Wheelchair personalizing

[llurgy]

Hi all, new on here,
I already have a thread explaining that myself and my husband are planning a trip for our 12 year old daughter. She has a lung disease and is a bit delicate so we have applied (lots of other DISsers telling us to) to M-A-W and are waiting in hopes that our daughters wish is granted.
In the meantime, we are still (by hook or by crook)going to Disney World! If M-A-W falls through we shall make our own way there and do the best we can with what we have, we just cant book yet until we know the outcome of M-A-W.

Becca has a standard medical manual wheelchair, it's virtually on it's last legs and the insurance is getting us another standard medical wheelchair.
The older wheelchair hasn't quite collapsed yet and probably has a few more months left in it. Our insurance is one of those that rents to buy so it's ours now.

What I want to know is, has anyone customized their wheelchairs to make them look different. Becca wanted one of those yellow Smiley ones this time around but they are just on the small size for her. She is 12, weighs only 66lb but she is nearly 5 foot tall so the smiley ones are going out of her league.

She was really disappointed, she wanted a groovy wheelchair. So my question is, has anyone done a homemade custom job on their wheel chairs, and if so, how??

Mandy

 

[zumbergc]

I think there was a post a while back. Someone posted a picture of what they did. i recal they use a terry cloth like fabric, and embroider her name and I'm thinking a disney princess theme, maybe a crown or something. The person made the cover themselves.

Do you know someone who has an embroidery machine? This way you could create what every you wanted.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

You can do so much to make your wheelchair your own!

For instance; I've got casters with lights in them (red, blue and green, light up when rolling) and got lights (blue) on the thingy (can't remember the english word, sorry) you use to pump up the big wheel.

Combine that with a funky fabric instead of the boring basic black. A great color and some non basic wheels themselves, and you've got a unique chair.

Simple and inexpensive things you can do; use lights. Make a different fabric yourself. Furniture fabric is great for this, my wheelchair-dealer uses those as a standard as they can handle a lot of usage and don't tear to easily. Also; A LOT of choice! You can get her some tires in different colors, that'll chance the look of the chair a lot. Of course she can work with stickers of anything she likes. There are a lot of different spoke protectors, great ones if you look for them.

If it's ok with the insurance company; you could paint her chair in whatever color she'ld like. A more expensive (can be quite expensive to plain a lot expensive) option can be to get her different wheels. There are great ones out there, for instance with twisted spokes, colored spokes, you name it!

Also look into bikes and stuff. You can find great stuff for kids to pimp their bike that can also be used on a wheelchair. For instance, she might like some beads on her spokes that move f she's rolling along (hint though; they make some noice, so beware what you might be getting yourself into )

There is no limit to what can be done, except for limited creativity or funding. Let her dream; what would she like, want or do with her chair? I'm sure there can be ways to do at least some of those ideas in a affordable way.

 

[llurgy]

Thanks for the ideas!

I wil definately looking into the fabric ideas for pimping up the cushion seat and back. Not sure about investing money into new wheels/castors as the chair is on its last legs. May look to see if I can do something with decals and varnish to pimp up the paintwork though.

 

[mom_2a_sept_princess]

YES YES YES!!!

My daughter got her first manual chair when she was 2 1/2. We purchased it used from a supply place in CT. It was so gross, rusty and just plain yucky...but it was her size. DH brought it somewhere and had it powdercoated in hot pink and black paint and we had them put a layer of sparkles on it.

We then brought the wheelchair to our local seamstress and she sewed a cover for the seat and back of the chair. The material is hot pink and black flowers. Here is a picture.

Wheelchair in pieces:

http://www.emmahopeworld.net/photos/Gallery28/pages/DSCF5593.htm

Before the new cushions:

http://www.emmahopeworld.net/photos/Gallery28/pages/DSCF5618.htm

Her with her wheels on a cruise:

http://www.emmahopeworld.net/photos/Cruise/pages/DSCF5885.htm

A nice shot of her wheelchair:

http://www.emmahopeworld.net/photos/Gallery29/pages/DSCF6453.htm



Now my Emma drives power wheels. Currently it is purple. We want to get the base airbrushed hot pink with red flames on it. Emma wants it done too...we are just waited until she stops driving into things! We have a local airbrush guy who can't wait to work on Emma's wheels. My Emma seems to be a hit with all the guys from car shops.

Amy

 

[KPeveler]

check out the automotive section of Walmart - there are LEDs you can put on the back wheels for only $4...

also check out the xmas section of walmart or target - always great stickers, lights, and sparklies to use!

 

[llurgy]

goofieslonglostsis: Thanks for all the money saving tips and the hints on how to use everyday things.
Where would I get castors from? Do they all have the same fitting regardless of the make of wheelchair. Ours is an Invacare chair.

Amy: Your daughters a real cutie-pie, love the chair, I never even thought about taking it apart to paint, we may do that, as long as we take pics every step of the way so we know how to put it back together again.

KPeveler: I will be looking in the bike and auto sections of all of the stores from now on.

All: We are also looking for a bag to go on the back of the chair.....We have never bothered with a bag before as we have had no need but going to WDW we are going to have to get one. Is it best to get a solid one or a Mesh one with regards to security/searches?

 

[BrandyC1974]

Hi. My DD (now 11yrs old) has been in a wheelchair since the age of three. We always have used a regular backpack. She always picks it out, so it is always something disney. It won't matter if it is mesh or not because they will require you to take it off the chair before going through security. I prefer a regular bag over the mesh. That way we can carry DD's personal items and don't have everyone around able to see what we are carrying. Hope this helps.

 

[llurgy]

Hi. My DD (now 11yrs old) has been in a wheelchair since the age of three. We always have used a regular backpack. She always picks it out, so it is always something disney. It won't matter if it is mesh or not because they will require you to take it off the chair before going through security. I prefer a regular bag over the mesh. That way we can carry DD's personal items and don't have everyone around able to see what we are carrying. Hope this helps.

Do regular backpacks stay on the chair ok? I had never thought about just using a backpack.

 

[teresajoy]

YES YES YES!!!

My daughter got her first manual chair when she was 2 1/2. We purchased it used from a supply place in CT. It was so gross, rusty and just plain yucky...but it was her size. DH brought it somewhere and had it powdercoated in hot pink and black paint and we had them put a layer of sparkles on it.

We then brought the wheelchair to our local seamstress and she sewed a cover for the seat and back of the chair. The material is hot pink and black flowers. Here is a picture.

Wheelchair in pieces:

http://www.emmahopeworld.net/photos/Gallery28/pages/DSCF5593.htm

Before the new cushions:

http://www.emmahopeworld.net/photos/Gallery28/pages/DSCF5618.htm

Her with her wheels on a cruise:

http://www.emmahopeworld.net/photos/Cruise/pages/DSCF5885.htm

A nice shot of her wheelchair:

http://www.emmahopeworld.net/photos/Gallery29/pages/DSCF6453.htm



Now my Emma drives power wheels. Currently it is purple. We want to get the base airbrushed hot pink with red flames on it. Emma wants it done too...we are just waited until she stops driving into things! We have a local airbrush guy who can't wait to work on Emma's wheels. My Emma seems to be a hit with all the guys from car shops.

Amy

That is so cool!!!

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

goofieslonglostsis: Thanks for all the money saving tips and the hints on how to use everyday things.
Where would I get castors from? Do they all have the same fitting regardless of the make of wheelchair. Ours is an Invacare chair.

It only depends on the size of the casters. So take out a measuring tape and there you go! I payed about $50,- for a set of 2 light up casters. I've seen them online cheaper since (bougth them about 3 years ago). Fun thing is; if she doesn't need a different size caster on her new chair, you can also use them on the new chair. If you google on 'caster wheelchair lights' you'll get multiple hits with them for around $25/35,-. Even Amazon sells them, I just learned.

Backpacks; depends on the bag and the chair. Some bags work great on my chair, some don't. Some bags work great on this chair but were cr*p on my previous chair. Easiest way to find out; try before buying. Just hang any bag you and daughter like on the chair and see if it works. I tend to hang it on the back. My sidegaurds prevent the bag from dropping down to much. This way, a lot of wheelchair users with not too many upperbody problems can reach the bag very easily. Which in turn will give daughter another bit of indepence. (read; possibility of schlepping around much more stuff independantly than would fit on her lep. Being a girl, the day will come she'll be dragging around all kinds of stuff )

But seriously; as soon as something is labelled 'aid' or 'medical', so does the pricetag. The biggest financial fun comes out of looking into the every day things you can also use. And there is more than enough out there so she can drive around like whatever she wants.


(and this is exactly why I hate not being allowed to do anything with/to my powerchair )

 

[BrandyC1974]

Do regular backpacks stay on the chair ok? I had never thought about just using a backpack.

Yes. My DD has always used a regular backpack. The wheelchair that my DD gets always comes with a "bag", but it is not nearly big enough to hold everything that she needs (and that I don't want to carry). I also can drape my purse over the handles (the strap is long) and my camera case. Of course I never leave the wheelchair with my purse and camera case on it. If I have to walk away from the wheelchair (such as when riding a ride where we transfer her onto the ride vehicle), I take my stuff with me.

Bring the chair with you when shopping for the backpack. You can make sure that it will "sit" on the back of the chair.

Hope this helps.

 

[SueM in MN]

Hi. My DD (now 11yrs old) has been in a wheelchair since the age of three. We always have used a regular backpack. She always picks it out, so it is always something disney. It won't matter if it is mesh or not because they will require you to take it off the chair before going through security. I prefer a regular bag over the mesh. That way we can carry DD's personal items and don't have everyone around able to see what we are carrying. Hope this helps.

My DD has also been using a wheelchair since she was almost 3 - she's 23 now.
We've always done some things to personalize her wheelchairs.
Her current manual wheelchair has wheels with several plastic spokes instead of thin metal spokes. This picture doesn't show really well, but you can see that she has some glow in the dark stars (from Target or you can find them at party places or Toys R Us).

I don't have any pictures of the back of her wheelchair, but we decorated that with stickers. She has some Disney ones on her power wheelchair, but her manual chair has butterflies. We got some of the stickers from vending machines - you put in 25 to 50 cents and get a pretty nice sticker. You can also find larger stickers sometimes in the automotive department.
Another idea would be to use a large number of smaller stickers - for $6.99, you can get a lot of stickers like these sparkly ones from Target.

The green shiny seat cushion is a cover made by me. I've used upholstery equipment before, but my favorite material to use now is swimsuit or dance material. Those materials come in some pretty bright colors, are stretchy and don't hold liquid (she had some problems in the past with getting sweaty under her legs).

When she had a wheelchair with thin metal spokes, we used a lot of things meant for bike spokes. There are light up things that can be screwed in to replace the little cover that covers the tire valve stem.

Do regular backpacks stay on the chair ok? I had never thought about just using a backpack.

We've done what the other posters mentioned - try a bag out before buying. I have also shortened the straps and made them so they just go around the upright push arms of DD's wheelchair.

 

[mykidsintow]

My daughters is purple and COATED in princess stickers. They do get icky at times and have to be cleaned off, but they are adorable.

I took a hot pink towel and made a cover for her seat and embroidered her name on it. She also has a baby doll seat for Carlee (her favorite doll) and a place to put am umbrella (if its really hot, as se overheats easily).

There is also a matching purple bag for lucas' doggie doodoo baggies attached on the back and aclip for him when she is handling him. She doesn't handle him at Disney with all the crowds (she is only 5), but normally at the mall and here she does.

 

[llurgy]

I think I will check out the backpacks over the weekend when we go shopping.

The stickers........do they stay on? I would have thought they would come peeling off straight away.

Becca's wheelchair has the big plastic spokes not the skinny metal ones, but I suppose we could paint them a groovy color.

Thanks for the info on the light up cators, that will be a big hit I know

SueM in MN......I think there is supposed to be a picture with your post but I cant see it, I have tried in both IE and Firefox but still no picture.

Mandy

 

[lovemred]

All: We are also looking for a bag to go on the back of the chair.....We have never bothered with a bag before as we have had no need but going to WDW we are going to have to get one. Is it best to get a solid one or a Mesh one with regards to security/searches?

Would any of the Skip Hop bags work on the the back? They might be a little lower profile that a regular backpack. Amazon had some good prices on them, so you could watch there....

Here's one of the "Duo" types styles, there's different fabrics:

http://www.skiphop.com/mm5/merchant...de=SH&Category_Code=CLRN&&Product_Code=112000

Saddlebags are a little smaller--not sure if they're wide enough, or if velcro extensions would work?

http://www.skiphop.com/mm5/merchant...e=SH&Category_Code=CLRN&&Product_Code=172000C

 

[SueM in MN]

I think I will check out the backpacks over the weekend when we go shopping.

The stickers........do they stay on? I would have thought they would come peeling off straight away.

Becca's wheelchair has the big plastic spokes not the skinny metal ones, but I suppose we could paint them a groovy color.

Thanks for the info on the light up cators, that will be a big hit I know

SueM in MN......I think there is supposed to be a picture with your post but I cant see it, I have tried in both IE and Firefox but still no picture.

Mandy

Sorry, I got distracted and didn't put the picture in. It's there now.
We stuck stickers on flat surfaces of DD'S wheelchair tires. I'm not sure painting the tires would work - a lot of paints don't stick well to plastic.

Less expensive (and easier to find than casters) are light up valve stems. They screw onto the tire valve (that little thing that you put air in the tires with). DD has solid tires on the front casters and her back tires are foam filled, permanently sealed, so no valve stems. You can find those in the bike area.
For stickers, look for Mylar, holographic or foil stickers. Those stick the best and last the longest.

 

[llurgy]

Would any of the Skip Hop bags work on the the back? They might be a little lower profile that a regular backpack. Amazon had some good prices on them, so you could watch there....

Here's one of the "Duo" types styles, there's different fabrics:

http://www.skiphop.com/mm5/merchant...de=SH&Category_Code=CLRN&&Product_Code=112000

Saddlebags are a little smaller--not sure if they're wide enough, or if velcro extensions would work?

http://www.skiphop.com/mm5/merchant...e=SH&Category_Code=CLRN&&Product_Code=172000C

I may have to look more closely at these Skip Hop Bags.
Been trying backpacks for a few weeks now and they all seem to have one drawback for us. Where you loop the shoulder straps over the handles of the chair is where the problem is. Becca's head is about the same level and the shoulder straps or the carry handle/top of the rucksack, and whatever is at that point keeps hitting the back of her head.
Because the shoulder straps are quite close together and quite wide/padded the backpack "ride" is quite high. I cant see any way of lowering the ride height to make it sit lower and be more comfortable.
We have a really old scrubby looking backpack with shoulder straps that are not padded or wide and they are further apart than the newer ones. This seems to sit on the wheelchair a lot better, plus it has those lower straps where you can secure it around your waist, which are ideal for securing to the wheelchair to stop it flopping about.
Alas, it is holey, smelly and really dirty looking. Made out of canvas and has been washed lotsa times but still looks terrible.
Why cant I find one that looks similar to this?

Onwards with the search...........

Mandy

 

[pugdog]

Take a look at the case logic bags at Ebags.http://www.ebags.com/case_logic/mobility_backpack/product_detail/index.cfm?modelid=60606
These bags are designed for wheelchairs.

This is the bag that DW has on her chair. It fits better then any backpack ever has. Plus the outside pockets are great for holding maps and water bottles. The inside is a nice size and has a few pockets inside too.
Plus I see it's on sale right now.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

a lot of paints don't stick well to plastic.

Actually, try the hardware store. Krylon makes a spraypaint that was designed specifically for plastics!