Washing hair in bed

One of the things my mother always enjoyed was getting her hair washed. I use to wash it in the shower - we had one of those large handicapped chairs which can be placed in a bathtub, or in our case, in the walk in shower.

My mothers hair is very fine, so it get dirty and greasy. She was never one to go to the beauty shop, so getting her hair done professionally is not something she missed.

However, once they had to start giving her bed baths, as trying to get her into the shower was difficult and a bit dangerous, getting her hair washed with a washcloth just didn't cut it.

I had purchased some no-rinse shampoo caps. I first learned of these when my mother was in the hospital. You put them in the microwave to heat them up, and then they are like a shower cap with stuff inside of it which shampoos and conditions the hair, with no rinsing. Amazing.
The manufacturer of the one I purchased is CleanLife Products www.norinse.com

These work quite well. However, I ran out of them, so as they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

What I asked the home health aide to do was to move my mother up on the hospital bed (with my help)where her head overhung. I put pillows under her neck, covered with a trash bag to keep them dry, and then a towel. I placed a wash pan on the floor underneath her head, and then placed plastic trays up against the wall to protect the wall from splashing water.

I then had a dishwasher soap bottle which had just been emptied, so I rinsed it out and filled it with warm water. I used this to dampen her hair, the home health aide applied shampoo and massaged it in, while I refilled the bottle to rinse out the shampoo.

My mother hates to get water in her ears, so I always have to remember to put in the ear plugs, and take care if water gets in the outer ears.

After the rinse, we wrap her hair in a towel, and I blow dry it as she lies in bed. This quite often puts her to sleep.

We are getting pretty good at this by now. I haven't timed it, but I don't think it takes more than 7 minutes for the whole operation, minus the hair drying.

Nothin' like a bath and clean hair, especially when you are confined to bed.