Your easy guide to slide sheets / Slideezi®
The choices for slide sheets are vast…
so which one will work for you?
Professional opinion varies hugely, with everyone having their own favourites. There are likely to be a few options suitable for you. Together we can help you narrow it down by translating and explaining some of the jargon…
WHAT ARE SLIDE SHEETS?
Slide sheets are an effective way for a carer to gently move anyone who is lying down, sometimes seated, and has restricted movement. Thin and lightweight they can be gently inserted, unravelled and easily positioned under the patient. A slide sheet requires two layers of super slippery fabric. It could be a single sheet folded, it could be two sheets, or it could be a single long sheet sewn into a cylinder (tubular/roller/turning). Adjustments to the patient’s position can be made by gently pulling the top layer of fabric. The two slippery surfaces together have minimal friction, and the patient can be moved with significantly less strength. The patient should be slid on a slide sheet and not lifted.
As well as helping to re-position patients, they reduce shear and friction, and therefore the risk of skin damage. Risk of MSK injuries to staff is also reduced when less physical effort is required to move people. And slide sheets are particularly useful for assisting with personal care.
Some patients find that combining slide sheet use with a Positioning Wedge is really helpful in allowing them to easily adjust their own positions, and importantly gives them a higher degree of independence.
We have a few excellent videos demonstrating how a slide sheet should be used. This video for example is for a flat slide sheet with no handles →
SLIDEEZI®
Slideezi® simply refers to the fabric we have developed for all of our slide sheets. Incredibly thin, the advanced technical fibres we use create a fabric with unrivalled softness and a superb multidirectional slidey finish on both sides.
VIEW ALL SLIDEEZI® SLIDE SHEETS
J-Packs
Collated for carers on the go, J-Pack is a collective name we have given to our handy drawstring bags containing two Slideezi® flat slide sheets – one with handles, and one without.
Shape?
Flat SLIDE SHEETS
Exactly as it sounds, flat slide sheets are single flat sheets made from our super slidey fabric. In order to effectively move your patient you will need either two sheets or one large one folded in half. The surfaces together from both pieces provide optimum slide in any direction. They are available with or without handles.
PROS
Two flat slide sheets working together can be used for a wide range of applications; up, down, turning, swivelling, transferring.
CONS
Getting two sides laying on top of each other can be fiddly and separate sheets can get lost.
Tubular/ROLLER SLIDE SHEETS
Designed to provide easy sliding in any direction, a tubular slide sheet works using the same concept as a continuous caterpillar track. As with the flat slide sheets, the slide is provided by the frictionless surface on the inside of the tube sliding together. They can be used for up and down movement, turning, swivelling and transferring between surfaces.
PROS
Positioning two layers tidily under someone is easier. The two sliding surface are always present.
CONS
Depending on the size of the sheet, slide could be restricted up and down. Ideally the slide sheet should cover the patient from head to toe.
TURNING SLIDE SHEETS
Turning slide sheets are generally for manoeuvring patients who are in a lying position and either turning them from side to side in a bed, or for transferring them from surface to surface (bed to bed, trolley to operating table etc.) They are normally full length and designed to cover the whole body. With the seam running from top to bottom they are designed to roll from side to side. However, as all our sheets are multi-directional, you can also move up and down, although the distance of travel is less.
Washable or Disposable?
WASHABLE
The washable Slideezi® fabric is strong and designed to be used multiple times, even with regular washing.
Wash: between 40°C and 74°C
Tumble dry: low heat (no more than 50°C)
Do not iron. Do not use bleach or harmful/corrosive chemicals
DISPOSABLE
For our disposable, single patient use slide sheets we have designed a different Slideezi® fabric not intended to be washed, and therefore not having to stand the rigours of industrial washing. They are equally slidey in all directions, a little lighter and used in exactly the same way. We weave them normally in red, orange or yellow to distinguish them from the washable range although your own colour is possible on request.
They are perfect for some hospitals or environments where volume, contamination and laundry can be an issue. However, for home use we would recommend the washable version for longevity.
Handles?
While handles are optional, many find them very beneficial. The nature of the thin and slippery Slideezi® fabric can be hard for some to grip. If you feel this might include you, we would highly recommend getting at least one of your slide sheets with handles.
Slide sheets with handles have strong webbing sewn along the long edges to provide maximum control and manoeuvrability.
Handles (and in some instances the use of additional extension straps) are particularly useful for repositioning where reach or height may put the carer at risk.
Size?
The range of environments where slide sheets are used is so huge, that the number of different size options we manufacture is beyond explaining here. However, what we can do is provide you with the most common size preferred for the end use. We have listed two sizes for some beds as many prefer to have more fabric to hold when trying to move their patient.
NOTE: for standard tubular/roller sheets the longest side is the open end, with turning sheets the shortest side is the open end.
| Single/hospital: | 90cm x 200cm | 100cm x 200cm |
| Bariatric: | 140cm x 200cm |
| Double: | 140cm x 200cm |
| King: | 150cm x 200cm | 160cm x 200cm |
Special uses
Heel slide sheet
The heel slide sheet is designed to reduce the risk of skin shearing around the heel area when moving a patient in bed. Particularly important with older patients or people with thinner skin, it is a mini-tubular slide sheet which is 40cm x 40cm when laid flat.
Car slide sheet
The car slide sheet is designed to aid turning when you get in and out of your car. Tuck it into the crevice between the back and seat, sit down, and slide in. It is also a tubular slide sheet and depending on the size of your car/seats available as either a 70cm x 80cm or 90cm x 90cm.
NOTE: it is important that the car slide sheet is removed before the vehicle moves.