Banish the wash day blues with our tips for doing the laundry with visual impairment...
1. Washing machines
If you’re in the market for a new washing machine, then Miele’s GuideLine has tactile controls and audible feedback designed for blind and partially sighted users.
The Research Institute for Disabled Customers (RIDC) has lots of advice, and more product recommendations, to help you choose a new washing machine, but buying a new machine isn’t the only option if you have sight loss.
Older machines with dials can be adapted using tactile bumps or Tacti-Mark (a liquid plastic that sets hard, so can be used to mark lines, dots and other shapes) to help you find your most-used settings.
2. Identifying clothing
A popular low-tech method for identifying clothing by touch is sewing different shaped buttons to the care label. You can also use PenFriend laundry labels – these stick to the care label in your clothes and you can use your PenFriend audio labeller to record a note describing the item (“best blue shirt” or “lucky sheep socks”), washing instructions and complementary items (“pair with navy trousers and waistcoat”).
You may also find a colour detector useful – these gadgets will announce the colour of items and can be helpful when clothes shopping or putting together an outfit.
3. The mystery of missing socks
We all know it’s better to prevent a crime than solve one, so keep your socks together at all times (except when they’re on your feet, obviously) with SockSnaps. Simply push your dirty socks into a SockSnap when you take them off and they will stay together all the way through the wash cycle and back into your sock drawer.
