
Ask HN: What are your best domestic time saving tips? - roryisok
I&#x27;m a father of two and I do a lot of housework in the evenings, cutting into my project time. Lately I&#x27;ve been obsessed with finding ways to reduce the amount of time spent on household chores any way I can. Gadgets like dishwashers, bread makers and steam cleaners have made my life easier, and I&#x27;m looking for the next thing to shave 10 minutes off my housework. So what are your best domestic time saving tips? Do you defragment your cutlery drawer? Do you swear by a roomba? Did you build a robot to pair socks?<p>Maybe you just identified some big time sink that you could eliminate? For instance, I&#x27;m considering taking up the carpet in my hallway as I seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time vacuuming that area vs the rest of the house.<p>What are your top tips?
======
evolve2k
What I'm calling the "Bachelor Socks Pattern".

Go out and buy multiple 6-in-one packs of the same socks (Most economical with
black/blue business style socks).

Go all out and get like 8 packs @ ~$5 each. At $40 cost you replace all your
socks with a single type and color and have a massive oversupply (about 3
weeks worth in the above calc, prob more than you need really).

No need to sort, just keep them in a big basket of socks, now you have endless
matching socks never to be sorted again.

Put your other socks aside in a bag and recycle when your convinced it's
working.

[I purchased so many after doing this for myself initially and then finding
out the rest of the family were ALL cheekily wearing my socks as they all
quietly found it easier to match one of my black pairs over finding exact
matches for their socks from the sock basket]

~~~
roryisok
This is a great tip, thanks! Of course, it only reduces my stock sorting load
by 25%, can't force the wife and two girls to wear only grey socks for the
rest of their lives :)

~~~
evolve2k
I can't remember the name but there was an online sock company for girls where
all the socks were deliberately different ("odd") (left and right). They were
all different but fashionable matched in a kid friendly way. Another way to
achieve removing sock finding and sorting process :)

~~~
evolve2k
FWIW a quick search revealed there are various "mismatched" socks options for
girls and women -
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_16?k=mismatch...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_16?k=mismatched+socks+women&sprefix=mismatched+socks&crid=2FAZ09623PD8R)

------
evolve2k
I've been aspiring to a philosophy I call "event based processing" (I know the
term has other meanings in computing) or alternatively "Zero Impact
Activities".

Regardless of the name the concept is that in undertaking daily tasks the tidy
step is completed as part of untaking the task (eliminating a separate tidy
phase).

Eg as a Parent I was constantly tidying or managing the kids to tidy the shoes
area near the from door as all of us would take our shoes off fairly loosely
around the door. I realised I needed as second shoe rack and then after
discussing the new goal of an always near shoe area spent around 3 weeks on
everyone's back to retrain us all to take off shoes and put them neatly in the
rack. Eventually it became just what we all did, I achieved success and
tidying up the shoes is now an eliminated task.

Similar applies having the family put their dishes straight into the
dishwasher after the meal and better yet have a post dinner family tidy
schedule at the end of the meal event.

Think of task flows as a messaging queue :P

~~~
evolve2k
Related I played with washing up and putting away ingredients as I cooked.
Commonly I would stir then grab 30 seconds to wash a cooking pot/throw out
packaging/put away in fridge etc.

It's greatly reduced the washing pots phase which commonly includes items that
seem less dishwasher friendly.

I found it easy to do for most recipies I know well.

~~~
hyperpallium
When I googled, the consensus was to wash-as-you-go.

My interpretation is that cooking is an act of creation, and when
accomplished, it's over. You don't feel like doing washing up, a non-creation
act, because that energy/enthusiasm is gone.

Whereas if you wash as you go, as part of the task, it also uses the energy of
creation.

So: not literally _time-saving_ , but _enthusiasm-efficiency_.

~~~
cup-of-tea
I reckon it also does save time. The reason is there's plenty of "dead time"
during cooking. Waiting for water to boil, sauces to reduce etc. But those
periods are not long enough to do much else and your hands will generally be
too dirty to do even small tasks. The best use of those little sections of
time is to wash up.

~~~
fgeiger
Pipelining.

------
viraptor
Pay for cleaning. This may work better or worse depending on the age of your
kids... But vacuuming, cleaning surfaces, changing beds, etc. can be ousourced
and saves LOTS of time.

~~~
roryisok
Definitely considering this. My kids are too young to help much around the
house yet

~~~
TheAlchemist
+1 for that.

Last year we started to pay for cleaning / washing / ironing and it saves a
lot of time - like 6 hours a week to get all done.

Also, doing groceries the right way is important. What we ended up doing:

\- everything non perishable or long time (water etc), buy a lot and put in
the basement

\- what you can, buy through Amazon subscriptions for a regular delivery

\- once a week, do the short term groceries - veggies, fruits, meat. We do it
with kids on a farm where you can harvest your own food. It's actually a great
activity !

As the last one, maybe a bit controversial, but I almost never repair stuff
anymore. If it's something cheap and I would need to spend an hour or two to
repair it, I just throw out and buy a new one. I may would like to have more
time to do those things (sometimes I still do when it's to show the kids
something interesting), but overall this attitude is a huge time saver.

At some point, if your earnings are enough, you just have to put time before
money.

~~~
roryisok
> ironing

I never iron, unless I'm going to a wedding or something. Am I weird? It seems
like such an unnecessary step in the laundry process

------
jen729w
Never ever wait until the dishwasher is totally full. It’s an efficient
device: put it on twice a day, on the quickest setting it has, and don’t feel
guilty about it.

Result: it’s never “a thing” that needs to be handled. Emptying it is easy.
Takes one minute. You always have clean things.

Sounds ridiculous, I know. Trust me.

~~~
cup-of-tea
Do you have any evidence to support this? What's the usage in kWh per run and
the cost of detergent?

On the highest setting mine will get through plates that have been sitting
around for a week (don't judge). That costs me one run and one tablet of
detergent. You're suggesting running it on the lowest setting 5-10x as often
and using 5-10x the amount of detergent.

The cost in time loading and emptying seems to be equal no matter how often
you run it.

~~~
dijit
From a cursory look it seems it costs in electricity 1.5kWh for a single load
of dishes on my dishwasher.

at my current rates that's 30p per run in electricity, 32.5p for the
dishwasher tablet (26gbp/80 tablets). So 62.5p per load.

1.25gbp per day

(1.25*365)/12 =

38.020833333333336~ gbp/month.

~~~
cup-of-tea
That's a lot, though, isn't it? That's twice the price of my internet
connection and about the cost of annual maintenance on my car. Even if my
intensive clean costs twice as much in electricity I reckon I can divide that
by 10.

~~~
dijit
Yeah, I just ran the numbers because I was curious too, I would consider this
to be quite expensive.

My electricity costs are quite high comparatively to other folks though so,
YMMV.

------
leonroy
Marie Kondo’s book really helped our family. We took a lot of clothes, books
and toys which hadn’t been touched in a year or more and donated them.

We also decluttered the kitchen a lot, putting in a few high quality pots and
plates rather than the motley assortment of hand me downs we’d accumulated
over the years.

Bit by bit we whittled down the above and then some - taking it slow.

I also made some serious decisions like ‘do I really need a high end 5.1
surround system and projector?’ or would a sound bar and nice TV suffice. ‘Do
I really need a Mac Pro and three displays?’ or would a MacBook and an
Ultrawide monitor allow me to get the same work done.

Being a reasonably paid programmer (as a higher than average amount of folk
here are) can encourage buying more and having more hobbies and stuff when
less will do.

When you eliminate a lot of surplus ‘just in case’ items you really cut down
on your cleaning and maintenance work load.

------
hn17
1\. Since you didn't mentioned any services I would recommend doing grocery
shopping via internet. It's not a big time saver on the begining. Chosing
products in the "real" world is faster, especially when someone is in hurry
etc. But if you use shopping lists usually built into software you can do it
faster and also not waste time on commuting to your shop. You even can
automate that 100%. 2\. I don't have experience with it but a lot of people
are recommending Vorwerk Thermomix cooking robot/device.

Good luck and if you find something interesting please let us know :-)

------
tomcrisp
Before you leave a room, look around for things that should be in the room you
are moving to and take them with you. Could be rubbish for the bin, clothes
for the laundry, dishes for the kitchen, books for the office, etc.

If you get in the habit of doing this every time, even as new items are
shifted from where they belong, the house quickly "rebounds" to a more
consistent and predictable state.

------
tonyedgecombe
It's interesting that as we developed technologies like dishwashers, vacuum
cleaners and washing machines we used these machines to do more work rather
than save time. My dad would wear a shirt for a week when he was young, now he
puts a clean one on every day.

Perhaps you can just do less, try time-boxing.

~~~
kleiba
Yeah, my wife complained about pretty much the same thing: back in the 60's,
with the classical division of roles, a typical family had the husband as the
sole bread-barer and the wife did all the house-work. Now, with dishwashers,
vacuums, washing machines, dryers, second cars, etc. cutting down a lot of the
time of the woman's chores, it's not like she actually gained more spare time
today: no, now she is expected to get a job! :-)

Of course, it's a bit tongue-in-cheek -- after all, all these gadgets also
come with higher costs for the household -- but it is true that while in my
grandparents' generation, most families working under the above model could
afford a house and a decent life-style, it would now be impossible for my wife
and me to buy a house just based on my income alone.

But that's again comparing apples and oranges a bit because let's not forget
that today's lives typically have higher expectations and higher standards of
living. My grandparents, for instance, never did a vacation overseas, etc...

------
andymoe
Find a full-service laundry place and pay them to do it. I've got two kids,
and the four of us go through a shit-ton of laundry. If you can afford it [1],
and you're in a city or neighborhood where one is available, it saves hours
every week.

[1] We pay maybe 40-50 bucks a week. We don't use a service and just drag it
down the street to the local laundromat once or twice a week.

~~~
roryisok
My nearest is 20 minutes away, probably more effort to bag everything up and
ship it out than do it in house. Last time we changed the washing machine we
got one that could handle a much bigger load with a higher rpm spin. Clothes
come out less wet and go straight into the tumble dryer

~~~
andymoe
I dunno, you still have to fold it ;)

------
hycaria
>Maybe you just identified some big time sink that you could eliminate?

Don't have children or pets, don't live in an oversized place (seriously more
space is mostly more junk, which you become enslaved to).

Honestly I'm always kinda uncomfortable with everything that is purely
outsourcing to other humans (which is a good part of the suggestions here).
It's just creating precarious, low paid jobs. I couldn't bear exploiting
impoverished people that way to get rid of minor annoyances. It takes 10 min
to hang laundry tops.

~~~
roryisok
Well, I already have children and pets, so that's not a runner.

> exploiting impoverished people

I'm not sure if you're trolling here or what, but somebody is not
automatically impoverished or being exploited just because they work in a
laundrette instead of whatever it is you do.

------
evolve2k
My family of four found doing Kon Marie quiet revolutionary. After following
her process we found a marked sustained decrease in housework attributed to a
reduction in time required for tidying, washing and sorting as there was just
less stuff to manage.

This book (no affilitate link):
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1607747308](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1607747308)

------
rotub
I've adopted the Zuckerberg way of life. Grey/plain shirts only and I have one
type of sock.

It really does feel good being able to pick up a neutral shirt without having
to think or mix and match.

I've also started wearing odd socks. Especially when they're hidden under
pants anyway. having the one type helps with this approach.

------
dandare
Our family swears by a Roomba. I have selected/modified our furniture for the
minimal height and removed door steps. Living room and kitchen is vacuumed
every day at 3am (we sleep upstairs). It is a magic. Ps: I did a lot of
research 5 years ago and back then I could not recommend any cheaper
alternative.

~~~
kyriakos
How would that work in a place cluttered with toys etc?

~~~
roryisok
Yeah, I'm thinking it could create work as you'd have no option but to clear
the floor for the roomba every night?

------
fiftyacorn
Mine is to have a cleaner - my only extravagance. It does worry me that my
kids have never seen me hoover or clean a bathroom

Ive always wanted 2 dishwashers - one clean, one dirty - then cycle them. So
the as the clean dishes get moved they get moved to the dirty one, then repeat

We've all got to have dreams

~~~
mseebach
It seems to me that the two-dishwasher setup only work if you only have a
small, consistent set of tableware, and you use it at a consistent rate (you
use close to the entire contents of the dishwasher before you need any of the
dirties again, otherwise you'll still be emptying and putting things away).
But emptying a dishwasher load of consistent plates and bowls is very quick,
so it seems to me like you can you can get 80% of the benefit of the two-
dishwasher setup simply by rationalising your tableware for consistency and
easy unloading and storage (have everything in the same cabinet right next to
or above the dishwasher).

If you have five cabinets full of a myriad of variations of bowls, trays,
plates, cups, glasses, widgets, pots and pans that you use at uneven rates,
even two dishwashers won't be very helpful.

~~~
roryisok
My biggest gripe with the dishwasher is that things come out of it wet and
need drying by hand. Modern dishwashers don't have a drying element anymore.
However, just today I read here on HN that plastic items don't dry as well as
metal, glass, ceramic. Knowing this will hopefully make a big difference from
now on as I can either take these things out immediately after they finish to
dry on the counter

~~~
mrfusion
Hmm try increasing your water temp and or running the hot water for a couple
minutes before starting a load.

The residual heat helps dry the dishes.

There’s also a post detergent thing you can buy that helps evaporation by
breaking the surface tension.

------
rabboRubble
* Make bed only once a week.

* Do not use dishes that can not be washed in a dishwasher. Save hand wash only for infrequent and fancy meals.

* Reduce the amount of crap you have so that you have less crap to clean (used the Marie Kondo method).

* Use effective cleaning agents (hint, research all the things that vinegar can be used for)

* Learn how to use a slow cooker.

* Keep things clean to begin with. Massively dirty stuff takes longer to clean.

* Clutter hides dirt, grime, and missing things. Kill it with fire.

* Avoid stainless steel appliances. They are the devil to keep looking clean.

* The kitchen area is a not a fashion area, it is a work area and should be equipped with hardy things that can be cleaned aggressively and quickly. Fancy breakable crap slows you down.

------
roryisok
The slow cooker is one I should add here myself, saves a lot of time cooking

~~~
evolve2k
+1 Slow Cooker and also add a Rice Cooker.

My fav recipie is beef stroganoff. I buy cooking steak from the local butcher
shop who is happy to cut it into diced chunks for no extra cost. In the
morning I chop up mushrooms & onion and throw them with the beef into the
cooker with a half cup of ketchup and wostershire sauce and set it on low.

In the evening when I get home I put on a rice cooker (cheapest automatic
machine ever) and pour sour cream into the slow cooker and then pretty much
serve it up.

It probable took me about as long to write this as to put it on in the
morning.

Similar recipie: [https://www.gourmetgetaways.com.au/day-slow-cooked-beef-
stro...](https://www.gourmetgetaways.com.au/day-slow-cooked-beef-stroganoff/)

~~~
roryisok
I've heard people sing the praises of rice cookers before and I just don't get
it. I cook rice in a pot and it takes barely any effort. The most time
consuming steps are measuring out rice and cleaning the pot afterwards, and
you need to do both of those things with a rice cooker? In fact there might be
more parts to clean?

~~~
jlebar
I always burn or undercook rice when I use a stove. For me, the rice cooker is
amazing, because it comes out perfect every time with no trying on my part.

I don't know how you do it without, you must be magic.

~~~
roryisok
I measure 1 cup rice to 2 cups water (often boiling, from the kettle), check
it every now and then, and when it's got "holes" \- gaps where water has
bubbled and evaporated - I turn off the heat underneath. I never add salt. I
can't remember the last time I've burned it but I've made sticky, underdone
rice plenty of times. Maybe I'm just not that picky?

Edit: I use a non stick pan, tefal ingenio pans with removable handles which
are a great time saver. Nothing ever sticks to them! So maybe I do burn rice
and I just don't realise

------
cup-of-tea
I have a tendency to put things down in stupid places and just leave them
there. Over time the clutter builds up which means eventually I'll have to
spend time sorting it out and I also can't necessarily find things when I need
them.

My "brain hack" for this is to instil a habit: whenever I put something down I
ask myself "is this where I want this object to be forever?" The answer is
usually no, so I put in a place I'm happy for it to stay forever.

------
jrs235
How old are your children? Get them started helping out around the house as
soon as possible. I highly recommend finding a Parenting the Love and Logic
Way course near you and taking it. It's been a life changer for me. Less
stress at home, children listen, help, and solve problems at home.

P.S. 3-4 years old is a good time to start them helping around the house. They
can't do a ton at that age but every like bit helps. Macro effect of many
micro optimizations.

~~~
roryisok
Our oldest is almost four and we're trying to teach her to tidy up in the
evenings with us, making it a family activity

------
n3d1m
We used to hire cleaning crew to come weekly but stopped due to not liking
random people strutting through our home.

Then we started including our kids in the weekly cleaning. We don't give them
money "for nothing" so they see this as a chance to earn some income instead
of a chore. Now everyone does their part and noone is feeling like it's a
giant deal.

------
galfarragem
Definitely trash your TV.

It's amazing how much extra time you'll get. Freeing 1h a day adds up to 7h
weekly.

~~~
timrichard
Depends what you watch, surely?

Bit like saying trash your phone because it's possible for boring people to
call you.

~~~
roryisok
Trash the phone too. Got it.

------
tudorw
+1 for Roomba, I'm on my 4th one since 2002, for me it's worth it, I wipe down
the tops while he scoots around, unlike many 'gadgets' it really does
something I used to spend time doing.

------
viraptor
Cooking for multiple days is great. Which is another good reason to use a slow
cooker. Just put 2x the amount of ingredients in and freeze half. No more
cooking the next day. (And simpler washing up)

------
javajosh
This one might seem trivial, but I start cleaning by picking up the floor
first. This makes it easier to move around, which is a prerequisite for almost
every other task.

~~~
operatorius
How bad does the situation have to be that picking up stuff from the ground
enables you to move freely?

~~~
Joeri
I’ll let my kids roam your house freely for 15 minutes and we’ll see just how
bad things can get.

~~~
roryisok
+1, it only takes ten seconds for them to up end a box of toys and make it
hard to walk across the floor

------
timesaving101
Live near your job, less commute time. Cook once, eat two days.

~~~
roryisok
I work from home already. I literally can't love any closer :)

