Coping with washing with chronic pain (or lack of time!)

Ok, so having a back injury sucks. Not just for the obvious reasons. The little stuff that used to be easy is sooo much harder. Like housework. And walking. And life. But I digress, back to the housework point…even just keeping on top of the essentials is so much harder when you spend half your day laying down trying to get some relief from the pain.

So what's today's topic of difficulty? Washing. The never ending cycle of washing, drying, folding, packing away. Wear, wash and repeat.

It's always amazed me how quickly a pile of washing will build up. I feel like I'll spend days catching up, then miss washing for one day and  BOOM  - there's a clothes bomb that's gone off in the laundry, and there's mountains of washing to do. This was getting to be more and more of a regular occurrence and my solution was to beg my mum to come and help me catch up with the washing, which she always would. I knew it couldn't last forever though, and needed to find a better way to manage.  

It was actually my husband, Shem, who came up with the solution. Our old top loader washing machine broke down, and after he found a replacement part and fixed it he suggested that we should probably start looking into a new washing machine before it died for good.

We ended up choosing a monster 15kg front loader, and hubby built a shelf for it to sit on so I wouldn't have to bend to load it up. I was pretty happy about the new machine… except my towels were just awful after being washed. 

I was pretty heartbroken that my fluffy and soft Sheridan towels felt rough and hard like crappy hospital towels (and I really know how awful they are!). What was wrong with my new machine? I tried different settings and different detergent, and nothing seemed to work. Finally I just googled it, which was honestly my last step before telling Shem we had to return the machine cos it was a dud. It turns out front loaders are particularly good at spinning the water out of towels and clothes, and subsequently they dry rock hard when hung out on the washing line. The solution? Either a lower spin setting (tried it - didn't work) or popping them in the dryer. Desperate for a soft towel, I put them in the dryer, and low and behold my soft fluffy towels were back! Hooray! 

So over dinner I was sharing the outcome of my washing dilemma (which had taken a few weeks to play out) with Shem, and was lamenting that our electricity bill would be going up because I would be putting the towels through the dryer from now on. He suggested looking into a heat pump dryer, a new type of dryer that uses an energy efficient motor to dry the clothes. Of course, I started looking into them that night, only to discover they start at around $1500 and go up to anywhere around $3000 or more! Crap! How was I going to afford one of those after we'd just invested a similar amount in the new monster washing machine?

Gumtree to the rescue! We went on a purge and did a serious declutter of the house, selling our excess stuff along the way. We managed to raise $1800 after about 6 weeks, and while being a bit stunned we actually had enough excess stuff to raise that much money, we went down to buy a new heat pump dryer, paying for it completely in cash -which felt very old school pulling out an envelope of cash. I was excited, but I didn't realise how life changing this machine would be.

Over exaggeration? Well, maybe. Actually, no, it's not! My dryer really has made my home life so much easier. My new washing machine accommodates big and small loads by weighing the load and adjusting the settings accordingly (so doesn't waste water or energy), and the clothes come out really clean. Because of the shelf Shem built I don't have to bend to load in the washing, and when it's finished I pull it out and load it into the dryer right next door. The dryer is quick, but the best thing is that it senses when the load is dry and stops automatically, so doesn't chew through electricity. What used to take me ages to hang out, and then cause an increase in pain, now only takes a couple of minutes. I still have to fold the clothes, and put them away, but as soon as someone invents a folding machine I'll be buying one!

I've had to hang a couple of big things out on the line since getting the dryer and I've absolutely noticed a spike in my pain afterwards. I've gone from only being able to do my own washing half the time and having to ask for help the other half, to being able to keep on top of my washing most of the time and only asking for help sometimes. That's a life changing win in my books!!

So, here's my tips for managing laundry with chronic pain:

• Elevate your machines to a comfortable level to reduce unnecessary bending

• Consider investing in a heat pump dryer. They are very energy efficient and save you from using all your energy on hanging washing out on the line

• Try to avoid buying too many items that require hand washing because hand washing is hard work and can easily cause a pain flare up.

• Try not to store heavy tubs of washing powder or washing liquid containers up high or too low  – waist height is best to avoid bending or stretching too much or causing pain. 

• If room permits, consider using a washing trolley (the sort you use at the clothes line) in the laundry to hold a basket of dirty washing, that way you don't have to bend down to pick up dirty washing to load into the machine. 

• Smaller loads, more often, are better for avoiding pain flare ups. They are lighter to carry to and from the laundry, they take less time to load into the washer and dryer, and much quicker to fold and put away. If you invest in energy efficient machines you will be surprised at how quickly a small load can be washed and dried and ready to fold.

• Woolen dryer balls help fluff out clothes, especially sheets and towels. They help stop them getting tangled up. There are all sorts of dubious claims about them saving time and energy, I'm not sure if they do to be honest, but they do help with tangling when washing the towels and sheets. Here's how I made my own: (link to tutorial)

I'll be honest...even if I didn't have a back injury I think I'd still be using the dryer because it just frees up so much time with little ones, especially with a fashionista toddler who decides to change clothes 3 times a day. Oh – are your wondering if my power bill went up massively since using a dryer several times a week, sometimes daily? The answer is surprisingly no! Our power bills have been roughly the same, no dramatic increase since using the dryer instead of drying washing on the line.

Any laundry tips you'd like to add to this list? Please comment and share! Please share with any friends who this might help out!!