If there’s a senior in your life, whether a parent, a grandparent, or even an elderly neighbor you look out for, you probably appreciate knowing home safety tips you can pass along.
You may already be familiar with some common hazards in the home, such as throw rugs, cluttered floors, and poorly placed electrical cords that increase the risk of tripping. Poor lighting can also cause a fall, especially for someone whose vision is impaired even in the best circumstances.
What you might not be aware of are the potential dangers lurking under the kitchen or bathroom sink (or wherever the cleaning supplies are kept).
Senior Safety Tips for Cleaning Day
There’s a good chance your parents and grandparents are still using the same cleaning products and tools they’ve used for many years. If so, it might be time to make some changes. Here are some easy-to-implement suggestions.
Skip the Usual Cleaning Products
Many commercially available cleaning products contain strong chemicals that can be harsh on skin and cause respiratory issues if their fumes are breathed in. And if they come into direct contact with the eyes, they can cause serious problems.
These risks are present for anyone who uses the products but can be greater for older adults, whose lungs may not be as strong as they once were and whose skin may now be more delicate or sensitive.
There’s also the likelihood that seniors will have trouble reading labels on cleaning products. Those directions can be hard to read if you don’t have 20/20 eyesight — the type size on most labels is tiny! Some seniors have difficulty reading the larger print on labels as well, making it all too possible they’ll grab the wrong spray bottle or can.
Making the risk even greater is the fact that many of the same brands and products your senior loved one has used for years are now in more concentrated strengths, requiring less product to be effective. Habits are hard to break, and if you’ve always used two scoops or five spritzes of a cleaning product, you’re likely to do the same even with a much stronger formula. This, of course, increases the chances of chemical burns or inhalation of dangerous fumes.
Try These Basic Household Products Instead
One of the best solutions is to use household staples like vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice for cleaning when possible. Treehugger provides directions for using vinegar and baking soda to clean everything from toilet bowls to carpets and ovens.
An article by The Spruce Eats clarifies when to use vinegar and baking soda together, when to use them separately, and when to mix vinegar with cream of tartar instead. If you love the scent of fresh lemons, check out this article by Better Homes & Gardens for 21 eco-friendly cleaning ideas using lemons.
Switching from commercial cleaning products to kitchen staples like these is not only safer. It’s also better for the environment and less expensive.
No matter what type of cleaning products are used, it’s always a good idea to wear rubber or latex gloves while cleaning. Depending on the chore, it may also be smart to use protective eyewear to avoid hazardous splashes.
A word of caution: Avoid mixing bleach with vinegar, ammonia, rubbing alcohol, or other cleaning products. Certain combinations can create chlorine gas, chloramine gas, or chloroform. In some cases, these combinations can cause respiratory and eye damage, and even be lethal.
Not So Keen on the Idea of Baking Soda?
You can buy cleaning products with safe ingredients, such as Bon Ami powder cleanser. Many grocery stores and retailers such as Walmart and Target carry “natural” product lines like Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day and Seventh Generation that contain fewer ingredients likely to cause adverse reactions.
If you don’t want to spend a lot of time at the store reading labels, you can find out what’s in many cleaning products by going to the Environmental Working Group website. EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning lets you type in the name of a product to see what’s in it (and what safety rating the organization gives it). You can also use the guide to search for products in nearly a dozen categories.
Consider Switching Out (and Adding) Some Cleaning Tools, Too
Cleaning the house is one way to get some physical activity, but it’s also a way to wind up with a back injury or pulled muscle — particularly for seniors who might not have the strength, mobility, and flexibility they once did.
Lifting heavy buckets of water in and out of the sink or bathtub. Lugging around a heavy vacuum cleaner. Standing on a chair to dust a ceiling fan or shelf. These are just a few common scenarios in which an older adult could get hurt while doing routine housekeeping.
Fortunately, there are tools available that can make cleaning considerably less strenuous and significantly safer, such as:
- Lightweight vacuum cleaners. Some are self-propelled and easily swivel around furniture. Some have detachable handheld canisters, so you don’t have to carry the entire vacuum around. Some are cordless, so there’s less risk of tripping. This article by Woman’s World offers a review of a dozen or so different vacuums that can make cleaning easier for seniors, along with advice for choosing the right one.
- Steam mops. These work without cleansers, require no buckets of water or wringing out by hand, and typically do a more thorough job of cleaning the floor than a traditional sponge or rag mop. They aren’t recommended for certain types of floors though, and the steam is hot, so these may not be ideal for some homes or for all seniors. This article by Good Housekeeping reviews several different models, and this article by The Spruce provides helpful information about using steam mops.
- Long-handled scrubbing brushes and dustpans. Brushes with longer handles make cleaning showers, tubs, and tile easier as there’s less need to bend over (or get down on one’s knees) while scrubbing. Similarly, a long-handled dustpan prevents the need to squat down while sweeping dust and debris into the pan. Another option is an automatic dustpan, which is basically a touchless vacuum you sweep debris into.
- Extendable microfiber dusters. These make reaching high places possible without having to stand on a stool or ladder.
- Grabber tools. Also called “reachers” or “reach extenders, these are essentially poles with a claw on one end that can be used to pick up objects from the ground without bending over. Some can also be used to reach items from top shelves without having to get a step stool.
Additional Safety Tips
Accidents are more likely to happen if your loved one is tired, and cleaning can use up a lot of energy. Encourage your parent to take frequent breaks while cleaning the house and to break up large chores into smaller steps if possible.
It’s also important to stay hydrated — another good reason for taking a break every so often.
If you have other concerns about whether your loved one’s living environment could be safer, the National Council on Aging offers a senior home safety checklist.
Is It Getting to Be Too Much?
If your loved one is finding it more challenging to maintain a clean home, it may be time to consider hiring some help, even if he or she hasn’t brought up the subject.
It can be hard sometimes for older adults to acknowledge that they aren’t able to do as much as they used to. Rather than pointing out places in the home that need cleaning, try making the conversation more about the advantages of having some assistance.
At some point, many older adults and their families come to the conclusion that maintaining the house is more than they can manage and might even be placing their safety at risk. If you believe this is where you and your loved one are headed, it may be time to start looking into other arrangements, such as assisted living, where the staff handles housekeeping, provides meals, and can assist with essential daily activities.
The best time to start exploring other options is before it becomes necessary. If you’d like to come have a look around one of our communities, contact us and we’ll set up a visit.
Featured Image: Dusan Petkovic / Shutterstock
