Arthritis and Aging Home Smarts
Tips for aging gently, great gear and home hacks for aging, arthritis and chronic conditions.
This robot vacuum does a GREAT job, unlike the early models.
It’s been on sale regularly. This is the best price point ever at $149.(1/25- price dropped again to $143.)👍
I highly recommend this to save your back from the soreness that regular vacuuming can cause. This does a decent job on floors and carpets, and seamlessly moves between them. (Hint: DO pull up curtains and electrical cords before using Roomba).
Blessings, Mary Beth
Fast and stylish upgrades
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/27948BFB-7CA5-4519-91EE-53D3365D90F8?ingress=0&visitId=1a7891ae-2c41-42e8-870a-c24274f681cc
Snappower LED lights are the best for reliable efficient lighting around the house. Available switch plates, outlets in multiple formats. Made in the USA
Aging in place is the “new normal” for many of us over age 65, or with challenging conditions. It’s often more cost effective to add small upgrades for safety and accessibility than to pay the high price of moving. But they can also look stylish while being functional.
Delta’s Curved Assist grab bar at $12.79 is stylish, stable and a small profile. We mounted it vertically for best use right outside the tub and shower. We even added one to our RV shower, making sure it was anchored per Delta directions. See Amazon or Home Depot for the same price point. It does go on sale regularly.
https://www.amazon.com/Delta-DF705PC-Curved-Bathroom-Polished/dp/B00FGF5ID8
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Delta-8-8-9-in-x-7-8-in-Traditional-Curved-Concealed-Screw-Assist-Bar-in-Chrome-DF705PC/203399032
Kohlers dual shower head ( with detachable hose sprayer) looks great and has great functionality. I loved it when in a boot cast, to shower without getting the boot wet.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/KOHLER-Viron-4-Spray-6-in-Dual-Wall-Mount-Fixed-and-Handheld-Shower-Heads-1-75-GPM-in-Polished-Chrome-REC26699-G-CP/323577334?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&srsltid=AfmBOory3hjOEzzl8iURvRjrus_pE8cyedDgmUG6Gz97LvDzm9hdwopfEto&gQT=1
Also goes on sale for less at Costco.
Pull out drawers in the kitchen are great, especially for heavier Dutch ovens and glass/ Pyrex bowls. Available at home stores everywhere, and easy to retrofit.
My Delta pull out faucet is a real hand saver to fill pans, coffee pots, water pitchers, you name it. Many brands are available, I just find Delta to hold up better than some.
Finally, visitors to our house comment the most about out super LED lighted switch and outlet plates by Snap power. They’re adjustable (lo-hi or off), easy to install by an average handy person, and made in the USA.
There are cheaper models at the home stores, not made in the US. They don’t hold up or have the features that SnapPower has.
Wishing you the best as you age gently in your own home.
Blessings, Mary Beth
updated 07/28/26
Best of the Best Easy Open Container , even frozen: about $1 each, BPA free. Found everywhere, including Menards in the Midwest, Target, Walmart.
07/27/26- 08/23/26 Costco Snapware Pyrex 18 piece glass food storage, with easy to remove BPA free lids. $19.99 in warehouse. Online, much more
Target’s UP AND UP brand now carries a Twist and Store product that is BPA free. Useful sizes include 2-3/4 cup, and smaller 1/2 cup size perfect for sauces and salad dressings “on the go”. I like the measurements imbedded in the clear container walls allowing mixing within the container. Targets smaller 1/2 cup is the only brand I can find that has an easy twist to open feature in the smallest size for sauces and salad dressings.
It’s the little things around the house that can be frustrating, especially most “tight seal” food containers that are impossible to open when frozen.
I don’t like to have to ask someone else to open tight containers although asking for help is something I am working on. (I like to be independent).
These food storage containers are ingenious. The twist and turn containers have a great seal, hold up nicely in the top rack of a dishwasher and can be easily opened even when filled with frozen food. And of course, putting food into a sliding loc or double seal ziploc works great too and saves freezer space.
(With a lightweight blower that really works)
It’s lilac season in central Minnesota, a very brief time of riotous color and fragrance!
It’s just another reason to celebrate spring and be outside. And eventually to get around to some of that yard and patio cleanup, hopefully without hurting afterwards.
I don’t need to tell you that some of the worst “back- killers” are bending, garden work and vacuuming.
Here are my latest back savings tools that are reasonably priced, basic, and allow you to do your stuff without hurting.
Oxo Good Grip Upright Sweep Set. I got mine at T J Maxx. $19-29.
Shark Performance Ultralight Corded vacuum, a lightweight workhorse.
Rubbermaid flat top step stool ( for inside or out)
Black and Decker leaf/patio blower Model LB700, only 4#. About $30.
(don’t forget your hearing protection)
Yard cart (lightweight) Suncast brand $39 at Walmart, and Amazon. Less at Sam’s club, seasonally. Very “senior friendly”.
Blessings, Mary Beth
(including textured shower and tub floors)
Updated 08/11/23
I don’t know about you, but scrubbing tubs and shower doors is one of the hardest things on my hands, not to mention twisting or bending. You can buy commercial foaming bath cleaners but I find those to be very noxious to breathe in the house. Many other people have found a regular swipe with a good quality squeegee after a shower is excellent maintenance and relatively easy.
See The Everyday Cheapskate website homemade cleaner recipes at the link below. Or fastest off all, my favorite Trader Jo essential oil infused cleaner. It works well as a spray on and leave daily cleaner, including glass shower doors. I love the cedarwood-sage fragrance, without strong noxious cleaning fumes. Used the squeegee for regular maintenance.
A light wipe with a magic clean eraser helped loosen any areas that needed a touch up, especially my glass shower doors.
Textured shower or tub floors can look “grubby” even when clean. An overnight solution of baking soda and vinegar bubbled up and whitened my flower, with a light wipe only. Use full strength vinegar.
https://www.everydaycheapskate.com/dear-mary/make-tub-tile-shower-cleaners-cheaper-better-faster/
Additional hint: install a detachable shower head for easier cleaning of the shower by rinsing off solution. This is also important for independent showering as we age or after a surgery. Detachable shower heads are reasonably priced and easy to install without calling a plumber.
Final suggestion: hiring someone to do heavy scrubbing once a month is worth it, if you can swing it financially. Then do the above maintenance in between.
Blessings, Mary Beth
updated July 2023
Use a wooden spoon or utensil to open tab cans for easier grip
Those little tabs on cans aren’t always easy to lift. Use a little lever action with a wooden spoon handle or a narrow knife for less work (and no spilling).
America’s Test Kitchen on PBS gave top ratings to the Hamilton Beach electric can opener for ease of use and NO SHARP EDGES. My model is a Hamilton Beach 76606ZA, or newer. A winner in my house as it doesn’t get food on the blade, so rare cleaning is required.
Opening juice concentrate and frozen tabs on containers was always difficult until I used a pliers like my Craftsman robogrip pliers, available on Amazon. Other pliers by Stanley work the same way, and stay in my kitchen drawer.
The Oxo good grip portable jar opener is my favorite and is easiest to use. It’s $12, before coupon at Bed, Bath and Beyond and available at Amazon (Amazon Choice) for 14.99 in July 2023 :
https://www.bing.com/search?q=oxo+good+grips+jar+opener+with+base+pad&aqs=edge.0.69i64i450l7.51226j0j4&FORM=ANAB01&PC=LCTS
The EZ off under the counter mount jar opener is also excellent, and an “Amazon choice” at $18 price point, and a real hand saver.
https://www.amazon.com/EZ-Off-Opener-Sizes-White/dp/B000X6K9J8/ref=sr_1_6?crid=28HRDMPZ19ESA&keywords=under+counter+jar+opener&qid=1689796581&s=home-garden&sprefix=under+the+counter+jar+opener%2Cgarden%2C581&sr=1-6
Blessings, Mary Beth
