Help with Laundry and Cleaning Different techniques may be useful for people of varying abilities to be able to complete their laundry and cleaning tasks. There is a range of equipment out there to assist in the ease of which these tasks may be carried out. Washing Consider doing smaller loads of washing to Consider doing smaller loads of washing to prevent the heavy lifting of clothes. You may want to try using a longhandled reacher to collect clothing off the floor, or to take items in and out of washing machines, to save you from bending. Further, you could use a laundry trolley to take washing over to the clothesline. over to the clothesline. Example of a longhandled reacher If you have difficulty with hanging washing on the clothesline, look at using dolly pegs on your existing washing line as these are easy to manipulate. Pegless washing lines are also available. Y You could also try airing frames and clothes horses to reduce the amount of stretching and/or heavy lifting. To save on time and effort, the best solution would be to get a new washing machine one that has push buttons and are a combination of a washer and a dryer. Consider hanging your clothes on seperate Consider hanging your clothes on seperate hangers when you set them out to dry as this will reduce the amount of ironing you need to do. Ironing If you are standing up to iron, place one foot on a raised platform to reduce back pain. A A tabletop ironing board can be placed on a low table to allow a person to be seated whilst ironing. But, if you don’t want to be carrying around a heavy ironing board, wallmounted ones are available. These only need to be folded out of a cupboard some are heightadjustable for the person ironing. Example of a wallmounted ironing board Some people find that travel irons are the easiest to use as they are lighter than the standard iron. Cleaning To prevent fatigue and pain, break up your cleaning tasks into smaller and shorter sessions rather than completing them all at sessions rather than completing them all at once. How about spreading large tasks over a few days? You could also use longhandled brooms, mops and dust pans etc. to reduce the amount of bending and reaching. Choosing lightweight materials will also help in reducing the e reducing the effort involved and may reduce pain associated with extended use. Example of some longhandled tools