I'm not really complaining here - well, maybe just a little. My dh has always worn kackey pants and light shirts because he was a blonde before turning white and those colors suit his coloring real well. Well, he can't seem to eat ANYTHING these days without getting it all over whatever he has on. I spend so much time spotting his clothes before tossing them into the wash tub, I've just had it. I told him today that I was phasing out his lights and he was going to be wearing stuff that didn't show everything he had for lunch, dinner, etc. He agreed that was a good idea. I never had any children of my own (I married them), so I missed the kid growing up stages, but I guess he's just like a toddler now, doesn't even notice all his food spots. Poor dear.
mothert, how about using adult bibs if your dh would wear them. I'm sure if you googled them you would find them and they would be cheaper than new clothes. Just a thought.
Mothert- I was given a bunch of bibs from the Olive Garden (Hospitaliano), and I used those for about 9 months with great results. Otherwise, plan on a shirt change after every meal. The bibs are plastic and you just throw them away after a meal, or if not too dirty, you can wash them and reuse them.
mothert, this is something I have been dealing with for some time now. Pre-wash sprays and daily washing his clothes has put an additional load on my caregiving duties. Bibs would be a little embarrassing to my DH at this stage but I've found stick-on napkins are a real clothes saver. They're called NapKleens and have a peel-off strip across the top and then stick it on his shirt. It even has a little crumb catcher at the bottom to protect the pants. I ordered them from some catalog but can't remember which one. You could probably google NapKleens. They're even good to carry in your purse and have handy when eating out.
I don't think the colors of the clothes are going to matter. Dark colors stain just as much as light colors. My teenage son proves that daily.
You might want to try "Tide To Go" - a marker sized magic pen that removes fresh food and drink stains without the need for water or a washing machine. So you can deal with the stains when they happen.
My DH takes care of that! He just uses his napkin, puts it in his iced tea or coffee, and rubs the stain! Oh boy! Then I have the tea/coffee stain to contend with too! Tide to go works; as does a little spray of a stain remover.
mary22033 is right. Dark colors don't make a difference. My husband wears jeans everyday and uses them as his napkin. His shirt stays pretty spot free because he uses his napkin like a bib. Many a time we are on our way somewhere and I look over and see he has peanut butter, mustard, what have you, on his jeans. I try to check him out before we leave, but don't always remember to. I keep wet wipes in the car and have used them to get some of the stains off his jeans.
Make a simple bib. Use a kitchen towel and tie a strip of fabric ( I use drawstrings that I removed from some pants) or even shoestrings on each corner of the towel. They are simple to wash and if they have stains just spray with stain remover.
I use the kitchen towel and just tuck in into his shirt collar. It helps for a little while until he pulls it down to wipe his face. I have started placing a wet rag next to him and he is using it most of the time and leaving the towel on his shirt. He forgets it is there when he sees the wet rag on the table. Good luck to you as this is an ongoing battle I think.
If you go on the Alzheimer Spouse home page, a short way down on the right is a link to "Zazzle". They have aprons which work very well. I got my wife the child's apron, but maybe the "standard" would work better.
Our local grocery store has aprons for $1 to $2 each and I just cut the strings off and slip them over DH's head. You could turn the bottom up to make pockets if you want.... Also to protect my placemats from "drips" I use kitchen towels instead. They are larger than placemats and can be removed after each mess.
Sweet Pea, I used the towels also for awhile. We have a round, glass top table in the kitchen and I finally found the vinyl round fitted table covers - like for a patio table outside and bought several. They are wonderful - nothing handing down, and you can just wipe them off. The chairs have white attached cushions, so I bought the clear vinyl covers for them - again just wipe them off. Saves lots of time, energy and still everything looks good.
Duh! I hadn't thought of an apron and I'm pretty darn good at the sewing machine. I told dh yesterday that he needed to drape a towel over his lap until I get his personal apron made and he was fine with that. It does help that I have for years always worn an apron to eat because, for some unknown reason, my food always ends up on my clothes. So, he doesn't think he's the only messy one in the family. Thanks for all of your suggestions.
WE had those bibs for my dad and one even looked like the front of a shirt for going out..they were so good and now we use them when we have spaghetti..I am a mess with that meal..We got them at a medical supply store or you can find them in a pharmacy that supports other things than just the normal drug store type things.