Solutions for Missing Laundry in MC?

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  • towhee
    towhee Member Posts: 645
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    edited October 2025

    If there is a laundry hamper in his room is it labeled "Family does Laundry"? Doing the laundry yourself with really big name tags is the only way I found to keep things straight. You might also put his name on his closet doors, that might cut down on "shopping" a little. I sometimes suspected staff of "borrowing" items for other residents on an emergency basis, although that did not happen often. Some families just do not keep enough clothing available. I gave up on keeping my own sheets even though I put name, room #, and even facility name on the sheets. The facility did not put sheets and bedspreads in the clothes hamper. They were taken out of the room entirely when they were changed or soiled, and were sent outside to a professional laundry. You were lucky if they were sent back to the same facility, let alone the same room. I could not make the identifying info big enough that they would take the time to read it.

    I would talk to some of the other residents family members and see if they are also having problems. There is strength in numbers. If enough of the family members agreed you might be able to come up with some kind of lost list that the facility could post somewhere. They will not want to, it would make them look bad but losing that many items when you have to replace them gets expensive.

  • Pmmommie
    Pmmommie Member Posts: 29
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    I have a problem with the flip side of this coin. My Father is boardline ready for MC. He is currently in AL. He needs to feel useful and his facility understands and allows him to have "jobs". He vacuums his hallway and keeps it clean. He spends a cou[le of hours detailing it every day. He also helps clean up the dining room. His biggest "job" is laundry. He goes from door to door and collects the residents' laundry one by one. He has also discovered the MC also has their own as well as each floor. He always does the resident's laundry on their floor. He washes and dries and then returns outside their room in their baskets. Here comes my end of this problem.

    He often ends up with clothes hanging in his closet that he thinks are his but aren't. I go in to his closet at least once a week and sort thru when he is at a meal or one of his aides takes him to feed the birds. I then return any extra clothes to the front desk and they piece them together. Each shirt he owns has either a Military logo of some sort or hsi italian goup logo. Any solid shirts, I mark without his knowledge. It is becoming a real issue. I hate to take this "job" away from him. He just hates how the staff does laundry.

  • harshedbuzz
    harshedbuzz Member Posts: 6,995
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    edited October 21

    @[Deleted User]

    DIY can cut down on some, but not all of this problem.

    There are a number of ways things can disappear— the hunter-gatherers are one problem. Incontinence might play into this. If dad's not quite fully there, he may be tossing wet or soiled clothing. Sometimes things that have been badly soiled are discarded rather than dealt with in house.

    One thing a friend did was to find a decent charity thrift store and buy clothing for her dad there. One benefit was that most things were already broken in and comfortable.

    HB

  • JJ401
    JJ401 Member Posts: 411
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    I have no memory care solution. I need an at home solution.

    I try to find things that DH can still do. One of them is carrying the laundry from the washroom upstairs. He’s been folding towels and putting away his clothing. Where he puts things is not always obvious. Usually I can find them, but a few items can not be found. They are here somewhere. They will turn up eventually. But, right now it’s frustrating.

  • SDianeL
    SDianeL Member Posts: 3,421
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    this is a common occurrence in memory care. I bought shirts on sale and at the thrift store. I doubt there is a solution.

  • kblau
    kblau Member Posts: 102
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    This is very common. One thing that helped me is connecting with family of the other residents. I’ve made it a point to get to know everyone and I bring it up to them. They usually agree that they are having the same issue. So we all try to help each other out and return items.

    Another thing is - I iron on my labels, I keep a fabric pen on hand, and I do my mom’s laundry myself (delicate items).

    Also my mom’s wardrobe is pretty much the same black leggings, tanks and camisoles. Everyone knows what’s my mom’s for this reason. She wears the same items kinda like a uniform.

  • H1235
    H1235 Member Posts: 2,400
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    I’ve had this problem with my mom also. We labeled clothes, but I’m not sure how much it helped. I really think it was the facility staff that just wasn’t paying attention to what they were doing. Mom once asked where I bought a pair of pants, but they weren’t her pants. I told her she should give them to staff to figure out where they came from, but she liked them and didn’t want to give them up. She would wear the pants for a few weeks and then they would find a new home. At the same time she would be missing a shirt or a pair of pants that belonged to her, so I just kind of rolled with it. At one point she actually insisted I bring a big tub to her in Al so she could wash all her clothes by hand and hang them in her shower to dry. I did not bring her the tub, but she still washed things in the sink so they wouldn’t get lost. I bought her clothes at discount stores and good will. It was frustrating and even good will prices add up, but I have not found a solution.

  • [Deleted User]
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  • kblau
    kblau Member Posts: 102
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    do you iron on label the socks? Once I did this, I noticed a complete change. All her stuff started coming back. It was like ‘oh wow she means business. She’s ironing on labels to each sock. Lol.’

Commonly Used Abbreviations


DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
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