if it crosses your mind and it will take less then 2 minutes to do it, just do it. It's been great the little things that pile up. Clearing off coffee tables, swapping fresh hand towels in the bathrooms, switching laundry loads, etc.
Dishwasher question: Mine smells gross (fishy) and the dishes coming out smell gross. I've run a vinegar cycle followed by a bleach cycle; i've checked the arms and screens; I've cleaned the gasket around the door seal. Do those dishwasher tablet things actually work? I can't see how they'd be better than running a full cup of bleach in the dishwasher, but I'm kind of desperate at this point.
Dishwasher question: Mine smells gross (fishy) and the dishes coming out smell gross. I've run a vinegar cycle followed by a bleach cycle; i've checked the arms and screens; I've cleaned the gasket around the door seal. Do those dishwasher tablet things actually work? I can't see how they'd be better than running a full cup of bleach in the dishwasher, but I'm kind of desperate at this point.
I use the tablets about twice a month and they do help with the smell. I think they help break down grease (not sure that bleach is good at that). They're cheap, so it can't hurt to try - though not right after you've run bleach through it in case of a chemical reaction. The kind I get go in with a full load and your regular tab, so it feel less wasteful than running an empty cycle.
We have a laundry chute which is awesome. I don't sort clothes I just throw them all in together with color safe detergent. I only do sheets and towels separately and only the large towels. DH separates everything and it takes way more loads than my way. I typically do 2 loads of clothes and a load of towels every week. Sheets are every other week, and then DH does his own thing whatever that might be like whites or work clothes, so we catch up with 2 people doing it.
We fold right out of the dryer onto a table. No more baskets everywhere. I just fold regular, I don't MK, but I will fold them take them upstairs to my room and then roll them in my drawer (still folded) of that makes sense. It's like MK, but since it is rolled it doesn't fall over.
I agree with if it takes 2 minutes just do it now, just do it right away. That plus the Roomba really cut down on my 3 hour Sat morning cleaning sessions.
In terms of groceries, we order through an app and have it delivered- not Instacart because my experience with them was annoying, a different app. Groceries are put in before 8 pm on Sat night and delivered at the time we specify usually Sunday morning. This is really helpful when you go on vacation and come home to no food in the house. They also have unattended delivery.
@@ If you have kids and they are old enough have them bring up their own laundry and put it away. Also no real need to fold kids clothes that they mess up in their drawer anyway, unless your kid is the kind to leave it neat.
Really though, I know how to fold a fitted sheet due to my stint as a hotel maid. I haven't been successful in teaching anyone else how to fold one, though.
I’m trying to purge things we never/rarely use. MH is a big “oh we might need that someday so let’s keep it” or “it’s still good, I hate to get rid of it” guy, ugh. I’ve given away a few things on FB Marketplace for free, but getting people to take stuff for even a few bucks is really difficult.
We have, literally, hundreds of VHS tapes we just cannot find a way to get rid of (aside from home movies which I wouldn’t ever trash) and it’s stressing me out ... and even those, MH is all, “oh we should hang onto some of these classic Disney tapes.” NO, WE SHOULD NOT.
Do you have a local Buy Nothing group on Facebook? People seem to take everything!
Any life hacks for preventing the sheets for bundling up in the dryer? I have dryer balls, and they don’t work.
What about folding the fitted sheet?
You fold a fitted sheet by tucking the pocket ends into each other and the sort of folding it into thirds (watching a YouTube video will show you better than I can describe it). I find it's easiest if you lay the sheet on the floor or bed. But really the key to keeping sheets contained is to fold them into as even and flat of bundles as you can, and then tuck the whole mess into their pillow cases. Then they don't get separated, or slide around on shelves.
I find that sheets will get less bundled up in dryers if you make sure they go into the dryer fully separated, but I don't know of a way to prevent the problem fully.
Post by suburbanzookeeper on Dec 30, 2019 18:08:28 GMT -5
Socks go into XL mesh lingerie bags, one back for each person. No hunting, no lost socks (and no socks stuck in the filter of our washing machine). Same with my fancy underwear and as a bonus, they don't get stuck to anything.
Any life hacks for preventing the sheets for bundling up in the dryer? I have dryer balls, and they don’t work.
What about folding the fitted sheet?
You fold a fitted sheet by tucking the pocket ends into each other and the sort of folding it into thirds (watching a YouTube video will show you better than I can describe it). I find it's easiest if you lay the sheet on the floor or bed. But really the key to keeping sheets contained is to fold them into as even and flat of bundles as you can, and then tuck the whole mess into their pillow cases. Then they don't get separated, or slide around on shelves.
I find that sheets will get less bundled up in dryers if you make sure they go into the dryer fully separated, but I don't know of a way to prevent the problem fully.
I remember reading this trick here before. But I don't want to spend time folding sheets, so I only do half of it - shoving the set of sheets into one of the pillowcases so the set stays together. If a set is going to sit in a closet for a long time and not just the few days before it goes on a bed again, I might fold the sheets first.
I’m trying to purge things we never/rarely use. MH is a big “oh we might need that someday so let’s keep it” or “it’s still good, I hate to get rid of it” guy, ugh. I’ve given away a few things on FB Marketplace for free, but getting people to take stuff for even a few bucks is really difficult.
We have, literally, hundreds of VHS tapes we just cannot find a way to get rid of (aside from home movies which I wouldn’t ever trash) and it’s stressing me out ... and even those, MH is all, “oh we should hang onto some of these classic Disney tapes.” NO, WE SHOULD NOT.
Do you have a local Buy Nothing group on Facebook? People seem to take everything!
I’m on a few local buy/sell/swap boards. I haven’t tried the VHSs yet because they’re in huge boxes in the basement. I did unload a big box of DVDs pretty quickly this way, though, so I should give it a try.