A gentle cleaning thread for those with mobility problems and/or disabilities.

[BeansMeansFun]

Hope I've worded the title in an inclusive way. I have mobility problems, and struggle with housework and really have to pace myself. Everyone welcome.

So, if you struggle, need regular rests, need tips or just want some hand holding motivation, welcome.

I'm currently trying a gentle version of TOMM.

This morning I have
Hoovered the stairs - took 20 minutes ffs.
Rested for 15
Filled the washing machine - toddler loaded the drum.
Wiped my bathroom.
Made my bed.

I'm resting for 20 now while my toddler dusts her room. She just runs round with a dry cloth but it keeps her busy.

Building up to doing the living room.
Essentials are hoover, mop, dust and empty bins. I'll see how I go and may do windows, skirting and wiping settee thoroughly.

I have RA and hoovering was literally a pain (and exhausting!)

I invested in a roomba robot Hoover from eBay and it's amazing.

Still have to keep floors clear but it means one job I don't have to do (other than empty it)

Have just got a steam floor mop as mop and bucket was too much

Appreciate these are costly fixes though

It's windows I struggle with as I find it painful to nip fingers to hold a cloth (or put hand flat on cloth) and then flex my wrists in the directions they need to go

I have a window vac but can't get away with it

Doing things in small chunks and picking the battles helps!

I also think we should take comfort in the fact that able bodied people struggle with keeping on top of cleaning etc so we should be kind to ourselves

Well surprise surprise I didn't get through the things I wanted to. I did breakfast and DC2 Dr appointment. I couldn't even make tea so grabbed fast food instead.

I did pack away the Halloween decorations in some new plastic storage tubs to put away in storage.

Didn't vacuum
Didn't do dishes
Didn't do laundry
Didn't clean bathroom
Kids didn't have showers
Didn't walk the dog.

Oh well, tomorrow is a new day

I spent 20 mins tidying the playroom... literally looks no different and little one pulled out a toy and the whole lot fell down...
Why do I bother 😭

Today's goals are to tidy my bedroom, it's so bad it's stressful! So ganna set a 15 mins timer and get as much done as I can!

Partner is off work for a few days so having a break from doing the dishwasher has been nice! He does all the cooking so dishwasher is my job but he's doing that yipee

One massive issue for me now is bending and lifting, and it's surprising how limiting that is! Mr grabby stick does help tho 😜

Playrooms are evil. Loads of picking up, and it's only nice if you don't let them back in.

Bedrooms are so important. Good luck with your 15! Do you want u ever find you leave it in favour of family rooms and kids stuff and suffer a horrid room as we put ourselves bottom of the list? Brings me down.

I'm gearing up to doing my dailies. Dinner is whatever batch cook I have in the freezer. DD shared her cold so might just rest today after the basics.

Weather is horrid so hoping DH gets an early finish. He's really appreciated my efforts this weeks and have been changing out of work clothes in the porch so he doesn't track mud in. He's coming home every day and making a huge fuss of what I've managed.

Hope everyone's having a great morning. Be kind to yourselves.

My place is a bombsite at present so I got out this morning and closed door behind me. My escape is now waiting on a scan but will be home later, wrecked and in higher pain. Hate living like this

Hi all . I have just joined . I have been reading some of your threads and figured out some of the lingo lol . Wow I didn’t realise there are so many of us mums struggling with every day chores others take for granted . I have osteoarthritis and depression which I am now starting to understand is linked . Same here with having to rest and not able to do as much as I used too. The guilt of resting alone is bad enough without the house being untidy , did a lot yesterday so resting today . Plus painkillers knocking out . X

I tried copying the info in these links to a word doc to then transfer across to here, however, it wouldn't format for her so here is a couple of hopefully useful links for any of you lovely people who are also struggling like I am, lovely to be here with you and hope we can support each other

www.prohealth.com/library/20-helpful-tips-for-cleaning-and-organizing-when-youre-chronically-ill-3-38333

www.prohealth.com/library/15-tips-for-cooking-and-cleaning-your-kitchen-when-youre-chronically-ill-8490

www.prohealth.com/library/are-you-creating-more-work-for-yourself-48104

Pain is severe today but I managed a bit of washing up and sorting the stuff for the bins, washing is folded and put away, now doing grocery order for tomorrow

Did some washing today! Yipee
And managed to do my 15 mins last night, tidied around the bedroom and cleaned the ensuite sink with wetwipes 😬
My partner commented how it looks much better and nice so that gave me a boost!
He's off work for a few days so it's been nice having a break from various things and it also makes him realise how bloody hard having two kids is... and he's fit and healthy

Seeing a specialist private physio next week... god I hope she can help me! I never thought I'd say it but I would actually be so happy to be able to clean and tidy 😭

Don't have time to RTFT bit I highly recommend a cordless Hoover if you can afford it. I have a big dyson and recently got a cordless one too, use it probably twice a day (DC4 & DC2)

I got the big old beast out yesterday and BY GOD, I could barely push it around!

Hello ladies ( any any gents ) I'm so glad to have found this thread.

I have fibromyalgia and M.E, also anxiety and quite severe OCD which centres around order and cleaning though I'm not a germophobe.

I struggle with my mind telling me to clean and my body telling me to rest.
My house used to be absolutely spotless and this illness came on me and took everything from me.

I'm doing my best but feel such a let down.
I'm a SAHM, dd is 7 and ds is 15 so I'm lucky to be able to rest when I need to as I also have chronic insomnia. I can fall asleep but can't stay asleep and will clean up at silly o'clock.

Problems here are piles of clean laundry,
Floors and generally my upstairs. My downstairs is much nicer but I remember when I used to clean my house from top to bottom Every. Single. Day. And I couldn't dream of doing that now.

So glad we can all support each other.

@mumisalliam thank you for giving me a laugh. I misread you're third line on your last post as - And it was so nice that he give me a boob - I only have these glasses less than a month.

I cleaned out the hamster cage and vaccumed around the shelf unit she lives on.

Yay.

I help an amazing lady who is 93 and has had ME for years so is wheelchair bound.
While she does have a cleaner every other week to help with inaccessible tasks, I've a couple of extra tips that aren't mentioned above:
Cleaning the loo - use the black Harpic tablets, pop one in overnight
Cleaning surfaces: Bathmits are great for popping your hand in and wiping over a surface when you haven't got masses of muscular control. Buy lots and just keep washing them, they stay put on your hand where a cloth is more difficult to keep hold of.
Cleaning floors: a spray bottle (garden sort, add water and your floor cleaning fluid) and a microfibre mop can be managed from a wheel chair. Spray the floor, and mop with a dry mop. The sort that are pads that fasten on with velcro work or hook over the ends, keep a few clean spares and you can get the whole floor done & dry with more pads so it is safe.

@smurfy2015 haha glad that gave you a giggle

Ffs I've been up with the baby since 3.20am 😭😭😭😭😭😭
And they were up a ridiculous amount of times in the night, so I don't actually feel like ive rested or slept
Pain is worse than last night 😲
Had to take painkillers 3 hours earlier than normal so ganna pay for that later

Thankgod eldest is at pre school today so I can just lie on the sofa with a hot water bottle!
Today is a complete write off 😑

Oooft what a week. Everyone is ill. Nothing got done yesterday!

Loving all these links and tips. Today I'm going to do my dailies as much as I can. It's my first Friday Focus from the TOMM method but I've picked week 5 as I want to finish the hall so badly. Probably won't do it all today, but going to do 30 mins of dailies and 10 mins of focus today, sat and sun.

Love to everyone, have a good day! Rest if you need it. Those having a 3am (?!) start get to put their feet up all day! Officially a thread rule now. Go easy @mumisalliam, no sleep and a change in painkiller routine is rough.

2 more links might be useful to others

thehealthsessions.com/getting-things-done-with-chronic-illness/

thehealthsessions.com/housekeeping-hacks/

For those of us who are owned by cats

For under the cat feeding bowls I put a large plastic table mat, this keeps any spills easy to clean.

I have 2 mats under the litter tray all easy cleaned. For the litter tray, it gets covered with a tray liner and then litter added it means when needed to replace, I have to lift out the liner and dump into the bin bag, replace liner add litter and done.

I can't do anything today. I'm struggling to find the energy to even get dressed. My head is pounding and all I see is a bloody tip all around me. DH gets back at 12. If I can get myself dressed by then he can take me out for lunch. Not exactly cleaning but at least preventing more mess occurring.

I'd like to join too. I have hypermobility so pain and fatigue are constant, and I can't vacuum as my shoulders like to slip out of joint (lucky DH). I just about manage to stay on top of the laundry, and sort of keep the lounge tidy so the puppy can sit there with us in the evening.

We have three small children and I home-educate so the house is almost always a mess. It gets me down, to be honest.

So any tips and tricks are most welcome!

I find the cordless vacuum sooooo helpful - I don’t have to bend down to plug in/unplug and it is so light.

I also have a microfibre duster thing on a longish handle - I can do the skirting boards etc without bending and then just chuck the cloth part in the machine.

@Ariel

These ones?

The best cleaning tip I have came from DH. He's a chemistry prof so it makes sense that he knew what he was talking about.

If your toilet hasn't been cleaned in a while and you have that yukky limescale at the bottom. Don't kill yourself spending hours trying to scrub it off. Get a bag of citric acid (usually in the baking section) and tip it into the toilet before you go to bed and then just leave it over night. The powder sinks to the bottom and covers the limescale. When it flushes away you'll see a beautiful, shiney like new, toilet.

Feeling really shit today!
I'm just so frustrated
I have so much stuff to sort and do that's not even cleaning and I just can't fucking do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I Want to cry!!!!!