Laundry Tips for People With Arthritis
Updated June 08, 2015.
Laundry involves grasping, bending, reaching, lifting, and carrying. For people without arthritis, laundry is a task that they don't think twice about -- they just do it. For people with arthritis, laundry can be an ordeal. It's easy to understand why, if you consider all of the joint movements required to do laundry.
As with most physical tasks and activities of daily living, some forethought and pre-planning can help tremendously.
Let's break it down and make it manageable.
Sorting Laundry
Sorting your dirty laundry is the first step. Some people sort according to type of fabric, while others sort according to color. That's personal preference. Another option you have, which might make doing laundry easier, is to sort as you go rather than sorting all of your dirty laundry on the day you intend to wash it. Consider getting multiple hampers or laundry baskets, or a sectional laundry sorter on wheels. Here are some examples of sectional laundry sorters. By sorting as you go, you eliminate a lot of unnecessary movement on laundry day.
Stain Removal
Tough stains seem to take up a lot of time and effort if left until laundry day. The garment should not go into the wash machine without pre-treating the stain. The stain can set and the chance of successful stain removal diminishes as more time passes before pre-treatment. Do yourself a favor. Handle stains right away. Don't create more work for yourself by waiting.
Lugging Heavy Baskets
Once the laundry is sorted, you have to transport it to the wash machine. How difficult it is to transport laundry depends on where your wash machine is located. If your washer and dryer are on a different level of your house, such as in the basement, transporting will be more difficult because of stairs. If you have a single story home, there are more options. The aforementioned sectional laundry sorter on wheels might help you get laundry to the machine easily. Any suitable cart on wheels could be used to transport regular laundry baskets, too, as opposed to carrying them. Assess your individual set-up and determine what you can use to transport laundry without lifting and carrying heavy loads. If you must carry laundry, lighten the load by dividing them up. Making two or more trips down a hallway with smaller loads is easier on your joints than one overloaded trek.
Type of Wash Machine
Now that you have sorted your clothes and transported the clothes to the machine, the next step is to load the machine. Again, the type of machine you have is largely determined by personal preference (and your budget when you bought your machine). The newer style front-loading washer and dryers, which can be put on a pedestal base, make loading easier for people who have back pain or difficulty bending because of arthritic joints. The newer style front-loaders also have a larger capacity than standard machines, allowing you to wash larger loads or tackle bigger items like comforters and heavy blankets.
Hanging Clothes
It's tempting to wash and dry the clothes, remove them from the dryer, and then take a break before putting the clothes away. But, that break can undermine your efforts to complete the task. A reasonable break is certainly acceptable. After all, pacing activities is a good thing for people with arthritis. But, getting the job done is stress-relieving and that's important too. Some people shirk putting clothes away because their dresser drawers are jammed and their closets are bulging. Does that sound like you? If putting away laundry has any chance of becoming more manageable, you need a closet intervention. Purge your drawers and closet of clothes you no longer wear. Make space. It will hurt less to hang up clothes if you don't have to push and shove them between other clothes that are jammed together.
The Bottom Line
It is important to protect your joints while performing daily living activities and certain physical tasks. Avoid activity that increases pain. Try to find more efficient ways of accomplishing a task -- especially ways that will reduce bending and lifting.
Laundry involves grasping, bending, reaching, lifting, and carrying. For people without arthritis, laundry is a task that they don't think twice about -- they just do it. For people with arthritis, laundry can be an ordeal. It's easy to understand why, if you consider all of the joint movements required to do laundry.
As with most physical tasks and activities of daily living, some forethought and pre-planning can help tremendously.
Let's break it down and make it manageable.
Sorting Laundry
Sorting your dirty laundry is the first step. Some people sort according to type of fabric, while others sort according to color. That's personal preference. Another option you have, which might make doing laundry easier, is to sort as you go rather than sorting all of your dirty laundry on the day you intend to wash it. Consider getting multiple hampers or laundry baskets, or a sectional laundry sorter on wheels. Here are some examples of sectional laundry sorters. By sorting as you go, you eliminate a lot of unnecessary movement on laundry day.
Stain Removal
Tough stains seem to take up a lot of time and effort if left until laundry day. The garment should not go into the wash machine without pre-treating the stain. The stain can set and the chance of successful stain removal diminishes as more time passes before pre-treatment. Do yourself a favor. Handle stains right away. Don't create more work for yourself by waiting.
Lugging Heavy Baskets
Once the laundry is sorted, you have to transport it to the wash machine. How difficult it is to transport laundry depends on where your wash machine is located. If your washer and dryer are on a different level of your house, such as in the basement, transporting will be more difficult because of stairs. If you have a single story home, there are more options. The aforementioned sectional laundry sorter on wheels might help you get laundry to the machine easily. Any suitable cart on wheels could be used to transport regular laundry baskets, too, as opposed to carrying them. Assess your individual set-up and determine what you can use to transport laundry without lifting and carrying heavy loads. If you must carry laundry, lighten the load by dividing them up. Making two or more trips down a hallway with smaller loads is easier on your joints than one overloaded trek.
Type of Wash Machine
Now that you have sorted your clothes and transported the clothes to the machine, the next step is to load the machine. Again, the type of machine you have is largely determined by personal preference (and your budget when you bought your machine). The newer style front-loading washer and dryers, which can be put on a pedestal base, make loading easier for people who have back pain or difficulty bending because of arthritic joints. The newer style front-loaders also have a larger capacity than standard machines, allowing you to wash larger loads or tackle bigger items like comforters and heavy blankets.
Hanging Clothes
It's tempting to wash and dry the clothes, remove them from the dryer, and then take a break before putting the clothes away. But, that break can undermine your efforts to complete the task. A reasonable break is certainly acceptable. After all, pacing activities is a good thing for people with arthritis. But, getting the job done is stress-relieving and that's important too. Some people shirk putting clothes away because their dresser drawers are jammed and their closets are bulging. Does that sound like you? If putting away laundry has any chance of becoming more manageable, you need a closet intervention. Purge your drawers and closet of clothes you no longer wear. Make space. It will hurt less to hang up clothes if you don't have to push and shove them between other clothes that are jammed together.
The Bottom Line
It is important to protect your joints while performing daily living activities and certain physical tasks. Avoid activity that increases pain. Try to find more efficient ways of accomplishing a task -- especially ways that will reduce bending and lifting.
Source...