Small (and big) domestic victories

[Cloo]

Sad but true, for me a fairly major victory for me was getting into the habit of not leaving washing up undone before bedtime - took me most of maternity leave with my son to get into it, but I did. We do have a dishwasher but still end up with endless washing up.

Now working on the kitchen as a whole - we're currently stuck with a tiny not fit for purpose kitchen and I'm determined to be good at keeping kitchens clean by the time we have a large opening-onto-another-room kitchen.

Small but significant win about a month back when I consolidated all plastic tubs and lids into one underused wall cupboard from an overstuffed floor cabinet. Bigger win after I read (after googling about it specifically) a blog about how the hell people who have tidy kitchens do it - one big tip was 'less stuff on worktop'. In tiny rubbish kitchen we'd ended up with about 25% of scarce worktop covered with jars of spread, bottles of oil, condiments etc. gsv managed to get all of these in tall or wall units (and viewable) and ever since it is about a zillion times easier to give the whole worktop a wipe over because you don't have to move lots of shit. And yes, we have succeeded in putting oils and condiments back in the cupboards. Onwards and upwards!

Any major or minor victories or tips you have to share?

 

[Epona]

Cleared some out of date stuff out of the fridge and freezer yesterday - that's a fairly major kitchen victory for me

 

[Glitter]

When I finally cleaned out my death trap of a microwave.

Seriously, if the HV had ever thought to look in it she'd have probably had the kids taken off me.

 

[EastEnder]

When I finally cleaned out my death trap of a microwave.

Seriously, if the HV had ever thought to look in it she'd have probably had the kids taken off me.

My microwave is way past the point of cleaning... All the crap on the inside is now welded in place, nothing short of an oxyacetylene torch would shift it.

I don't really see it as a problem because any bugs get vaporised every time its in use. That's my excuse at least, and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Cloo]

Cleared some out of date stuff out of the fridge and freezer yesterday - that's a fairly major kitchen victory for me

Regular fridge cleans is another thing to aim for - tidy kitchen types clear out the dead stuff every time they bring a big shop home, and move stuff that needs to be eaten to the front. Not going to go as wild and crazy as to go for that yet, but new kitchen should have a double fridge, which will make seeing stuff much easier.

I'm also trying to remove spills as I go along - I know this will gross some people out, but a lot of the time when something spills it's like 'Oh God, I'll leave until next time I wipe the work top' (ie about a week later ). Using the tip of keeping surface cleaning wipes to hand has helped - I know they're not very environmentally sustainable but it's so much easier to wipe something up when dripping wet cloths don't have to be involved.

 

[maomao]

When I finally cleaned out my death trap of a microwave.

Seriously, if the HV had ever thought to look in it she'd have probably had the kids taken off me.

Microwave gets irradiated every time you use it, don't worry about it. Unless you have ants in there.

 

[Glitter]

My microwave is way past the point of cleaning... All the crap on the inside is now welded in place, nothing short of an oxyacetylene torch would shift it.

I don't really see it as a problem because any bugs get vaporised every time its in use. That's my excuse at least, and I'm sticking to it.

Someone gave me the tip of putting a dish of water with some lemon in for five minutes and the gross would wipe off. Five minutes was not enough. Thirty five was more like it but it worked!)

 

[bi0boy]

To put my house keys somewhere so I can find them easily and actually leave the house when I want to. I now have a special very obvious place where they go. If they're not there they might be on my desk, or in my trouser pocket in the laundry basket but at least the chances of not finding them have been dramatically reduced.

 

[Cloo]

That reminds me that my husband has got way better at keeping his keys in the right place in the last six months. I think having a hook right by the door has been a huge help.