MagnaReady is an adaptive clothing company that makes men’s and women’s casual and activewear. MagnaReady adapts their clothing with magnets to replace buttons and zippers to reduce the need for fine motor control for dressing and tasks like cathing.
As a C5-6 quad, manipulating regular buttons and zippers without an adaptive tool is really difficult for me, and even with adaptations, it takes a considerable amount of time and effort. MagnaReady sent me a few samples of their clothing to test out and see if their adaptations do indeed make dressing easier.
Fordham Pants
The MagnaReady Fordham is a classic flat-front chino pant with magnetic closures replacing the zipper and Velcro replacing the button on the waistband. There is a nonfunctional button on the front of the pants concealing any evidence of the pants being adaptive. Another nice touch is that there are no buttons on the rear pockets, eliminating a potential pressure point. The pants fit well — the 34-inch waist pants fit as expected. I am six feet, three inches tall, and I usually order my pants with a 34-inch inseam to ensure that they are long enough while seated. MagnaReady only offers 30- and 32-inch inseams, but the 32-inch inseam was long enough for me.
“The magnets on the cuffs of the sleeves should be a standard option on all dress shirts. Buttons on the cuffs are annoying for anybody regardless of hand function, and the magnets eliminate this problem entirely.”
I get dressed in bed, and the magnets and Velcro worked very well. When aligned closely, the magnets snap together quickly and hold well. The Velcro worked as well as one would expect Velcro to work. Both the magnets and Velcro were easy to undo by putting my thumbs in the belt loops and pulling apart.
When seated in my wheelchair, the pants were still easy to undo, but getting them to go back together was quite difficult. As with many wheelchair users, my quad gut expands considerably when seated, making it
difficult to get a waistband to close if it gets unbuttoned. I was able to put my thumbs in the belt loops and pull the waistband close enough to get the bottom magnet to secure, but that was it. I think that if I had gotten a bigger waist size, it would have been easier to get everything back together. Altogether, the pants look good and the magnets and Velcro work well as a replacement for the zipper and button, though I would recommend ordering a size larger than your usual size for the above reason. The Fordham pant is available for $69.50.
Long Sleeve Shirts
Next up was the blue chambray long sleeve shirt and navy plaid twill long sleeve shirt. Both shirts were comfortable and fit as expected. The shirts feature magnets in lieu of button closures down the front of the shirt as well as the cuffs. The shirts have nonfunctional buttons on the front to give the appearance of a classic dress shirt. Much like the pants, the magnets snap together quickly and easily when closely aligned.
It was a little more difficult for me to pull the front of the shirt together as there is nothing like a belt loop to stick my thumbs in to pull the shirt together. However, once I got the bottom magnet secured, the others fell into place much more easily.
The magnets on the cuffs of the sleeves should be a standard option on all dress shirts. Buttons on the cuffs are annoying for anybody regardless of hand function, and the magnets eliminate this problem entirely. Undoing the magnets was easy as I was able to slip my thumb into the gaps between the magnets and pop them open. I was able to undo the cuff buttons by both putting my thumb in the gap in the sleeve and popping the magnet apart, and by biting the cuff and pulling it apart. The shirts look nice, and the magnets are inconspicuous. I would recommend them to anyone looking to gain independence in dressing. Both shirts are available for $64.95.
The pants and shirts that I tried out are just a small sample of what MagnaReady has to offer. For men, the company offers a variety of pants and shirts that are suitable for everything from the office to a day at home. MagnaReady also offers a variety of women’s clothing, including pants, shirts and dresses with magnetic closures.
Prices are comparable to what one would expect from a department store with most items falling between $40 and $80. It is important to note that the magnets can interfere with pacemakers and other implanted medical devices, so check with your doctor if this is a concern.
For more information on MagnaReady’s line of clothing, please visit magnaready.com.
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My big complaints with magnets are in the laundry process. The magnets tended to attach to the washer’s tub and twist the clothing so that it was one giant wrinkle. Perhaps they have perfected that issue?
You have to snap all of them closed and wash gentle
Are there bigger sizes available?