Clothes

• You may be able to identify certain pieces of clothing by feeling the fabric or a feature such as a buckle or pocket.
• Organisation is extremely important. Place items of the same shade in the same part of the wardrobe or shelf. Store tights and socks in different plastic bags or baskets so that the dark ones can be kept together and the light ones together.
• Use different shaped buttons sewn onto garments, with each shape denoting a certain colour. These are available from NCBI’s shop.
• Place a safety pin in the band of a skirt or trousers to help identify it.
• A talking colour detector is available from NCBI’s shop.

Shoes

• Feel the different features on your shoe to identify it.
• Use a shoe rack to organise your shoes. Place light-coloured shoes on the top rack and dark ones on the bottom.
• If using a shelf, place brown shoes on the right and black on the left (R in ‘brown’ and in ‘right’, L in ‘black’ and in ‘left’).
• If you are a Braille reader, Braille labels can be placed on shelves or shoe boxes to help identification.

Clothes care

Many people with sight loss worry about not seeing stains on their clothes. There is no easy way to tell, but you could:

• Ask a friend or relative.
• Change clothes regularly.
• Presume that clothes are stained, especially if they have been worn for a couple of days or if housework has been done.
• Wear an apron when cooking or cleaning.
• ‘Feel’ for stains as some may cause material to stiffen.

Needle threading

• Practise.
• Thread the needle over a contrasting background.
• Various types of needle threaders are available from NCBI’s shop.
• Ask a relative or friend to thread needles in advance and leave these stuck in a pin cushion.