Extra soft flannels 27 February 2014 at 9:46PM in Over 50s MoneySaving 11 replies 3K views

pmlindyloo

My mother is 92 years old and is in a nursing home. She is very frail and has lost a lot of weight.

Her skin is very fragile, almost wafer thin and bruises very easily.

Can anyone recommend any very soft flannels or similar that the carers can use when they wash her?

Grateful thanks.

kingfisherblue

Poundworld have very soft flannels in the baby section. I bought some last year and they are way too soft for me. They are also too soft for getting grubby sons clean, but could be ideal for your mum's skin.

itsanne

What about a natural sponge?

Errata

A natural sponge would be soft but impossible to keep clean and bacteria free in a care home environment.
Advice should be sought from the care home staff who are responsible for ensuring optimum tissue viability, and/or the district nursing service.

teddysmum

You can still buy muslin squares (for washing; not nappies) which years ago used to be part of the layette for newborn babies.

Battybird

This might sound daft, but have you thought about j cloths (or similar) instead of flannels.

When my children were young I used to use these instead of flannels, as they were softer.

pmlindyloo

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Unfortunately the tissue viability nurse no longer visits - another cut back - but they can contact her by phone. It just takes so long.

Mum is having a review at the nursing home next week so I will be talking about it.

Wanted to ask as I find it quicker to buy things myself than wait for the staff to get through the 'red tape/assessment procedures' which seem to take forever.

lessonlearned

I have this issue with my OH.

I'm afraid I have caught carers using a "circular scrubbing" motion to clean him rather than a gentle dabbing motion.

Similarly they do not dry him properly. I have supplied my own flannels and towels but they rarely use them. They insist on using their thin rough worn out towels instead of the nice soft fluffy ones I provided.

Please watch out for this.

I find I have to constantly keep "on their case".

pmlindyloo

lessonlearned wrote: »

I have this issue with my OH.

I'm afraid I have caught carers using a "circular scrubbing" motion to clean him rather than a gentle dabbing motion.

Similarly they do not dry him properly. I have supplied my own flannels and towels but they rarely use them. They insist on using their thin rough worn out towels instead of the nice soft fluffy ones I provided.

Please watch out for this.

I find I have to constantly keep "on their case".

It is so hard isn't it?

Without being there 24/7 it is so difficult to know what is going on.

I know that the carers are overstretched and underpaid but that is no excuse for 'rough handling'.

I am going to suggest that a care plan outlining the things that need doing in the morning and evening are kept in her room for all carers to read. Staff rotas mean that it is never the same carers and whilst some are wonderful, some are decidedly lacking in 'gentle handing'.

Savvy_Sue

Microfibre towels might be helpful as you don't rub with them (well it doesn't seem to do much good if you do!), you blot.

But you need to pick them carefully: some are very prone to static.

I'd look for very smooth ones because it makes it much clearer that this is not a 'normal' towel.

For flannels, I do have a couple of muslin ones, I don't find them very satisfactory because they are so small, but I guess a muslin nappy might work better.

Alye16

You could look at something like this
http://www.synergyhealthplc.com/en/conti-dry-patient-wipes
They are soft and disposal, so reduce cross infection. We use to use them many years ago when I was nursing.