One of the several chores in our daily lives is the chore of doing our laundry. Although we have washing machines that do this tedious job for us, time and more importantly energy spent on laundry is essentially akin to a burden on everyone. For the elderly and those that have physical limitations, doing laundry is even more problematic. This is especially true in areas such as laundry rooms that often lack amenities. Age in Place suggests a list of ideas that, when remodeling your home, can help you make the most of this space.
Having an easier access to the laundry room should always be the priority considering the convenience of the elderly. Doing so helps ensure that any loads to be washed can be easily carried to the laundry room with minimal obstacles. Room layouts should be designed with ‘ease-of-access’ in mind. The cabinets where detergents and other chemicals are stored should be closer to the washing machines to facilitate easy transfers when doing loads. Although said so, care should be taken not to place them too close since that would cause impediments to the movement of the elderly who might be using walkers or wheelchairs.
It is important to note that elderly people often have back ailments. When thinking about the washing machines to be used in the room, front-loading washers and dryers should be preferred. These machines are easier to load and unload especially for an elderly person using a wheelchair. Equally important is the fact that the machine has easy-to-read instructions that are simple yet informative.
Lastly, Age in Place recommends some miscellaneous ideas for the laundry room:
- If you are remodeling or moving things around, consider that someday someone in a
wheelchair might be using the space
- Use colored stickers or other markings on washer and dryer settings to help those with
reduced eyesight or memory problems.
- If you must use appliances with knobs get one with large knobs. Better yet, use appliances
with large buttons instead.
- For appliances with back-lit or computer displays, make sure they are bright and have large
letters and numbers
- Carefully plan your space so items like detergent and cleaners can be easily reached from the
areas you will need them
- Consider using containers or dispensers that are clearly labeled, and easy to hold and use
- Install an ironing board that folds down from the wall and can be adjusted to the proper
height. Traditional ironing boards are hard to setup and take down, are heavy and could
potentially be useless to people with diminished physical capabilities.
- Keep a small cart or rolling table nearby. A rolling cart at the right height can really help
someone with diminished strength in transferring clothes or moving them to a folding area.
Consider using a rolling hamper. This will make it even easier for someone to get clothes to
the laundry room.
At Simply Laundry, we take pride in serving several long term retirement homes in Toronto by helping them take care of their laundry needs. The homes we serve proudly rely on us for providing them not only the convenience of getting their clothes and linens cleaned right at the click of a button but also the flexibility of getting any special requests they have in the cleaning process.