Working mothers have been sharing their top household hacks they actually use to keep themselves organised and their homes sparkling clean.
Posting anonymously on Mumsnet, one British mother said her favourite trick involved ‘drying clothes in sunlight’ to remove tomato or sauce stains from clothing, which she said had been a ‘lifesaver’.
The mother said she had previous soaked things ‘for hours’, before they came out with ‘orange marks’ on them.
Another posted: ‘Buy two lunchboxes and water bottles per kid for school. Then one set can go straight in the dishwasher after school, and the other can be prepared for the next day whilst making dinner. Saved me lots of time washing out a lunchbox every night before making the next day’s lunch.’
Other Mumsnet users joined the thread, explaining tips they have learned while parenting.
Mothers have been sharing their top household tips to keep themselves organised and their homes sparkling clean in a thread on Mumsnet (stock image)
CHILDREN
Sharing their tips for shopping and cooking for the family, one wrote: ‘Always have pasta and pesto in the house, plus eggs.’
Another said they kept a note of what their children got for their birthdays, so that when younger children reach the same age, parents can know how much they spent on each child to keep it the same and fair.
While another user advised putting Christmas stockings downstairs, rather in their rooms. They said: ‘Helps stop overexcited 3am starts. Wished I thought of it with the first child.’
Posting anonymously on Mumsnet , the mother, believed to be from the UK, started a thread on Monday, asking others to share one household tip or life hack
They added that if you pass clothes down from the eldest child to their siblings, you can label them with just a surname, providing you don’t have a very commonly occurring surname.
Another tip the same user shared was: ‘If you are going on a long trip with kids, freeze their juice bottle the night before.
‘Lasts longer and stops them drinking a litre in under five minutes and then needing a wee stop!’
AROUND THE HOUSE
One savvy mother advised having a stash of birthday cards, batteries, lightbulbs, stamps, coins, pens, hair elastics and water bottles in stock.
Another tip was to put a penny in the water with your tulips so that they ‘stand up straight’ and don’t wilt.
Meanwhile, another advised filling ice cube trays with milk before you leave so you can have a cup of tea without having to pop to the shops when you get home.
Other tips shared included freezing milk cubes so you can have a cup of tea when you get back from holiday, no matter the time
COOKING
Another user said they save time cooking by prepping veg, salad and breakfasts, which also means there is less mess everyday.
They said: ‘I always prep veg, salad and my breakfasts (fruit and yoghurt) all in Tupperware tubs and stack them by day in the fridge, means less mess every day.
‘I don’t cook veg, just prep it. I lay out the breakfast stuff the night before too. I even get the cup out with tea bag in it ready for the morning.’
Meanwhile, another said to buy chopped onions frozen to avoid ‘watery eyes’.
Another commented: ‘Batch cook as much as possible. You can freeze mash potato also,’ while someone else advised chopping meat and pizza with scissors.
Another user said they save time cooking by prepping veg, salad and breakfasts, which also means there is less mess everyday
CLEANING
Others shared their own tips for keeping their household clean and tidy, including using ‘baking soda mixed with toothpaste’ to scrub permanent marker off laminate flooring and biro off of painted wood.
One person shared: ‘If the house is upside down and needs a good tidy up, focus on one room at a time and put a washing basket (or similar) in the middle of the room to gather up anything that belongs in a different room.
‘Then distribute around the house at the end. It saves a lot of time going back and forth into different rooms, and getting distracted by other jobs (or maybe it’s just me!)’
Another had a different washing basket hack, explaining to give each of your children a different washing basket. They said: ‘Clean with no one else’s wash in it – no sorting whose socks or clothes are whose.’
One said: ‘If your taps are discoloured with limescale rub a 2p coin on the tap… I didn’t believe it – but it works!’
Others shared their own tips for keeping their household clean and tidy, including using ‘baking soda mixed with toothpaste’ to scrub permanent marker off laminate flooring and biro off of painted wood
Another wrote: ‘Wash socks in a mesh net bag – stops any socks getting lost in the wash and makes them a doddle to pair up. The bags are fine in the tumble dryer too.’
A fourth said to soak burnt pots in ‘biological washing up liquid overnight’, adding: ‘For really tough burns pop it on the cooker, bring it to the boil, and simmer on a very low heat for half an hour.
‘It will smell terrible but your pot will look lovely.’
Meanwhile, someone else explained you should deal with paperwork as soon as it enters your home or inbox. They said: ‘Recycle, deal with, shred or file, but do not leave it.’
One disgruntled mother was annoyed that she her almost square duvet gave little indication of which way it was supposed to go in the duvet cover, so ‘in a rage’ one day wrote ‘side’ and ‘end’ on it to save herself time when changing the bedding.
To put the duvet cover on, another said to start with it inside out, explaining: ‘Put your hands inside to the corners and grab the duvet and covers, then shake the cover down to inside out it over the duvet. Done in a fraction of the time!’