Great housekeeping tips for an easier life!

(25 Posts)
SnoopyLovesYou Wed 26-Jun-13 20:02:00

Do you have any amazing tips to just make life easier?

There was a great thread on here recently with great tips 'the lazy housewife' for easier dinners (salad dinner- no cooking- loved that one) and ways to make doing the washing, dishes etc much easier!

Do you have any handy tips to save us all time? I personally love the slow cooker, think salads and omelettes are wonderful summer dinners ;-), never iron, have my son doing all hoovering...

Anybody know any great time and energy savers?


RedBushedT Wed 26-Jun-13 20:06:46

Buy a dust buster. Children love using it and so you can train them to deal with their own crumb dropping mess as it occurs wink

goonyagoodthing Thu 27-Jun-13 16:14:40

I fecking hate making salads, and am always amazed when people think they are easier than making a dinner! What do you put with them? I make cold boiled eggs, pasta salad, potato salad so I suppose I am putting too much effort into the whole thing.

I never iron either, if you fold the clothes as they are drying they don't need to be ironed.

Set your phone for 5 minutes when you walk into the room you are going to clean. I do far more when I know I am against the clock, otherwise I would be dawdling from one room to another and getting nothing done.

SnoopyLovesYou Thu 27-Jun-13 19:29:19

Oh that's great thanks redbushedT do you know I actually have a DustBuster but don't use it. Great idea!

SnoopyLovesYou Thu 27-Jun-13 19:30:52

Goony well I had made potato salad the previous day so with some tinned mackerel in olive oil, lettuce, tomato, cheese it made a fantastically quick dinner!

SnoopyLovesYou Thu 27-Jun-13 19:31:51

Like the 5 minute idea! Will try that out. Anybody else? Any more tips? Really need these to make life easier!

SnoopyLovesYou Thu 27-Jun-13 19:33:43

Oh another quick salad dinner I love- hummus, salad stuff with some meat.

Or else... Salad with Salami, olives, apple

Or else... Salad w Bacon (or chicken) & avocado


FrantasticO Thu 27-Jun-13 19:33:53

Quick squeegee mop thingy of the kitchen floor means its constantly ok.
Only takes 5 mins from bucket to bed and clean floor in morning.

Perhaps those without dogs and crumb making children could get away with less frequent attacks grin

SnoopyLovesYou Thu 27-Jun-13 19:34:36

Or replace olives above w gherkins, Bayonne ham

wafflingworrier Thu 27-Jun-13 19:58:24

quick dinner- tortellini with pesto (v cheap at aldi) bish bash bosh

best house tip- put 2 bags in your bin to catch possible leakages
use those things in your toilet tht release a bit of bleech each flush

SnoopyLovesYou Fri 28-Jun-13 10:13:08

2 bags in your bin- ingenious!

What are these toilet things? They sound good!

RenterNomad Fri 28-Jun-13 10:35:32

I can't stand the profusion of legs under the kitchen table (4 for the table plus 16 for the 4 chairs) so am replacing our table with one that just has a single central leg, cafe style, and U-legged chairs, to make the constant crumb sweeping and swabbing less onerous.

HoneyStepMummy Fri 28-Jun-13 14:53:48

Apologies in advance if I repeat myself- I have posted quite a few tips in this section- but here goes! smile

- Don't allow shoes in the house. This will save your carpets, and you'll be hoovering, mopping and sweeping a lot less.
- I change the settings on my hoover and hoover my wooden and tiled floor in addition to carpets. Much quicker and easier than sweeping
- Dilute floor cleaner in a spray bottle and spray directly onto floor before mopping. No nasty bucket, and cheaper than swifter pads
- Line cooking pans and oven dishes with tin foil before cooking. Saves you from having to soak and scrub. Use disposable tin foil pans for cooking roasts and chickens. Place it in your regular pan if it's heavy to avoid leaking
-If you're air drying something that's going to be hung in the closet dry it on a hanger. When dry you can stick it straight in the closet, avoiding the whole folding it in the basket and then having to iron it
- Ironing is the work of the Devil. Shirts get sent out to the cleaners to get washed and pressed. With all the money I save by using a Mooncup I can easily justify that!
- Never buy just one toothpaste/shampoo/deodorant. When they go on sale get 2 or 3. I can't stand having to make an extra trip to the shops just because we ran out of toothpaste.
- Put sticky lables inside drawers listing the contents (ie DH's socks, DS' jeans etc). This will make putting clean laundry away much quicker and easier
- Lazy housewife dishwashing: Scrape everything off plates etc and quickly rinse. Pile up in clean sink or washing up bowl. Boil kettle, pour over dishes. Add washing up liquid. Leave for an hour, go off to work or whatever. By the time you get home empty soapy water out, boil another kettle and pour over dishes. Drain on rack- they'll dry really quickly due to hot water.
- Peeled baby carrots are more than just kid's snacks. They're brilliant in cooking when you don't want to peel & chop
- rice cookers are so cheap and a brilliant time saver. I put mine on the counter before leaving for work and put the dry rice in it. Whoever gets home first adds the water and plugs it in. It's turns off once the rice is cooked

mrspaddy Fri 28-Jun-13 15:05:35

I buy the packs of steam veg from Aldi grin
Also do the spray and mop thing - rather than the bucket.. can't get away with this all the time.
Still iron though - hate it.
The toilet things are blues - but there are some that foam up too so clean the toilet.
I often buy the bread mix you add milk to, to save weighing etc. when baking bread
I bought a Chilli vac.. it is nippy and small but great.

RenterNomad Fri 28-Jun-13 15:59:27

Speaking of lining pans, I have just started using greaseproof paper instead of tinfoil. It's a lot easier to get it loose afterwards, and is nice and dry and crackly, not squashy like greasy tinfoil!

cooooodle Sun 30-Jun-13 08:57:19

I need done of those toilet tablet things - what's the best brand?

invicta Sun 30-Jun-13 09:02:24

Everyone has 5 minute jobs that never get done. One time saver I have is to do them through the adverts. I write a list of what's needs to be done (children's school letters, finding things, putting washing up/ironing away etc), and do one job per batch of adverts. It seems to work.

SnoopyLovesYou Sun 30-Jun-13 18:31:03

These are great! I don't wash baking trays / roasting tins. Just scrape and put in my dishwasher. Is that bad?

SnoopyLovesYou Sun 30-Jun-13 18:32:41

Em yes plenty of 5 minute jobs but I don't watch any tv so that wouldn't work!

wafflingworrier Sun 30-Jun-13 20:26:33

toilet duck
releases foamy stuff each flush

use dirty socks to dust then chuck into wash

BoffinMum Sun 30-Jun-13 22:59:54

Clean the bathroom while supervising small children in there.

TonySmith Mon 01-Jul-13 10:32:51

Clean the kitchen sink with hot water after doing washes so that it removes soap residue. Always clean the mirror everyday and also bathroom accessories, you will be amazed seeing the difference. Dust every two days, so that it won't be hectic for you.

RenterNomad Mon 01-Jul-13 10:55:12

Hang duvet over the door in the mornings, so it gets an airing, body side uppermost. This also props open the bedroom door(s) so fresh air circulates, from thewindow you've also opened.

Second set of toothbrushes downstairs. NO-ONE IS ALLOWED TO GO BACK UPSTAIRS in the mornings, especially before school/work.

SnoopyLovesYou Tue 02-Jul-13 12:36:14

What about trying not to be in the house and socialising outside of home too?

Then we can lower our standards hehe!

Chocolatehunter Sat 13-Jul-13 00:37:08

I hate clutter so once or twice every week I take everything out of the living room and kitchen that's not meant to be there. I put it all on the landing and its a really good incentive to take it upstairs and put it away. My next step will involve getting people not to clutter the living room with their discarded shoes/bags/bits of paper, but that's going to take a bit more time.

Also, I find the flash bathroom wipes really useful for mid week bathroom cleaning. The bathroom gets scrubbed weekly but the toilet gets a wipe from these every day or every other day.

Join the discussion

Join the discussion


Register now