Respite

Well how about a laundry bag with a name on ,or does everyone’s clothes go in together?

I don't have an answer Elizabeth1 but I know that when a relative of mine went into a care home for a short while as she was not quite fit enough to return home after a long stay in hospital, she lost most of her nice clothes and was given unknown clothes to wear.

Luckily, when she came home, she was able to take a trip to M&S with her DD and bought herself new clothes but not everyone is able to do this, or cannot afford to do so.

I must say too that another relative manages a care home and they are most meticulous about everyone receiving their own laundry back, I'm not sure what method they use.

None of my MiL's newly purchased clothes were ever seen again after she was admitted.

We have had this with my mothers clothes. Many of her blouses and a few pairs of trousers disappeared. We used a fabric marker to write her name in her clothes but they still went. Eventually the managers realised that some of the staff were helping themselves to some of the nicer items!

By the way I should say this is not having a go at the care home. The majority of the staff are brilliant and its a shame a few bad apples spoil things for others.

It’s a hard one. Some can manage and some need a bit of guidance on how to manage their laundry. A gold star to those who can manage individual clothing issues.

This came up recently where I work. The management is against it because "it institutionalises them", them being the people whose clothes would be marked with their names. Where I work is a small establishment so not having clothes named is not a huge issue, but I don't really see why it's worse than schools asking that schoolkids' names are on their clothes and equipment. When I ran a Cub Pack we asked people to put initials on things.

Is a school an 'institution'? And if it is, does it matter? The people in it are no less people for having their names on their kit so that it's easier to find who owns what when things get left behind or muddled up.

PS I put my name on quite a few of my garments.

If your name and phone number is on your Tilley hat, even if an elephant eats it and shits it out (it has happened!), it can be washed and got back to you wherever in the world you are.

When my MIL was in a care home, another resident took a real fancy to a smart handbag we'd bought for her birthday. Even when we were visiting, she'd sidle up to chat for a minute or two, then scoop the bag up, hang it over the arm of her wheelchair and race out of the room with it at a rate of knots. The staff were forever getting it back off her, and she would swear blind it was hers, despite MIL's knitting and humbugs being in it and her name being writ large inside in black felt tip. I'd hoped to donate it to Sarah when MIL had no further use for it, but sadly they died the same week. So guess who's now often sporting a bag with another woman's name inside?

I think it's fine to label things - however, even that system could fail!
My relative was more upset about having to wear clothes that were not hers I think.

I spent hours sewing lables into everything mum wore as requested by the home. More than once I would find someone elses garment in mums room despite having the persons name on. I believe they did wash every ones clothes together, so a laundry bag would not work. There is always the option of takibg your loced ones laundry home to wash yourself.
The one thing I struggled with were mums glasses. I would sellotape her name to the arm and she would pick it off then put them down and forget them until I reclaimed them from the office on my next visit.

taking your loved one's

When my mother was in a care home - a very good one for the most part- several of her clothes went 'missing'.The only thing I regretted was a beautifully crotcheted shawl that my DGM had made and which I didn't realise was missing until a couple of months after she died.

We left a laundry bag in my mum's room and took all her stuff home to wash when she was in a home for a while. Realise its not possible for everyone to do this, but we did it because we were fed up of replacing clothes that went missing.

I'd suggest taking the person's laundry back with you, or some things may well get lost.

Otherwise, get some iron-on name tags

I don't see why name tags could be a problem. If I was in that situation, I know I would rather have my own clothes returned from the laundry. I would have no objection to name tags.

Yes I don't see the problem with name tapes either. If it ensures people getting the right clothes back its a good idea.
I used to run a residential home and respite unit for people with a learning disability who were often unable to identify their clothes, name tapes were a necessity.
I'm sorry to hear staff were stealing from the care home, name tapes or lack of them will not stop this.

I would label all clothes but as you say it will not guarantee that you get them back from the wash.
I have no wish for my quality clothes to end up on someone else or even in a carer' s wardrobe. I think I will buy an assortment of chain store clothes and instruct family to leave designer handbags at home.

My mother's lovely underwear and nightmare never returned from the wash in the nursing home during her short stay there. We labelled it with her name, made not a jot of difference. It was distressing for her because having nice underwear and nightwear had been important throughout her adult life (she lacked those things as a child). After a number of discussions when staff assured us it wouldn't happen again, but it did, I brought her washing home rather than leave it there to be done.

My mum in law was in a nursing home for end of life care for 12 weeks. Her clothes were all washed in their laundry and returned to her in pristine condition.
Odd isn't it that some places are able to give a higher level of importance to this kind of thing than others.

Isn’t it Iam64

I ordered good old Cash's woven name tapes for all my mother's things when she finally went into a care home. And for anything else bought subsequently - which was quite a few, given that she was there for very nearly 8 years.

I didn't object to sewing them on - I wouldn't expect the staff to do it, or to keep track of anything that wasn't named. It could be difficult enough anyway in a dementia care home where 'borrowing' other people's things was common.

A lot of people use indelible markers - I did try them but nearly always found the name tapes better for clothing. I used a marker for non clothing items, e.g. shoes, photos, hairbrush, etc.

Cash's also make iron-on name tapes these days. I got some for two of my GSs but one of them, who has a phobia about stickers (!) refused to wear them. When a good friend was in a local hospice, I was able to collect her laundry and return it within 48 hours. I don't think there was a communal laundry there and - sadly - she wasn't there very long.