Whether you're recovering from a stroke, living with arthritis, using a walking stick, getting over an injury or caring for someone who is, many everyday tasks are designed for two free hands. This guide collects simple, practical ways to make life at home easier and safer when one hand is busy or not fully working.
Most of these tips cost little or nothing. Pick the ones that suit you, and see the section on getting a proper assessment at the end.
Carrying drinks and food
Carrying a hot drink from the kitchen is one of the most common problems people tell us about. A few small changes help a lot:
- Fill cups only three-quarters full. Less liquid means less to spill.
- Use lidded cups or travel mugs for hot drinks you carry any distance.
- Choose mugs with large or double handles that are easier to grip.
- Bring the drink to you, not you to the drink. A flask by your chair saves repeat trips.
- On one level, a wheeled trolley lets you move several things at once while leaning on it for support.
- On stairs, or when you need a hand free, a tray you hold from above rather than from the sides keeps your other hand available for a rail, door or stick.
That last idea is how our Topple Tray works. You hold it from a handle above, and the tray swings level beneath your hand like a pendulum, so drinks stay steady as you walk. It started as a tray my grandfather built for his own stairs in the 1980s.
Stairs
- Always keep one hand on the rail. If you only have one free hand, that hand belongs on the rail, not on what you are carrying.
- Carry less and make two trips. It is slower, but far safer than overloading.
- Use a bag across your body or a small backpack for light items so both your hands stay available.
- Keep duplicates upstairs and downstairs: glasses, tissues, phone chargers and anything else you would otherwise carry up and down every day.
- Light the stairs well, and keep them completely clear of items waiting to go up.
- Ask about a second handrail. A rail on both sides means your stronger hand always has something to hold.
Doors
- Prop doors open on the routes you use most, using door wedges or magnetic door holders. Never prop open fire doors.
- Swap round knobs for lever handles, which you can open with an elbow or the back of your hand.
- Plan your route before you pick anything up, so every door you need is already open.
- Remove loose rugs and trailing cables near doorways, where you are most likely to be looking at what you are carrying rather than the floor.
In the kitchen
- Put non-slip mats under bowls and chopping boards so they don't move while you work with one hand.
- Slide, don't lift. Move pans and dishes along the worktop rather than carrying them.
- Look at a kettle tipper, a stand that lets you pour without lifting the kettle.
- Try a one-handed chopping board with spikes or a corner guard to hold food in place.
- Use a perching stool so you can prepare food sitting down and keep a hand free for balance.
- Keep everyday items between waist and shoulder height, so you aren't reaching high or bending low.
- Buy prepared vegetables on days when chopping feels like too much. There is no prize for doing everything the hard way.
Around the house
- Keep your phone on you in a pocket or on a lanyard, rather than carrying it from room to room.
- Use a reacher or grabber to pick things up from the floor without bending.
- Clear the routes you walk most between your chair, the kitchen, the bathroom and the stairs.
- Add night lights on the route to the bathroom.
- Set up a "base" by your chair with everything you use often within reach.
Get a proper assessment
An occupational therapist (OT) can look at your home and routines and recommend the changes and equipment that suit you. They know far more than any list can.
- In the UK, ask your GP or hospital team for a referral, or contact your local council's adult social care team and ask for a needs assessment. Some equipment and adaptations may be provided free.
- In the US, ask your doctor about a referral to an occupational therapist.
- To compare equipment, Living Made Easy is a free, independent UK database of daily living products.
This guide is general information, not medical advice. If you have had falls, or are unsure what is safe for you, please speak to an occupational therapist or your doctor.
Share this guide
If you're an occupational therapist, carer or charity and this guide is useful to the people you support, you're welcome to link to it or print it. If you have a tip we've missed, email us at info@singlehandedproducts.com and we'll add it.