Readers Respond: Laundry Tips for Living With Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Responses: 51

Updated February 04, 2010

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I use Purex laundry sheets.These replace detergent,softener and anti cling products.They are not heavy,just a small box.easy to bring in from the store,take to laundry room and store. they save my poor hurting body from start to finish.after they come out of the dryer I use them to scrub the sinks and shower doors.I love this product.they seem pricey but they replace several products so they really are not.
—Guest conni owensby

Don't fold at all. Get a basket for every family member that is kept by the dryer. Place clothing in there and people can either dig trhough to find their clothes or fold and put away themselves. Use the time you save to stretech and do self trigger point therapy to get better.
—Guest Lisa

if it wasn't for my hubby, laundry would not get done. I have a top loading washer and to get the clothes out kills me in spasms n pain. I do try to do it myself from time to time. love the hints.
—b1gmama

I am very fortunate. Even when I felt well laundry was not my favorite. When my body started to hate me...it was even harder. I have 5 kids and I decided they are all old enough to do their own! Only my 7 ur old gets my help.
—Guest Erin Young

i use a laundry trolley so i dont have to bend when hanging clothes. but most of the time my hubby and daughter do the washing so i dont hurt or fatigue myself! god i love them!
—Guest leanne

I was Dx'd with Fibro at 56 years. As we were nearing retirement we began to replace major appliances. More money but well worth it, we got front loaders w/out the stands as I am 5' tall. Sitting on a short rolling stool, almost eleminates bending. For heavy loads, my husband helps with the drier as I cannot get in front of it. My laundry basket is kidney shaped, the dent fits right on my hip with little weight on my back. I too put the clean sheets back on the bed, and re-hang hand towels and face cloths. I can sit on the couch to "fold" clothes. Anything but the very best gets folded long ways then rolled as you do for packing a suitcase. So much easier to do and to put neatly in a drawer. I have two cupboards and a hanging rod over the machines. They require a reacher for me, but everything is right there. Frankly, I hate laundry and always have, so I try to just blank out what I am doing and get one or two loads done each day.
—Guest Mudnglue

I discarded my old wicker hampers in my walk in closet and replaced with the pop up mesh net kind. One for whites and one for colors. I now simply drag the laundry from one end of my ranch home to the laundry room at the other end. Much lighter to just up-end into washer and already sorted!
—stretchcunningham

guess I'm lucky--I live alone so deal with only 1 person's laundry. Laundry basket is behind closed doors in my bedroom closet. Time to do laundry when my lingerie drawer is empty. I don't fold sheets or towels--replace them same day I do laundry.
—Guest linda

To conserve energy for other must do chores, I do only 1 wash load at night (cheaper utility bill at night is a plus) and dry the next day.
—cazinbon

I have made some changes that take out a lot of steps - particularly folding. Very little gets folded in my house anymore. We are lucky enough to have generous hangings space, so anything that can hang come staright out of the washer and onto hangers. They then go out onto the outside washing line (it's almost always good weather here in Australia). When dry they go straight to the wardrobe. A one time small investment in about 50 hangers saved a lot of energy involved in hanging, removing, and putting on hangers to go into the wardrobe. Shirts, pants, pyjamas and tshirts all get hung. Underpants simply get stacked, not folded, and hubby's exercise gear goes in a pile in a basket.
—Guest Mikala

My husband moved the washer and dryer upstairs and bought a new appliances. My washer is front loaded and my dryer (also front loaded) sits on top of the washer. I sit on a stool in front of the washer to get the clothes out so I don't have to do so much bending. If the items aren't heavy, I can just flip them up in the dryer, but since I do have weakness in my arms and hands, I don't do this often. I use the laundry basket to just slide the clothes in from the dryer and take them to the bed where I sit on the bed and fold what I can. I have trouble folding large items (sheets) and heavy items (towels, blankets, etc.) so I wait until my husband gets home and let him fold them. I still get to put things up because he always gets them in the wrong place but I'm still happy to ge this help.
—Guest mhlewallen

My laundry is 32 steps down from my bedroom. I wash for 6 people. I got several "dirty" hampers, and labeled them all by sort type: 'jeans basket' 'lights basket' 'delicates' 'brights' 'blacks' 'hubby's stinky stuff' and so on. Everyone brings their own clothes down and sorts them into the appropraite load. If someone puts their white shirt in the jeans basket...well, they are old enough to know better. I also have a table with 4 rigid baskets on it, one for each big kid and hubby. (I still do my youngests). I sort clean things into their 'clean' basket, and they put it away when they feel like it. Or, sometimes, not. Hubby prefers to just live out of the basket. The only things I carry are my own, now.
—Guest Sharon

I got lucky.....I was diagnosed with CFS 10 yrs ago and FMS 9 yrs ago, my sweetheart of a husband took laundry from me and does it so I could conserve my energy for other things, and he does an excellent job of it too! What a man! ;)
—Guest Xenatoyou

give yourself a head start put a load in every night before bedtime.the next morning your a step ahead of the game...they can dry whiile yyour watching your morning news.my daughter was helping bring in the laundry after my knee replacement...it was too heavy for her she rolled it in on a skateboard...so cute and smart...
—Guest vicky blake