Accessible Hands-Free Appliances for your Home in 2024

Home appliances were originally designed to make our lives easier. Whether you’re in the kitchen preparing a meal, cleaning the house, or doing laundry, your hands are busy. Not only will hands-free appliances make your life easier, but they also prevent the spread of germs, bacteria, and viruses.

There Are Three Major Categories of Kitchen Appliances for a Hands-Free Kitchen:

1. Push-to-Open Appliances

Push-to-open refrigerators are an upscale option originally designed to match modern handle-free cabinetry. To open a handle-free refrigerator, you simply need to push on the door and the door will pop open. If you’re holding a heavy platter or stockpot, you can simply nudge the refrigerator with your hip or shoulder and gain hands-free access to the interior. Most push-to-open refrigerators are sold as all-refrigerator, all-freezer, or wine storage columns that can be combined to fit your storage needs.

Push-to-open dishwashers were also designed to match modern handle-free cabinetry. To open a handle-free dishwasher lightly push near the top 1/3 of the door. If you are unable to push on the door with your hand, the unit will open with a light tap from your knee or elbow.

Push-to-open refrigerators and dishwashers are typically covered in a custom cabinet panel to blend seamlessly with the rest of the kitchen. If you don’t want your appliance doors to be covered with custom cabinet panels, some brands offer optional stainless-steel panel kits that can be installed on the front of the refrigerator or dishwasher.

Push-to-open wall ovens and another handle-free alternative give you a sleek contemporary look and easy access to the oven cavity.

2. Smart Home Appliances

Given the rise of smart home technology, many cooking and cleaning appliances are wi-fi connected to integrate with leading smart home automation systems. Among the many benefits smart appliances provide, hands-free operation is a bonus. Simply connect your smart appliances to your home smart speaker and operate them using voice commands. With smart appliances, you can ask your smart speaker to preheat your oven, make your morning coffee, change the temperature on your refrigerator, or run your washer. These appliances aren’t totally hands-free as you do need to put clothes in the washer, for example. But with smart appliances, you can use voice commands to avoid touching knobs, buttons, and electronic control boards.

3. ADA Compliant Appliances for Accessibility

The final category of hands-free home appliances are appliances originally designed for accessible operation. These appliances are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are many ADA appliances out there, but these are really outstanding products with some hands-free capabilities.