Person Seeks Help: “What Are Your Best House Cleaning Lifehacks?” And 30 Folks Online Deliver

I actually don’t mind housework but I hate doing the dishes and folding laundry.

Don't mind doing the dishes and putting them on the drying rack or into the dishwasher, or sorting and washing the laundry, i hate putting them away. Weird right?

I remove all socks and under wear from the pile and set that aside to fold last. My pile gets much smaller, and when it's time to do those, that pile doesnt seem very big at all.

I try not to mix loads. That way I can deal with clothes before they wrinkle, but the towels may stay in the basket for a day or two. Pull out anything that gets hung up first, then toss socks and underwear in a pile, then fold whatever is left.

Whenever I take laundry out of the dryer, I put the most important thing in the bottom of my basket. It pushes me to fold everything on top in a timely matter to get to it. Usually I'll put on a short video to listen to for a distraction from the overwhelming feeling.

I understand the rational behind this suggestion, but I do it the opposite way. Folding my clothes first means less wrinkles than leaving them in a pile. Then towels get folded (today, tomorrow,..). Underwear is tossed into separate cube organizer bins, so no folding there.

Yep. I have a "Get Sh*t Done" playlist I'll blast. It's 20 minutes and the songs really get me energized and moving.

I opened this thread just so I could suggest this! I generally do 10 minutes during week, then 30 on Saturday. If I miss a day - no biggie. I just get back on track when I can.

Absolutely. This was drilled into me many years ago as a server. God forbid if the manager saw us empty-handed. That lesson has stuck with me all these years.

I do this, but have to be careful not to get distracted from my original intentions. I grab a cup on my way to the living room, bring it to the kitchen, notice stained kitchen towels, bring them to the washing machine, start doing laundry, never make it to the living room 😀.

My inlaws love to mention that after my youngest brother in law moved out, their trash bag changing went from 3-4 times a week to maybe twice lol.

This is a great one ! Hug two people at the same time. Save time. Save energy.

True. Yes, I didn't clean the entire flat, but at least I cleaned the bathroom or vacuumed or cleaned up the kitchen. There's always tomorrow.

Preheat time is when I do dishes. Helps pass the time so I don't complain about having to get back up to put the food in.

This should be a common sense rule in every kitchen.

Yep. My Dad taught us this as kids (he LOVED food) and I still do it. He also taught me 2 things about cooking: If you want to eat well, you must learn to cook well. And - Never trust a skinny chef.

Just be careful if you have a pet. If they have a oupsie on the floor and that thing drives over it 😅

With my luck, it would eat the cat and the Goldfish !

I fully understand this level of motivation. What I can't understand is why we don't do this for ourselves. Don't we deserve the respect we give to others? It's a confounding dilemma that many of us suffer.

I'm not Asian and my family has always been no shoes indoors, it seems crazy to me why you would want to wear shoes in your house, I don't even want to wear pants lol

No shoes inside! Besides the grit and other messes that get on shoes, you run the risk of bringing diseases into your home.

I would LOVE to do this! Unfortunately my feet are terrible and unless I’m wearing shoes my feet and back hurt. I’ve tried inside/outside shoes but I never seem to keep them straight. :(

This is a habit that's difficult to adjust to at first, but it is a habit that will spare your sanity.

Helpful hint. it’s easier to clean if you turn off the fan first.

Good idea if you're confident on a step ladder, otherwise use an extendable wand like in the photo. Cleaning fan blades will benefit those with allergies.

🤔..

Brilliant idea. Putting them in bags ensures that that they can't head off to a parallel universe.

I also put things with metal zips in washing bags, so they don't abrade the other items in the load

I once had to pay for an expensive washing machine repair because a sock had wandered out of the drum and got caught in the heating element at the back (inside the machine, don't ask how that happened), which burned out the heating element. Since then, I've put EVERYTHING boxer shorts or smaller in laundry bags.

Failing this I hang washing with like things, so all the socks, hang in pairs, all the things that ned to be put in the same place, hang together. IT makes putting away so much easier. I also separate everyone's things if I can, so husband's all together, mine all together, child's... it just takes the brain energy zapping time of thinking what goes where and whose socks are whose out of putting it away.

Uhhhh, vacuum EVERY DAY?? No, thank you. 🤣 I'll do some quick dusting with a dust cloth every day, but I'm not gonna vacuum anywhere close to that often

When I had a houseful of cats this was a must-do task, but now that it's just me, I'm not as concerned with the corners and crevices.

I vacuum extensively once a week, then do a "mid week" clean where i vacuum just rooms we use. Works for me. Although I Sweep the kitchen every single day.

When I was growing up, I always wanted a dishwasher. Now I have one, I hum and ha about having to empty it.

And if it starts to leak at 2 A.M. ?

Or you can just put a sign saying "no junk mail please" on your mailbox

Junk mail NEVER gets into my house. I always stand at the recycle bin and toss away!

You don’t have Racoons near you, right ?

Heating a container of plain water in the microwave will remove stuck on particles, but adding citrus does remove the odors. Another trick is to put citrus rinds in the garbage disposal for a fresher smelling sink.