Edit: i just realised how this could be read in two completely opposite ways
Is it still a chore if it’s a pleasure to do?
Hijacking your thread to advocate for my lazy ideology. Disclaimer I have pretty severe ADHD so this might be extreme for most people but for me this makes life liveable.
Forget trying to make things look super tidy and neat like in an IKEA commercial. Make your living space functional, comfortable and easy to maintain. Reduce the amount of physical, mental and emotional effort required to maintain your environment. For example, for laundry:
Don’t iron anything unless you really need/want to. (Job interview, going on a date, appearing in court, etc.)
Anywhere you’re liable to undress, have a basket for dirty clothes. It should be open-topped (no lid!) and mobile, like a laundry basket, so when you need to do a load of laundry, you can pick up and use the whole basket - functioning both as the hamper and the basket. Bedroom and bathroom are the usual places for this! You want the act of tossing dirty clothes in the laundry to be just as easy as tossing it on the floor.
There’s no such thing as odd socks. They’re called mix ‘n’ match socks now. Like Mashems!
No neatly folded clothes or hangers or anything like that, except for very special things such as in point 1 - everything just gets dumped into big drawers based on category. I have little fabric boxes that fit into a kallax to keep this relatively neat looking but super easy.
If something can’t survive going in the washing machine mixed load cycle and the tumble dryer daily load, it is not welcome in my life. (There’s a similar rule about the dishwasher!)
You get the idea. Embrace your laziness, don't bother yourself with half a second what people might think of how you live. This is surprisingly neat and orderly and takes almost no effort to maintain. If you keep finding your basket is misplaced, buy another basket and keep it in two places. Stop fighting the current and go with your flow. Accept who you are, even if you’re a lazy bitch like me!
There’s no such thing as odd socks. They’re called mix ‘n’ match socks now. Like Mashems!
Or just get black socks and don't worry about mixing and matching.
You can do that too, but it’s less fun! I’m just very easily amused, of course, but there’s something joyful about wearing odd socks. Especially if they’re contradictory. Like, I wonder what people think of someone wearing one bright pink sock and one yellow sock. Or one sock that says “Star Wars” on it and another sock that has dinosaurs. I have some Star Wars Han Solo socks where Han Solo looks like John Travolta. That’s not relevant to this, but every time I see those socks, they make me laugh because he looks very funny.
Several years ago, when I was still going into the office, I made a similar decision. I tossed all my old socks and bought like, 12 pairs of argyle socks in a variety of brighter colors and deliberately wore different colors every day. They're the same brand so they all wear the same, just sometimes bright green and orange(or whatever) on each foot. I got a few questions at first, though never negative. People thought they were being helpful letting me know my socks didn't match, but when I told them it was intentional they thought it was a great idea. Now it's expected for me to have mismatched socks and no one notices. Of course, being WFH now, I almost never wear socks anymore. But on the occasion someone notices these days, they don't really care.
Best thing I did was throw all my old socks away and just bought a dozen of the exact same socks. Never have to worry about sorting them or getting annoyed when one inevitably goes AWOL
When Marino wool socks go on sale at Costco, buy 10 of the same pairs.
Preach. This is the biggest thing I try and get everyone to get on board with. More comfy than cotton, stink less and last way longer. I've been using the same 12 pairs for almost 10 years with no holes, though some are starting to look threadbare. Meanwhile my coworker goes through a 10 pack of cotton socks a year.
Every ten years or so I get rid of all my socks and boxers, then buy new ones. All the same brand and at most two types.
I never have to worry about finding a pair that match each other or anything like that.
I’m sorry Sir Kevin did you say ten years? How many do you have that they don’t wear out well before then? This is alarming and/or amazing. We do this too but it’s more like every year or maaaaaybe two if we are stretching it. I’m stuck on ten years, it’s wild, I’m sorry.
Like 30+ pairs. I don't like doing laundry often so I buy in bulk. That has the side effect that no one pair is worn too much. Maybe it's less than ten years, I'm not exactly counting or anything. When things start wearing out or looking funky I buy new.
Also
6. Don't bother making your bed. I don't know why my parents ever ingrained this habit in me, but one day I was like... why am I even doing this? and so I stopped. Of course, I still change my sheets and pillow cases regularly, but I don't see a reason for making my bed every day.
I do it, because it makes a massive difference to me how tidy my bedroom feels and how welcoming the bed looks at the end of the day. I just have a duvet though, so it's 10 seconds of pulling on each corner until it's reasonably even - not going for perfection!
I have a duvet too, I usually don’t make my bed but when I do it’s all about the trick shot - grab a corner of the duvet in each hand and whip it forward fast - like reins or something - and let it fall more or less perfectly on the bed with almost zero effort. Might take a bit of practise to get used to but this is what I’ve been doing for a long time!
Sorry, but I find that really hard to relate. How would that make any difference, practically? At the end of a day, a bed is always welcoming to me - I mean, I don't need an excuse to hit the bed lol, in fact, I need an excuse to get out of bed. On some lazy weekends I may not even bother getting out of bed lol.
For me, I hate getting into a bed where the sheets are all bunched up and the pillows are still smushed from the night before. Making my bed means I have straightened sheets and fluffed pillows waiting for me when I'm ready to turn in, which feels welcoming.
It's just psychologically nicer. It's a bit like it being nicer to get on with work when my desk is tidy (not that I tidy it that often)
It seems that you are lazy on more than just weekends. Not everyone is like that and needs a "practical difference" to do things.
You're not wrong that I'm lazy, but I also do things that actually need to be done. Like, I'm lazy about say, getting my haircut and will put it off, but I'm not lazy about say vacuuming the house, or waking up and getting ready for work - because those things need doing. I just don't see the value in making the bed.
I enjoy having a tidy bed, it makes me feel more relaxed. Also got drilled to it from my parents and in the military, it promotes discipline and you start your day by accomplishing a task (gives a positive mindset).
So, let me get this right, you don’t fold your clothes? Rather you just crumple them up and put them in the drawer?
I never thought of this as a viable solution but I am going to try it out! Folding laundry is my #1 chore left undone. I end up “living out of the basket” and nothing is ever done.
You’re absolutely right. I don’t fold shit. If I need to wear a proper shirt then I’ll iron it when I need it, but usually just wear T-Shirts & polo shirts, so it doesn’t matter.
Yep, just give yourself permission to live out of the basket and put the basket on a shelf. It’s tidier and you don’t feel as bad about it.
I like you. My husband has ADHD and he does the same thing. I fold my own clothes because it's relaxing for me, but no one should feel like they have to.
Thank you, and yes, absolutely, sometimes I go beyond this as well (for example, I’ll decide to pair up some socks) but it’s always an added extra bonus, not an expectation that I’m failing to meet. Psychology matters as much as anything!
But don't your clothes get all wrinkly that way?
I'm a neat freak and I can't imagine living like that lol
In my experience, I don't care about wrinkles. Usually nothing is too wrinkly unless it's been buried for a while. Once I started putting the clothes in the drawers they were significantly less wrinkly.
No, I mostly just wear t shirts and polo shirts and it doesn’t get wrinkly at all. It appears very neat until you open the drawer, and I’m the only one who does that anyways.
When this asklemmy question pops up the next time again, asking What are your saved posts and comments here on lemmy, this one is the one I'm sharing then
You are my brother for life.
Thank you, but beware, as your new brother for life has some crazy hot takes and likes to argue a lot on the internet even though he probably shouldn’t. Lots of sibling responsibility! Although I don’t know which of us is the big brother / little brother.
If you are also an adult, I don't think big/little brother matters any more. I'm also 6'1" & 220 lbs., so I haven't been called "little" in a very long time.
Hit me with your craziest, hottest take - I can handle it!
I always wanted a big brother, though! I quickly checked your profile and saw you mentioned mid 30s, which makes you a little older than me, so I guess wish granted... although I am 6'4" and closer to 250lbs, so I guess we're both big brothers-es. :P
Hit me with your craziest, hottest take - I can handle it!
It's probably against the rules of this community and potentially against the law, so I'll just say that I disagree with a value which Gandhi and Martin Luther King share, and that I agree with some, but not all, of Malcolm X's beliefs.
Laundry: I use "laundry bags", they cost about the same as hampers. I keep them in my bathroom and office (work from home) because I have to start work much earlier than my family so get dressed there in the morning. They are portable, don't look that messy (just a black bag) and easy to tote around when full.
Edit - forgot to mention (of course) that a big bonus for having one of these in my office which is near our kitchen and living area is I throw all the socks people take off and hoodies, dish cloths, etc into it which keeps the dog from stealing them and keeps the main area tidier.
Late to this, but except for folding (or hanging up) clothes, this is my laundry strategy. Don't own an iron. Travel steamer for emergencies, more often used to refresh my hair.
I used to tell my kids to stand in the laundry basket to undress, because they couldn't get the clothes into the basket.
Wash their sheets and pillow cases. Also vacuum. Dust mites are not healthy to have around.
Roomba is a lifesaver.
Agree. I thought they were overrated until we got one. They are like pets that clean. Ours has a cute punny name.
What’s it’s name? I named mine “Mr. Roombastic”
That is fantastic
Paul Roombins
(In honor of Paul Reubens)
Domo arigato, Mr. Roomboto
Ditto. Ours is called Tony, after the character Suckboy Tony from American Dad.
Mine is called Compsognathus. He's my little scavenger and fits with a bunch of my Jurassic Park memorabilia.
Mine is super unreliable, plus what takes him 2 hours, I can get done in 30 minutes.
That's 30 minutes that I don't have to spend vacuuming.
Agreed. Apparently some people have issues with it but ours has been running pretty steadily every morning for the last 1.5 year or so. At some point the charging contacts were a bit dull and it started giving errors but otherwise the maintenance is minimal.
Oh but I can heavily recommend buy extra filters and when doing a bit more thorough clean of the dustbin just vacuum out the filter with another strong vacuum, or slap it on the floor a couple times to really get the dust out. Doing this and the suckpower increases tremendously and it also seems to more efficiently pack the dust in the bin by just having stronger suction, i guess
Robot vacuums are great, but my Roomba is incredibly unreliable. I’m buying Roborock next time.
My robot vacuum gets triggered any time I leave the house. Go out for dinner? Go to work? Grab coffee? Come back to a vacuumed house.
I know it's better than nothing, but the reason I haven't bothered to get one is that the vacuum guy on Reddit made me a solid believer in German bagged vacuums like Sebo. Almost everything else is exhausting dust everywhere it goes.
Exercise their water valves. Crawl under the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink, reach around behind the toilet, find the hot and cold valves behind the washing machine. Especially if you live in a hard water area as I do, in Southern California. I have it on my calendar to do it twice a year. If I don't, the valves will eventually become calcified and ossified and worthless. I say this based on hard experience.
Do you mind ELI5 what exercising valves means? Is it just opening and closing?
Yes
I'm no good with kids, but basically turn the things on and off a few times, to make sure they don't get stuck from mineral build up or something.
If you need to change your faucet, you need to be able to turn the water off and this is what these valves do.
I bought a house last year and had to fix my washing machine immediately. When I went to turn off the water the valves themselves started to leak. I had to turn off the water to the whole house to replace the valves. What would have been a simple, quick, fix ended up as.an entire day's project.
Related tip: if your washer has rubber hoses running from the hookup to the washer, replace them with good quality metal ones. The rubber ones will eventually fail.
It depends what kind of valve they are. There is a kind that you don't need to worry about that for. I don't remember the terminology, I'm hoping someone who knows this stuff better will clarify my comment. The valves with the oval knobs tend to be the troublesome kind, the kind with a straight handle that only turns 90 degrees doesn't need exercise and it's unlikely to fail.
Your comment has been my experience. I've been a homeowner in the same house for 30 years. We did a remodel after we first arrived. Gotta say we were naive about many things, plumbing fixtures included. Most of our pipe valves were (as you described) those oval knob jobbies. They are simple compression fixtures that screw in for many turns until the valve closes. These are terrible, awful and very bad. Mine suffered corrosion and froze in place. We recently went through another remodel, and among other things, had all new valves installed. This time we used 1/4 turn brass valves. A simple 90 degree turn and the valve is closed. Much less susceptible to corrosion/rot, etc. They cost more during installation, but in the long run you save time, money and sanity.
The one possible downside is that you should try to be careful to close them slowly to avoid a water hammer effect.
Going over the counter with a swab and some random household spray soap. I think some people have the great habit to always keep the kitching clean, but we don't, and I've noticed that when you really try to keep it clean it not only looks so much fucking more calm and not like a mind-pulling warzone of stuff to do, but I also noticed less (fruit)flies, which, now that i'm writing it, makes our kitchen sound fucking disgusting.
Check the air pressure in your tires. Seems like nobody does this these days.
Don't most cars do that for you now? Mine does.
Wanted to make a joke about fancy young cars, but apparently automatic tire pressure systems have been around since the 80's, and apparently it's mandatory in the EU since 2014?
Never saw it in a car myself, but the youngest car I ever drove is I think my dad's from 2010 or something.
My 2017 Ute (truck?) doesn't.
My 08 sienna had it kinda. It didn't have sensors in each wheel, instead it guessed based on relative rotation of the tires at speed. This was problematic; lots of false positives but it was easy to reset. It caused undue concern but it did actually work too (true positives).
Sensors are their own headache. They must be taught to the car computer which requires specialized equipment. I swap my summer and winter wheels myself so had to buy the $200 thingy and go through the headache of learning to use its terrible interface. They are also another failure point; one of my sensors died prematurely so I have to take that wheel in to fix it.
If it's now standard that's a good thing. My broke ass still has to check periodically.
Yeah, but this is the system based on the rotations per meters. Which sucks as it's not that accurate and only warns you when it's already very low on air pressure.
The accurate one's are veeeery expensive.
Uh, no. My 2014 Ford Focus (standard trim) senses the tire pressure. I know because one of my wheels had a slow puncture and would always set off the alarm.
Depends on the implementation. Some indeed have it like you described, using some of the sensors used by ABS. others use tiny pressure sensors mounted to the inside bit of the valve of the tyre and those are much more accurate.
They aren’t that expensive either. Each sensor is about €20 and lasts about 7 years on its battery before it has to be replaced. (On ours, battery is integrated, so not replaceable).
If we had bought our car new, it would’ve cost us €15k-20k. Not the most expensive car. :)
You mean it guesses how much pressure is lost based on actual rotations of the tire? So a leaky valve or something will not be found?
Yeah, you "set" it when you filled it. Then it knows the rotations to look for. And if it is off by a lot, it warns you.
I've no idea what you're talking about. I don't set anything, when I add air to the tire the dash monitor reflects it immediately.
Edit: spelling
You guys, I have a hunch that perhaps there are different designs. 🤔
You should still check, as the tpms may only warn you when it gets too low but generally driving even just a couple psi off can have a big effect on fuel economy and tire life.
Clean the microwave and oven. People have some filthy microwaves(mine included).
There's an easy(ish) way to clean one. Put about 1-1.5 cups of water into a microwave safe bowl or glass (I use Pyrex measuring cup) and microwave it for about 10+ minutes. Let the water boil really good and the hot steam will soften all the crap on the inside of the microwave. Get the cup out carefully, wipe the inside with a wet cloth, maybe spray some cleaner if oily and you're done.
You really want to let that water sit still for a bit before you take it out. It could have superheated (meaning a portion under the surface tension has converted to gas) and explode when disturbed.
Oh that's smart. I'm gonna try this on my microwave
Be very careful doing this. The water can become superheated and explode when the surface tension is broken. Honestly, it's probably better to find an alternative way to clean your microwave.
Couldn't you put a little salt or something in it to make sure it has a nucleation point to start boiling
I'm not sure. That sounds like it might work, but I don't have any source to know if it will.
There's nothing special about a microwave that will superheat water. You can superheat water on a stovetop, but nobody ever says not to boil water on a stove.
Clean the touchable surfaces on your devices and device keyboards.
Popping off all the keys on my keyboard, cleaning the base and washing the keys is so cathartic.
Not technically a chore, but a chore preventer: Close the lid before flushing the toilet.
I run an Airbnb hosting in a room on my house for like 3 years and I’m still amazed by how little people actually did it. Even after we sat a signal asking for it just above the flush button. Having feces particles all around your brushes, toothbrushes, towels, etc is an image nobody has but myself it seems.
This was disproved on mysthbusters
The mythbusters I saw proved it true. Odd.
They did a month of measuring a toothbrush for bacteria and found no real change after 30 days of using and flushing
Read a paper on this at some point, and this has become standard practise at home. Notice that visitting friends don't do this, so I thought about looking framing the paper and/or some figures showing those plumes after flushing (can't remember what paper it was but I guess searching pubmed for "toilet flushing" will easily give some appropriate results).
I read it, and the big take away is that if you are out of the room in three seconds, no poop plume gets on you, personally.
J/K that's true but I've always closed the lid anyway, 'cause it's just polite.
Yeah I saw in the discussion that it is also not clear how it behaves with actual geval particles in the water. However I think multiple other studies have looked into spread of bacteria and viruses and showed this is found near a flushed toilet, but one recent review said the signs where there but it's not certain it's super significant for health. (If I remember correctly, i scanned them pretty fast in a coffee fueled random-interest vortex while I actually really wanted to get on with other things).
Oh and I think it can also help with humidy and mold in toilets? Seem to recall my sister did a BSc project on this and actually gathered data in our home. No clue how significant this was tho.
But yeah it's also just polite, good habit to have i.m.o.
Damn Myth Busters!!!
the cat made me start closing the lid, mythbusters kept me going
Blow out the dryer duct.
Clean the lint trap on your dryer.
I know it sounds like something everyone already does, but when I moved into my house I found the lint buildup astronomical. The previous owners had hung a clothesline in there because I'm guessing the dryer didn't work well.
Is it DIY? This sounds like one of the things I'd rather hire a professional for.
Depends how long it’s been. If it’s not too bad, it takes 5 minutes if you have a leaf blower.
Wow. Nasty!
We had ours professionally done less than a year ago and I'm pretty sure it was expensive, so maybe I'll look into DIY next time.
Change your air filters regularly
and don't forget those extra air handler things like if you have a HRV. i swear the previous owners of mine never cleaned it and the OEM filters basically disintegrated when i did it the first time after moving in. luckily all i had to do to replace them was cutting down to size those cheap-o washable filters from the hardware store, good enough to keep the large chunks out.
Even if they don’t carry the proper size at the hardware store, you can usually ask them to order one or find the correct size online for order. Often, they’re even cheaper online!
Death to America
As someone with a German shepherd, vacuum the carpets. You can never get that pet hair out enough, and just when you think you're done there's more!
I can feel it pleasing my sinuses every time I vacuum
I often think that anyone who has ever had to remove carpet would never choose carpet as a floor covering. Vacuuming just isn't really that effective. You always end up with heaps of this really fine "dust" (pet dander? dead skin?), it's just gross. Hard floors are the only way.
I agree! Can't wait to be able to have hardwood floors and put down a rug or two. But all this is so expensive so I'll take the gross off white carpet for now
Flush your water heater once a year.
I know that I'm guilty of not doing this regularly, my dad, a former pipeftter and practically a living parody of the responsible homeowner dad who drove us all crazy with preventative maintenance routines doesn't even do it regularly.
But it's really not hard, I'm not going to write a guide here because if you just punch "how to flush a water heater" into your search engine of choice you'll get plenty of good results.
It'll improve the lifespan and efficiency of your water heater and decrease how much sediment and such you have in your hot water.
Also when you get a new water heater, replace the shitty plastic valve they all seem to ship with these days with a proper brass valve, it's like a $10 part from home Depot and takes about a minute to swap them out. They probably use them because they know no one actually flushes their water heater anyway, but if you're one of the few of us who do, you know how sketchy the plastic ones are, if you touch them more than about 2 or 3 times you feel like you're going to break them.
How truly necessary it is will depend a lot on the quality of your water, if you have good, clean, soft water, it may not make a noticeable difference, if you have harder, dirtier water it might buy you a couple extra years with your water heater, and if your water quality is especially bad you may want to do it a couple of times a year. It takes a little bit for the tank to drain, fill back up and get to temperature, but it's less than 10 minutes of actual hands-on work, and you can go do whatever the hell you want in the meantime as long as it doesn't involve hot water.
You should also check and may need to replace the anode rod every few years, that can also increase the lifespan of your water heater. You're probably going to need a beefy impact wrench though, they often really don't like to come free.
I bought a house that was used as an office before getting remodeled and sold to to me. When I drained the hot water tank brown slime came out, it looked like a ribbon of brown mushroom. Gotta assume this was bacteria byproduct built up while the tank ran at low heat and saw little water use. I added bleach to sanitize while refilling it and drained.
This is probably something I should do ... the hot water tank predates my water softener. Truth be told though, I'll probably go tankless when it dies... my parents have one, it's such a nice small thing, particularly if your usage varies and your power is reliable.
Yeah, if it makes sense for your situation absolutely go tankless if you can, for a lot of situations they're going to be more efficient and save you money in the long run even though they're more expensiveup front
I believe it's still recommended that you flush a tankless unit once in a while, I don't have any firsthand experience with them though, so of course do your research , read the manuals, etc.
I don't know how you could flush a tankless, they're basically constantly flushing. It's pretty much just a pipe that runs around some kind of very hot heating element. There's nowhere to build up any sentiment. But still, quite a ways off any replacement.
As I understand it, and again I have no firsthand hands-on experience with them myself, this is just secondhand knowledge I've picked up doing my research over the years for when I eventually need to replace my current heater, ideally tankless heaters should be installed with isolation valves, you'd close off those valves, hook a pump up to them, and pump some vinegar through the heater for a while to dissolve any calcium and such that's built up. It's probably technically more of a cleaning/descaling cycle than what we traditionally think of as flushing, but it kind of serves the same intended purpose and some people are terrified of change so old terms tend to stick around.
There's no tank for sediment to collect in, but there is a bunch of tubing coiling around a heat exchanger and all those coils and bends are potential places for stuff to collect and build up in.
It certainly feels less necessary to me since like you said it's pretty much constantly flushing itself every time you run hot water, and things like your water quality, water pressure, and how often/long you tend to run your hot water for probably come into play somehow. I'd bet that like with flushing a traditional water heater a lot of, maybe most people can probably get away with not doing it and never have any major issues, but if you can remember to do it occasionally it's cheap insurance it's cheap insurance to prolong the life of the heater and make sure it's running as efficiently as possible.
I'm pretty sure I've also seen some tankless heaters installed without isolation valves, so it may be something thats not necessary for some models or in all cases, but in those cases if you do find yourself in a position where you need to flush it, that would of course make the operation somewhat more complicated.
So again in general do your research, read the manual, see what the manufacturer recommends, etc.
Gotcha, makes sense. I bet that's mostly relevant for people without water softeners or people on very hard water (e.g. well water).
Thanks for the detailed write up though!
Clean under/behind appliances.
Ugh even that big ass fridge and stove?
Especially the fridge, mine was so clogged with dust under it I think improved it's efficiency by 50% in 2 minutes with the vacuum cleaner
Yes, power drills can clean bathtubs and toilets. Just use different brushes.
Instructions unclear. Used forstner bits. Bathtub now has extra drainage.
Drill brush!
Checking on your neighbors.
I think that's a really good point. Of course it's easier said than done, and any particular neighborhood environment could make it difficult to accomplish.
I live in suburban Southern California. Our neighborhood is near the beach, about 150 years old. We have condo boxes, old post-WWII flats, ranch style houses, apartments, AirBnBs. I'm retired, loquacious, and I keep an eye out. I've met most of my neighbors, know them by name, and I try to stay out of their hair. I even say hello to the AirBnB peeps. We have an older lady next door, kind of a shut in. Never saw her outside. One day I left a note in her mailbox, introducing myself and my wife. Told her we were always around, and if she needed a hand once in a while (as we all do), we'd be able to help. She got back to me and was very grateful and happy I dropped the note. You never know, you might make someone's day or even save their life.
Cleaning out the billionaires from behind the curtains
If they are behind my curtains I should be charging them rent.
Don't know for other people but I should definitely clean my windows more often. I think I'll do that today.
Clean the shower drain. You can also get little nets for catching hair under the grate, at least for the ones usually found in my country. It's surprising how much hair ends up there.
It's also a good idea to pour a bit of something like green goblin down the drains once a month or so. I find it helps to prevent the otherwise inevitable buildup from soap scum and whatever fats n junk that make it down there.
Also, always wipe greasy kitchen stuff with a napkin or paper towel and toss it in the trash. Soap pans n things to make sure fatty water isn't going down. Cleaning out the kitchen pipes after year's of neglect sucks!
Basically all of them, ugh.
not relevant to every household, but regularly clean/rinse the effluent filter on your septic system (i do mine at least 2x a year)... and realize you may have more than one. it ain't a pretty job, but you're going to save yourself from a massive repair bill and/or damage from a backup by spending the 15 minutes to git er done.
Dusting, apparently
Sharpen your knives. Replace your furnace filter. Clean your gutters.
Plot the downfall of the bourgeoisie.
Cooking and serving the rich
Edit: i just realised how this could be read in two completely opposite ways
Is it still a chore if it’s a pleasure to do?
Hijacking your thread to advocate for my lazy ideology. Disclaimer I have pretty severe ADHD so this might be extreme for most people but for me this makes life liveable.
Forget trying to make things look super tidy and neat like in an IKEA commercial. Make your living space functional, comfortable and easy to maintain. Reduce the amount of physical, mental and emotional effort required to maintain your environment. For example, for laundry:
You get the idea. Embrace your laziness, don't bother yourself with half a second what people might think of how you live. This is surprisingly neat and orderly and takes almost no effort to maintain. If you keep finding your basket is misplaced, buy another basket and keep it in two places. Stop fighting the current and go with your flow. Accept who you are, even if you’re a lazy bitch like me!
Or just get black socks and don't worry about mixing and matching.
You can do that too, but it’s less fun! I’m just very easily amused, of course, but there’s something joyful about wearing odd socks. Especially if they’re contradictory. Like, I wonder what people think of someone wearing one bright pink sock and one yellow sock. Or one sock that says “Star Wars” on it and another sock that has dinosaurs. I have some Star Wars Han Solo socks where Han Solo looks like John Travolta. That’s not relevant to this, but every time I see those socks, they make me laugh because he looks very funny.
Several years ago, when I was still going into the office, I made a similar decision. I tossed all my old socks and bought like, 12 pairs of argyle socks in a variety of brighter colors and deliberately wore different colors every day. They're the same brand so they all wear the same, just sometimes bright green and orange(or whatever) on each foot. I got a few questions at first, though never negative. People thought they were being helpful letting me know my socks didn't match, but when I told them it was intentional they thought it was a great idea. Now it's expected for me to have mismatched socks and no one notices. Of course, being WFH now, I almost never wear socks anymore. But on the occasion someone notices these days, they don't really care.
Best thing I did was throw all my old socks away and just bought a dozen of the exact same socks. Never have to worry about sorting them or getting annoyed when one inevitably goes AWOL
When Marino wool socks go on sale at Costco, buy 10 of the same pairs.
Preach. This is the biggest thing I try and get everyone to get on board with. More comfy than cotton, stink less and last way longer. I've been using the same 12 pairs for almost 10 years with no holes, though some are starting to look threadbare. Meanwhile my coworker goes through a 10 pack of cotton socks a year.
Every ten years or so I get rid of all my socks and boxers, then buy new ones. All the same brand and at most two types. I never have to worry about finding a pair that match each other or anything like that.
I’m sorry Sir Kevin did you say ten years? How many do you have that they don’t wear out well before then? This is alarming and/or amazing. We do this too but it’s more like every year or maaaaaybe two if we are stretching it. I’m stuck on ten years, it’s wild, I’m sorry.
Like 30+ pairs. I don't like doing laundry often so I buy in bulk. That has the side effect that no one pair is worn too much. Maybe it's less than ten years, I'm not exactly counting or anything. When things start wearing out or looking funky I buy new.
Also
6. Don't bother making your bed. I don't know why my parents ever ingrained this habit in me, but one day I was like... why am I even doing this? and so I stopped. Of course, I still change my sheets and pillow cases regularly, but I don't see a reason for making my bed every day.
I do it, because it makes a massive difference to me how tidy my bedroom feels and how welcoming the bed looks at the end of the day. I just have a duvet though, so it's 10 seconds of pulling on each corner until it's reasonably even - not going for perfection!
I have a duvet too, I usually don’t make my bed but when I do it’s all about the trick shot - grab a corner of the duvet in each hand and whip it forward fast - like reins or something - and let it fall more or less perfectly on the bed with almost zero effort. Might take a bit of practise to get used to but this is what I’ve been doing for a long time!
Sorry, but I find that really hard to relate. How would that make any difference, practically? At the end of a day, a bed is always welcoming to me - I mean, I don't need an excuse to hit the bed lol, in fact, I need an excuse to get out of bed. On some lazy weekends I may not even bother getting out of bed lol.
For me, I hate getting into a bed where the sheets are all bunched up and the pillows are still smushed from the night before. Making my bed means I have straightened sheets and fluffed pillows waiting for me when I'm ready to turn in, which feels welcoming.
It's just psychologically nicer. It's a bit like it being nicer to get on with work when my desk is tidy (not that I tidy it that often)
It seems that you are lazy on more than just weekends. Not everyone is like that and needs a "practical difference" to do things.
You're not wrong that I'm lazy, but I also do things that actually need to be done. Like, I'm lazy about say, getting my haircut and will put it off, but I'm not lazy about say vacuuming the house, or waking up and getting ready for work - because those things need doing. I just don't see the value in making the bed.
I enjoy having a tidy bed, it makes me feel more relaxed. Also got drilled to it from my parents and in the military, it promotes discipline and you start your day by accomplishing a task (gives a positive mindset).
So, let me get this right, you don’t fold your clothes? Rather you just crumple them up and put them in the drawer?
I never thought of this as a viable solution but I am going to try it out! Folding laundry is my #1 chore left undone. I end up “living out of the basket” and nothing is ever done.
You’re absolutely right. I don’t fold shit. If I need to wear a proper shirt then I’ll iron it when I need it, but usually just wear T-Shirts & polo shirts, so it doesn’t matter.
Yep, just give yourself permission to live out of the basket and put the basket on a shelf. It’s tidier and you don’t feel as bad about it.
I like you. My husband has ADHD and he does the same thing. I fold my own clothes because it's relaxing for me, but no one should feel like they have to.
Thank you, and yes, absolutely, sometimes I go beyond this as well (for example, I’ll decide to pair up some socks) but it’s always an added extra bonus, not an expectation that I’m failing to meet. Psychology matters as much as anything!
But don't your clothes get all wrinkly that way? I'm a neat freak and I can't imagine living like that lol
In my experience, I don't care about wrinkles. Usually nothing is too wrinkly unless it's been buried for a while. Once I started putting the clothes in the drawers they were significantly less wrinkly.
No, I mostly just wear t shirts and polo shirts and it doesn’t get wrinkly at all. It appears very neat until you open the drawer, and I’m the only one who does that anyways.
When this asklemmy question pops up the next time again, asking
What are your saved posts and comments here on lemmy, this one is the one I'm sharing thenYou are my brother for life.
Thank you, but beware, as your new brother for life has some crazy hot takes and likes to argue a lot on the internet even though he probably shouldn’t. Lots of sibling responsibility! Although I don’t know which of us is the big brother / little brother.
If you are also an adult, I don't think big/little brother matters any more. I'm also 6'1" & 220 lbs., so I haven't been called "little" in a very long time.
Hit me with your craziest, hottest take - I can handle it!
I always wanted a big brother, though! I quickly checked your profile and saw you mentioned mid 30s, which makes you a little older than me, so I guess wish granted... although I am 6'4" and closer to 250lbs, so I guess we're both big brothers-es. :P
It's probably against the rules of this community and potentially against the law, so I'll just say that I disagree with a value which Gandhi and Martin Luther King share, and that I agree with some, but not all, of Malcolm X's beliefs.
Laundry: I use "laundry bags", they cost about the same as hampers. I keep them in my bathroom and office (work from home) because I have to start work much earlier than my family so get dressed there in the morning. They are portable, don't look that messy (just a black bag) and easy to tote around when full.
Edit - forgot to mention (of course) that a big bonus for having one of these in my office which is near our kitchen and living area is I throw all the socks people take off and hoodies, dish cloths, etc into it which keeps the dog from stealing them and keeps the main area tidier.
Late to this, but except for folding (or hanging up) clothes, this is my laundry strategy. Don't own an iron. Travel steamer for emergencies, more often used to refresh my hair.
I used to tell my kids to stand in the laundry basket to undress, because they couldn't get the clothes into the basket.
Wash their sheets and pillow cases. Also vacuum. Dust mites are not healthy to have around.
Roomba is a lifesaver.
Agree. I thought they were overrated until we got one. They are like pets that clean. Ours has a cute punny name.
What’s it’s name? I named mine “Mr. Roombastic”
That is fantastic
Paul Roombins
(In honor of Paul Reubens)
Domo arigato, Mr. Roomboto
Ditto. Ours is called Tony, after the character Suckboy Tony from American Dad.
Mine is called Compsognathus. He's my little scavenger and fits with a bunch of my Jurassic Park memorabilia.
Mine is super unreliable, plus what takes him 2 hours, I can get done in 30 minutes.
That's 30 minutes that I don't have to spend vacuuming.
Agreed. Apparently some people have issues with it but ours has been running pretty steadily every morning for the last 1.5 year or so. At some point the charging contacts were a bit dull and it started giving errors but otherwise the maintenance is minimal.
Oh but I can heavily recommend buy extra filters and when doing a bit more thorough clean of the dustbin just vacuum out the filter with another strong vacuum, or slap it on the floor a couple times to really get the dust out. Doing this and the suckpower increases tremendously and it also seems to more efficiently pack the dust in the bin by just having stronger suction, i guess
Robot vacuums are great, but my Roomba is incredibly unreliable. I’m buying Roborock next time.
My robot vacuum gets triggered any time I leave the house. Go out for dinner? Go to work? Grab coffee? Come back to a vacuumed house.
I know it's better than nothing, but the reason I haven't bothered to get one is that the vacuum guy on Reddit made me a solid believer in German bagged vacuums like Sebo. Almost everything else is exhausting dust everywhere it goes.
Exercise their water valves. Crawl under the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink, reach around behind the toilet, find the hot and cold valves behind the washing machine. Especially if you live in a hard water area as I do, in Southern California. I have it on my calendar to do it twice a year. If I don't, the valves will eventually become calcified and ossified and worthless. I say this based on hard experience.
Do you mind ELI5 what exercising valves means? Is it just opening and closing?
Yes
I'm no good with kids, but basically turn the things on and off a few times, to make sure they don't get stuck from mineral build up or something. If you need to change your faucet, you need to be able to turn the water off and this is what these valves do.
I bought a house last year and had to fix my washing machine immediately. When I went to turn off the water the valves themselves started to leak. I had to turn off the water to the whole house to replace the valves. What would have been a simple, quick, fix ended up as.an entire day's project.
Related tip: if your washer has rubber hoses running from the hookup to the washer, replace them with good quality metal ones. The rubber ones will eventually fail.
It depends what kind of valve they are. There is a kind that you don't need to worry about that for. I don't remember the terminology, I'm hoping someone who knows this stuff better will clarify my comment. The valves with the oval knobs tend to be the troublesome kind, the kind with a straight handle that only turns 90 degrees doesn't need exercise and it's unlikely to fail.
Your comment has been my experience. I've been a homeowner in the same house for 30 years. We did a remodel after we first arrived. Gotta say we were naive about many things, plumbing fixtures included. Most of our pipe valves were (as you described) those oval knob jobbies. They are simple compression fixtures that screw in for many turns until the valve closes. These are terrible, awful and very bad. Mine suffered corrosion and froze in place. We recently went through another remodel, and among other things, had all new valves installed. This time we used 1/4 turn brass valves. A simple 90 degree turn and the valve is closed. Much less susceptible to corrosion/rot, etc. They cost more during installation, but in the long run you save time, money and sanity.
The one possible downside is that you should try to be careful to close them slowly to avoid a water hammer effect.
Wash the sheets
Clean the filter in your dishwasher once every month or two, depending on how often you use it.
I clean ours every 1-2 weeks
Going over the counter with a swab and some random household spray soap. I think some people have the great habit to always keep the kitching clean, but we don't, and I've noticed that when you really try to keep it clean it not only looks so much fucking more calm and not like a mind-pulling warzone of stuff to do, but I also noticed less (fruit)flies, which, now that i'm writing it, makes our kitchen sound fucking disgusting.
Check the air pressure in your tires. Seems like nobody does this these days.
Don't most cars do that for you now? Mine does.
Wanted to make a joke about fancy young cars, but apparently automatic tire pressure systems have been around since the 80's, and apparently it's mandatory in the EU since 2014?
Never saw it in a car myself, but the youngest car I ever drove is I think my dad's from 2010 or something.
My 2017 Ute (truck?) doesn't.
My 08 sienna had it kinda. It didn't have sensors in each wheel, instead it guessed based on relative rotation of the tires at speed. This was problematic; lots of false positives but it was easy to reset. It caused undue concern but it did actually work too (true positives).
Sensors are their own headache. They must be taught to the car computer which requires specialized equipment. I swap my summer and winter wheels myself so had to buy the $200 thingy and go through the headache of learning to use its terrible interface. They are also another failure point; one of my sensors died prematurely so I have to take that wheel in to fix it.
If it's now standard that's a good thing. My broke ass still has to check periodically.
Yeah, but this is the system based on the rotations per meters. Which sucks as it's not that accurate and only warns you when it's already very low on air pressure.
The accurate one's are veeeery expensive.
Uh, no. My 2014 Ford Focus (standard trim) senses the tire pressure. I know because one of my wheels had a slow puncture and would always set off the alarm.
Depends on the implementation. Some indeed have it like you described, using some of the sensors used by ABS. others use tiny pressure sensors mounted to the inside bit of the valve of the tyre and those are much more accurate. They aren’t that expensive either. Each sensor is about €20 and lasts about 7 years on its battery before it has to be replaced. (On ours, battery is integrated, so not replaceable). If we had bought our car new, it would’ve cost us €15k-20k. Not the most expensive car. :)
You mean it guesses how much pressure is lost based on actual rotations of the tire? So a leaky valve or something will not be found?
Yeah, you "set" it when you filled it. Then it knows the rotations to look for. And if it is off by a lot, it warns you.
I've no idea what you're talking about. I don't set anything, when I add air to the tire the dash monitor reflects it immediately.
Edit: spelling
You guys, I have a hunch that perhaps there are different designs. 🤔
You should still check, as the tpms may only warn you when it gets too low but generally driving even just a couple psi off can have a big effect on fuel economy and tire life.
My car has an alarm if they drop 0.1 psi
Clean the microwave and oven. People have some filthy microwaves(mine included).
There's an easy(ish) way to clean one. Put about 1-1.5 cups of water into a microwave safe bowl or glass (I use Pyrex measuring cup) and microwave it for about 10+ minutes. Let the water boil really good and the hot steam will soften all the crap on the inside of the microwave. Get the cup out carefully, wipe the inside with a wet cloth, maybe spray some cleaner if oily and you're done.
You really want to let that water sit still for a bit before you take it out. It could have superheated (meaning a portion under the surface tension has converted to gas) and explode when disturbed.
Oh that's smart. I'm gonna try this on my microwave
Be very careful doing this. The water can become superheated and explode when the surface tension is broken. Honestly, it's probably better to find an alternative way to clean your microwave.
Couldn't you put a little salt or something in it to make sure it has a nucleation point to start boiling
I'm not sure. That sounds like it might work, but I don't have any source to know if it will.
Ok now I want to do it more
There's nothing special about a microwave that will superheat water. You can superheat water on a stovetop, but nobody ever says not to boil water on a stove.
Clean the touchable surfaces on your devices and device keyboards.
Popping off all the keys on my keyboard, cleaning the base and washing the keys is so cathartic.
Not technically a chore, but a chore preventer: Close the lid before flushing the toilet.
I run an Airbnb hosting in a room on my house for like 3 years and I’m still amazed by how little people actually did it. Even after we sat a signal asking for it just above the flush button. Having feces particles all around your brushes, toothbrushes, towels, etc is an image nobody has but myself it seems.
This was disproved on mysthbusters
The mythbusters I saw proved it true. Odd.
They did a month of measuring a toothbrush for bacteria and found no real change after 30 days of using and flushing
Read a paper on this at some point, and this has become standard practise at home. Notice that visitting friends don't do this, so I thought about looking framing the paper and/or some figures showing those plumes after flushing (can't remember what paper it was but I guess searching pubmed for "toilet flushing" will easily give some appropriate results).
edit: OK "toilet flushing plume" did the trick and showed this marvel (see figure 2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9732293/
I read it, and the big take away is that if you are out of the room in three seconds, no poop plume gets on you, personally.
J/K that's true but I've always closed the lid anyway, 'cause it's just polite.
Yeah I saw in the discussion that it is also not clear how it behaves with actual geval particles in the water. However I think multiple other studies have looked into spread of bacteria and viruses and showed this is found near a flushed toilet, but one recent review said the signs where there but it's not certain it's super significant for health. (If I remember correctly, i scanned them pretty fast in a coffee fueled random-interest vortex while I actually really wanted to get on with other things).
Oh and I think it can also help with humidy and mold in toilets? Seem to recall my sister did a BSc project on this and actually gathered data in our home. No clue how significant this was tho.
But yeah it's also just polite, good habit to have i.m.o.
Damn Myth Busters!!!
the cat made me start closing the lid, mythbusters kept me going
Blow out the dryer duct.
Clean the lint trap on your dryer.
I know it sounds like something everyone already does, but when I moved into my house I found the lint buildup astronomical. The previous owners had hung a clothesline in there because I'm guessing the dryer didn't work well.
Is it DIY? This sounds like one of the things I'd rather hire a professional for.
Depends how long it’s been. If it’s not too bad, it takes 5 minutes if you have a leaf blower.
But if it’s been 20 years… https://youtu.be/-ukqhzvljvI?si=Bso65IJtZhlRKvbJ
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://youtu.be/-ukqhzvljvI?si=Bso65IJtZhlRKvbJ
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Wow. Nasty! We had ours professionally done less than a year ago and I'm pretty sure it was expensive, so maybe I'll look into DIY next time.
Change your air filters regularly
and don't forget those extra air handler things like if you have a HRV. i swear the previous owners of mine never cleaned it and the OEM filters basically disintegrated when i did it the first time after moving in. luckily all i had to do to replace them was cutting down to size those cheap-o washable filters from the hardware store, good enough to keep the large chunks out.
Even if they don’t carry the proper size at the hardware store, you can usually ask them to order one or find the correct size online for order. Often, they’re even cheaper online!
Death to America
As someone with a German shepherd, vacuum the carpets. You can never get that pet hair out enough, and just when you think you're done there's more! I can feel it pleasing my sinuses every time I vacuum
I often think that anyone who has ever had to remove carpet would never choose carpet as a floor covering. Vacuuming just isn't really that effective. You always end up with heaps of this really fine "dust" (pet dander? dead skin?), it's just gross. Hard floors are the only way.
I agree! Can't wait to be able to have hardwood floors and put down a rug or two. But all this is so expensive so I'll take the gross off white carpet for now
Flush your water heater once a year.
I know that I'm guilty of not doing this regularly, my dad, a former pipeftter and practically a living parody of the responsible homeowner dad who drove us all crazy with preventative maintenance routines doesn't even do it regularly.
But it's really not hard, I'm not going to write a guide here because if you just punch "how to flush a water heater" into your search engine of choice you'll get plenty of good results.
It'll improve the lifespan and efficiency of your water heater and decrease how much sediment and such you have in your hot water.
Also when you get a new water heater, replace the shitty plastic valve they all seem to ship with these days with a proper brass valve, it's like a $10 part from home Depot and takes about a minute to swap them out. They probably use them because they know no one actually flushes their water heater anyway, but if you're one of the few of us who do, you know how sketchy the plastic ones are, if you touch them more than about 2 or 3 times you feel like you're going to break them.
How truly necessary it is will depend a lot on the quality of your water, if you have good, clean, soft water, it may not make a noticeable difference, if you have harder, dirtier water it might buy you a couple extra years with your water heater, and if your water quality is especially bad you may want to do it a couple of times a year. It takes a little bit for the tank to drain, fill back up and get to temperature, but it's less than 10 minutes of actual hands-on work, and you can go do whatever the hell you want in the meantime as long as it doesn't involve hot water.
You should also check and may need to replace the anode rod every few years, that can also increase the lifespan of your water heater. You're probably going to need a beefy impact wrench though, they often really don't like to come free.
I bought a house that was used as an office before getting remodeled and sold to to me. When I drained the hot water tank brown slime came out, it looked like a ribbon of brown mushroom. Gotta assume this was bacteria byproduct built up while the tank ran at low heat and saw little water use. I added bleach to sanitize while refilling it and drained.
This is probably something I should do ... the hot water tank predates my water softener. Truth be told though, I'll probably go tankless when it dies... my parents have one, it's such a nice small thing, particularly if your usage varies and your power is reliable.
Yeah, if it makes sense for your situation absolutely go tankless if you can, for a lot of situations they're going to be more efficient and save you money in the long run even though they're more expensiveup front
I believe it's still recommended that you flush a tankless unit once in a while, I don't have any firsthand experience with them though, so of course do your research , read the manuals, etc.
I don't know how you could flush a tankless, they're basically constantly flushing. It's pretty much just a pipe that runs around some kind of very hot heating element. There's nowhere to build up any sentiment. But still, quite a ways off any replacement.
As I understand it, and again I have no firsthand hands-on experience with them myself, this is just secondhand knowledge I've picked up doing my research over the years for when I eventually need to replace my current heater, ideally tankless heaters should be installed with isolation valves, you'd close off those valves, hook a pump up to them, and pump some vinegar through the heater for a while to dissolve any calcium and such that's built up. It's probably technically more of a cleaning/descaling cycle than what we traditionally think of as flushing, but it kind of serves the same intended purpose and some people are terrified of change so old terms tend to stick around.
There's no tank for sediment to collect in, but there is a bunch of tubing coiling around a heat exchanger and all those coils and bends are potential places for stuff to collect and build up in.
It certainly feels less necessary to me since like you said it's pretty much constantly flushing itself every time you run hot water, and things like your water quality, water pressure, and how often/long you tend to run your hot water for probably come into play somehow. I'd bet that like with flushing a traditional water heater a lot of, maybe most people can probably get away with not doing it and never have any major issues, but if you can remember to do it occasionally it's cheap insurance it's cheap insurance to prolong the life of the heater and make sure it's running as efficiently as possible.
I'm pretty sure I've also seen some tankless heaters installed without isolation valves, so it may be something thats not necessary for some models or in all cases, but in those cases if you do find yourself in a position where you need to flush it, that would of course make the operation somewhat more complicated.
So again in general do your research, read the manual, see what the manufacturer recommends, etc.
Gotcha, makes sense. I bet that's mostly relevant for people without water softeners or people on very hard water (e.g. well water).
Thanks for the detailed write up though!
Clean under/behind appliances.
Ugh even that big ass fridge and stove?
Especially the fridge, mine was so clogged with dust under it I think improved it's efficiency by 50% in 2 minutes with the vacuum cleaner
Yes, power drills can clean bathtubs and toilets. Just use different brushes.
Instructions unclear. Used forstner bits. Bathtub now has extra drainage.
Drill brush!
Checking on your neighbors.
I think that's a really good point. Of course it's easier said than done, and any particular neighborhood environment could make it difficult to accomplish. I live in suburban Southern California. Our neighborhood is near the beach, about 150 years old. We have condo boxes, old post-WWII flats, ranch style houses, apartments, AirBnBs. I'm retired, loquacious, and I keep an eye out. I've met most of my neighbors, know them by name, and I try to stay out of their hair. I even say hello to the AirBnB peeps. We have an older lady next door, kind of a shut in. Never saw her outside. One day I left a note in her mailbox, introducing myself and my wife. Told her we were always around, and if she needed a hand once in a while (as we all do), we'd be able to help. She got back to me and was very grateful and happy I dropped the note. You never know, you might make someone's day or even save their life.
Cleaning out the billionaires from behind the curtains
If they are behind my curtains I should be charging them rent.
Don't know for other people but I should definitely clean my windows more often. I think I'll do that today.
Clean the shower drain. You can also get little nets for catching hair under the grate, at least for the ones usually found in my country. It's surprising how much hair ends up there.
It's also a good idea to pour a bit of something like green goblin down the drains once a month or so. I find it helps to prevent the otherwise inevitable buildup from soap scum and whatever fats n junk that make it down there.
Also, always wipe greasy kitchen stuff with a napkin or paper towel and toss it in the trash. Soap pans n things to make sure fatty water isn't going down. Cleaning out the kitchen pipes after year's of neglect sucks!
Basically all of them, ugh.
not relevant to every household, but regularly clean/rinse the effluent filter on your septic system (i do mine at least 2x a year)... and realize you may have more than one. it ain't a pretty job, but you're going to save yourself from a massive repair bill and/or damage from a backup by spending the 15 minutes to git er done.
Dusting, apparently
Sharpen your knives. Replace your furnace filter. Clean your gutters.