Thank you so much! I was wondering why my towels are all kind of cruddy and I hope this helps!
I use regular vinegar and I buy it by the giant bottle at Costco
Yes - I just buy regular white vinegar (no need to pay more for the "cleaning" vinegar I've been seeing lately) by the gallon at the grocery store. It works as a fabric softener, dishwasher rinse aid, window cleaner, and general disinfectant. I keep one gallon in the laundry room and one in the kitchen.
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)
Keep a squeegee in or near the shower and squeegee the walls before you get out
Along with the google docs tips, we have a google shared spreadsheet for medical bills so we can keep track of what has already been paid since I’ll often get multiple Quest and urgent care invoices and was having trouble keeping track of what I already paid.
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.
This isn’t exactly a hack, but this past year, I pretty much gave up folding sheets and putting them away. I strip the bed, wash and dry the sheets and put them back on the beds directly from the dryer. I used to change sheets, put a new set on, and repeat this until I was out of clean sheets and had to wash them all. Which resulted in me folding multiple sets at a time and being annoyed and having wrinkled, crumbly sheets. Now I only have to fold them if I had to change sheets midweek and didn’t have time to wash and replace them same day.
Post by SusanBAnthony on Dec 30, 2019 21:28:45 GMT -5
It really really really helps to have less stuff.
We have a laundry shoot. Everything goes down it and gets washed together. If you have something special, you best keep it out and take care of it yourself.
We divided cleaning jobs and each take care of our part. I do dusting and wiping down, H does bathrooms, robots do the floors.
@@@@ all other cleaning the kids do for $$$. Or not. Whatever.
If members of the household leave their shit lying around i now Chuck it in the bathtub (no one really takes baths, we have a separate shower). This is apparently hilarious to everyone. Now on the weekends I shout "get your crap out of the bathtub or it's getting thrown away!". Done.
We do dishes every night after dinner, and rub the dishwasher every night even if it's not quite full. The morning routine involves unloading. I resisted this for a long time because it's wasteful but it's worth it to be in a consistent routine.
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?
I just put each sheet in separately, shaking them out as I pull them from the dryer so they're big and loose and less likely to tangle with others. Doesn't always work but it works *better* than just pulling them out of the washer and transferring them to the dryer in a clumpy mess.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckTCocBCUN4 I fold and tuck the flat, fitted and pillowcase into the remaining pillowcase, so I only have to pull out the pillowcase and the entire sheet set is ready to put on the bed without having to search for matching sheets and pillow cases (three bedrooms, three different colors and sizes of sheets. lol.)
Or, just use one set of sheets so you don't have to fold them. Straight from washer-dryer-bed, no folding required.
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.
Me too - one of the most useful things I learned at that job!
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.
Thanks; I found these at Target this AM (Finish brand I think).
Post by secretlyevil on Dec 31, 2019 10:23:18 GMT -5
Picking up for a few minutes daily is truly the best thing that has kept my house looking much more tidy. Making the bed every day is a concession I gave in on early in my relationship with H. I made my bed every day before him, now it gets made after the sheets have been changed and once in a blue moon. He gets up after me. Once in a great while I will passive aggressively make only my side with him still sleeping. He will also make the bed once in awhile as a "surprise/treat" for me.
Dust is an absolute never ending battle and with glass tables and white baseboards it shows so badly. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love it if you would share.
@@@@@@ While clearing off surfaces I throw stuff away. I no longer keep papers from school, broken toys I think at some point I’ll fix, and most artwork done at school and home. I also sort mail at the recycling bin and usually only end up bringing into the house a piece or two.
Dust is an absolute never ending battle and with glass tables and white baseboards it shows so badly. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love it if you would share. [/quote] The best solution I have ever found is to vacuum daily. I do a super quick 15 minute vacuum with my stick vacuum of the main use areas every day or every other day. It eliminates 90% of the dusting I used to do and is much easier/faster.
share.memebox.com/x/uKhKaZmemebox referal code for 20% off! DD1 "J" born 3/2003 DD2 "G" born 4/2011 DS is here! "H" born 2/2014 m/c#3 1-13-13 @ 9 weeks m/c#2 11-11-12 @ 5w2d I am an extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering, baby wearing, pro marriage equality, birth control lovin', Catholic mama.
Dust is an absolute never ending battle and with glass tables and white baseboards it shows so badly. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love it if you would share.
The best solution I have ever found is to vacuum daily. I do a super quick 15 minute vacuum with my stick vacuum of the main use areas every day or every other day. It eliminates 90% of the dusting I used to do and is much easier/faster. [/quote]
Similar to this, having a robot vacuum run daily/EOD has been life-changing. Ours broke and it took us several months to replace, and the difference was hugely noticeable. We also have a stick-vac mounted in a convenient central location for quick touch-ups. I realize that these may not be feasible for everyone, but I can’t recommend them enough for people looking to streamline their vacuuming routine.
Dust is an absolute never ending battle and with glass tables and white baseboards it shows so badly. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love it if you would share.
The best solution I have ever found is to vacuum daily. I do a super quick 15 minute vacuum with my stick vacuum of the main use areas every day or every other day. It eliminates 90% of the dusting I used to do and is much easier/faster.
Similar to this, having a robot vacuum run daily/EOD has been life-changing. Ours broke and it took us several months to replace, and the difference was hugely noticeable. We also have a stick-vac mounted in a convenient central location for quick touch-ups. I realize that these may not be feasible for everyone, but I can’t recommend them enough for people looking to streamline their vacuuming routine.[/quote]
I'm getting our ducts cleaned in February. I have a feeling this will help with our dust problem. It is $$$ but needs to be done. It's one of those things I never think of doing because of the cost and how invisible it is, but we did some wall replacement and the dust in the uncovered ducts was astonishing. If it does reduce the dust, I'm going to have it done every 5 years.
We’ve been listing things for sale (or free, depending) on FB Marketplace for a few days to try and clear away the clutter.
MH made $100 within the last 24 hours. I made ... $5. Lol. But at least some stuff is gone! He sold exercise and medical equipment, and I’m selling things like clothing and little household items.
I’m going to buckle down in the next couple of weeks to unload some more, hopefully. Some extra money would be awesome, but if I can just get rid of all the stuff we don’t need I’ll be satisfied.
@@@@@@ While clearing off surfaces I throw stuff away. I no longer keep papers from school, broken toys I think at some point I’ll fix, and most artwork done at school and home. I also sort mail at the recycling bin and usually only end up bringing into the house a piece or two.
@@@ I am ruthless about broken toys and school papers. DH the other day was like, "that can be fixed." Dude. No. They have so much crap. I'm not fixing a plastic car when they have eleventy billion others to play with. And nobody is going to end up fixing it anyway. School papers I actually like go on the fridge for a week or two. Everything else gets tossed immediately.
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.
Thanks; I found these at Target this AM (Finish brand I think).
Have you tried finding a YouTube video on cleaning your specific dishwasher? I did this once in our old house when we were having a similar problem. It was really easy to remove the thing on the bottom that sprays water and that gave me access to the basket and stuff underneath that catches food and stuff. It was GROSS. I fully removed all the pieces, got rid of the food and crap that had been sitting in there for who knows how long, and ran a high heat cleaning cycle with those tabs after I reassembled. It was so much better.
I also cleaned the gunk out of the rubber gaskets on the sides and at the bottom where the door meets the floor of the dishwasher. That stuff was nasty too.
(And lest I sound like a disgusting person who never cleans anything, we had only lived in the house for a few months at that point, so it was all build up from the prior owners.)
Reminder to go through your bathroom cupboards and medicine. I organized our bathroom drawers yesterday, and we had so much stuff (cold medicine, etc.) that was expired.
Thanks; I found these at Target this AM (Finish brand I think).
Have you tried finding a YouTube video on cleaning your specific dishwasher? I did this once in our old house when we were having a similar problem. It was really easy to remove the thing on the bottom that sprays water and that gave me access to the basket and stuff underneath that catches food and stuff. It was GROSS. I fully removed all the pieces, got rid of the food and crap that had been sitting in there for who knows how long, and ran a high heat cleaning cycle with those tabs after I reassembled. It was so much better.
I also cleaned the gunk out of the rubber gaskets on the sides and at the bottom where the door meets the floor of the dishwasher. That stuff was nasty too.
(And lest I sound like a disgusting person who never cleans anything, we had only lived in the house for a few months at that point, so it was all build up from the prior owners.)
This. Also, rinsing/scraping dishes well before loading will help keep food from building up.
Our old dishwasher accumulated gunk and needed cleaning every 2-4 months. It was an icky chore but nothing else kept it from getting smelly. We moved into a new house and I had to get down in the dishwasher drain to fix something, and it was a huge PITA. I cleaned it out and since then we have been meticulous about rinsing dishes.
Side note: My new years resolution was to spend less time dicking around online at work and I'm not off to a good start.
Dust is an absolute never ending battle and with glass tables and white baseboards it shows so badly. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love it if you would share.
I have given up on the glass coffee table. I clean it maybe every other week or when we're having people over, and just accept that it's covered in dog hair the rest of the time.
For the baseboards, I vacuum the whole house thoroughly every weekend and run the crevice attachment along the baseboards. That keeps it clean enough for me.
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.
Yep, this has been such a huge game-changer for me. And as someone else said, just being realistic about how long things take. Emptying the dishwasher feels like it takes 20 minutes, but it actually takes about 3.
I hate having anything loose in cabinets, so I corral everything I can into baskets. Pantry items, medicines, toiletries. It also makes cleaning surfaces much easier. I can wipe down my vanity by moving 2 trays instead of 20 different bottles. I keep disinfectant wipes in various places in the house so I don't have to go to the kitchen if I need to wipe down something in the bathroom or laundry room. I bought a ton of microfiber cloths so I always have one available to do a quick dusting.
Reminder to go through your bathroom cupboards and medicine. I organized our bathroom drawers yesterday, and we had so much stuff (cold medicine, etc.) that was expired.
This was just a debate in my house. Can OTC medicine go in the garbage? Or should it be dropped off in a medicine bin they have at the doctors office? I know stuff like antibiotics aren’t suppose to go in the trash. I think anyways, now I’m not sure where I got that from...
My police station has a bin that I take all meds to.
I put money aside each month for our large annual/ semi-annual bills (life insurance, property tax, etc) so we aren’t scrambling when bill time comes.
On that note, I set a calendar reminder a month out reminding us (me) that the large bill is coming so I can transfer money and make the payment accordingly without running to the county clerks office on the last day.
I stopped buying socks that don’t match each other so I don’t have to spend a lot of time matching up socks. I hang as much as I can to cut down on folding time.
I have things like TP, paper towels, dog food, etc delivered automatically. I get grocery delivery because I don’t have time to grocery shop.
I try to prepare items for lunches on Sunday night into baggies so then the morning of I just grab what I want and go. It’s already packaged.
Reminder to go through your bathroom cupboards and medicine. I organized our bathroom drawers yesterday, and we had so much stuff (cold medicine, etc.) that was expired.
This was just a debate in my house. Can OTC medicine go in the garbage? Or should it be dropped off in a medicine bin they have at the doctors office? I know stuff like antibiotics aren’t suppose to go in the trash. I think anyways, now I’m not sure where I got that from...
I use Siri to set up various lists on my phone. This is especially handy while I’m rushing out the door or in the car (which automatically connects my stereo to my phone and is often when I think of things). Siri, please add bread to the Grocery List. Siri, add change light bulb to the Home Task List. Siri, add call Dr. to the To-Do List, etc. Then when I have a few minutes of downtime, or I’m at the store, I can look at the lists and be productive or make sure I’m not forgetting anything. My workdays are really hectic and there’s often things that can only be done during business hours, so it’s nice to have a reminder if I have some unexpected time to kill.
My other advice is to make sure everyone in your household does their fair share. And it’s ok if they don’t do it to your standard. A basic clean is better than it not happening or you never having time to relax. It allows me to focus on the deep cleaning if regular chores are done by others.
I use Siri to set up various lists on my phone. This is especially handy while I’m rushing out the door or in the car (which automatically connects my stereo to my phone and is often when I think of things). Siri, please add bread to the Grocery List. Siri, add change light bulb to the Home Task List. Siri, add call Dr. to the To-Do List, etc. Then when I have a few minutes of downtime, or I’m at the store, I can look at the lists and be productive or make sure I’m not forgetting anything. My workdays are really hectic and there’s often things that can only be done during business hours, so it’s nice to have a reminder if I have some unexpected time to kill.
I use Siri to set up various lists on my phone. This is especially handy while I’m rushing out the door or in the car (which automatically connects my stereo to my phone and is often when I think of things). Siri, please add bread to the Grocery List. Siri, add change light bulb to the Home Task List. Siri, add call Dr. to the To-Do List, etc. Then when I have a few minutes of downtime, or I’m at the store, I can look at the lists and be productive or make sure I’m not forgetting anything. My workdays are really hectic and there’s often things that can only be done during business hours, so it’s nice to have a reminder if I have some unexpected time to kill.
My other advice is to make sure everyone in your household does their fair share. And it’s ok if they don’t do it to your standard. A basic clean is better than it not happening or you never having time to relax. It allows me to focus on the deep cleaning if regular chores are done by others.
OMG I love this. I had no idea I could set up different lists in Reminders app. I always had 1 running list with a hodge podge of things. Now I can have chores together and I can have a whole birthday list set annually in one place. I am beyond excited to discover this!