Clothes for mum moving into care home - suggestions please!

[Carehomeclothes]

My mum is having to move into a care home and doesn’t have enough clothes that will withstand repeated hot washing and drying. Apparently she needs two weeks’ worth of outfits! Mum is not capable of going shopping so I need to order her clothes online. Any suggestions as to pieces please - preferably with minimal buttons/fastenings. Help very much appreciated as I am dealing with the care home move alone. TIA

I had to do the same for my dad last year. It's hard, isn't it? All of it! But the lack of suitable clothing/inability of homes to wash things at normal temperatures seems like an unnecessary obstacle at an already massively stressful time.

There are a few 'care home clothing' websites (eg JJ Fashions - they even have a suggested list of what to take when moving into a care home) but the items are usually still wash at 30/40 degrees, rather than the hotter-than-the-sun cycles they use in the care home. Once I realised this, I started looking for cheaper, easily replaceable items. Asda/George is good for cheap tumble dryable items, but I think any of the supermarkets would do equally well, plus M&S. I found it better to buy a size up to allow for the shrinkage from the care home's laundry processes, but you might want to try a couple of test items first so you can see how your mum's home deals with them. It's quite normal to go in with what she has already and then add items once you can see what else she needs.

I also took to labelling my dad's items myself, as the care home seemed to struggle with the room number labelling they used. I got name button tags from Attach A Tag, which I'd highly recommend, but don't be surprised if things still go missing or other people's clothes end up with her.

It's a tough time, especially when you're doing it on your own (I was too). I hope it's all going as smoothly as possible. Sending lots of love x