To be annoyed that two school t shirts are stained

[sodorisland]

Ok I am a little as he's 5 and been at school 5 mornings but two of his school t shirts are stained I'm hoping to get them out but I'm not hopeful.
His school t shirts have to come from one company as his school uniform states that's the t shirt they wear and they are made to order.


How many school t shirts do primary 1s need?


What's everyone tricks to removing stains.

[blueskyinmarch]

What colour are the shirts and what are the stains?

[TeaBelle]

What is the stain made up of? If it's a white T-shirt sunlight is your friend

[sodorisland]

the t shirts are light blue one looks like a tomatoey stain on one.
The other looks like pen marks.

[CafeCremeMerci]

He's 5. Clothing is a mere inconvenience, as it should be. Please don't make him worried about getting his school clothes dirty or stained.

P1. Minimum of 6 shirts One for each day and one for 'photos & special events'. Kept separate. It's bloody ridiculous that Romany schools have logo'd clothing & therefor if it's clean, but stained, tough.

Milk gets out most pens, including white board markers & highlighters. Leave it to
Properly soak overnight (it'll look like it's still stained) then wash it as normal. I also use Dr Beckman Whitener & stain remover sachets. Cheap in lidl

I hang anything stained outside it really does help remove most stains

[Randytortoise]

Reception teacher here with ds1 starting school this year. I've bought 5 t shirts and 5 sweatshirts as I won't be washing midweek.
I do expect them to get covered in paint/food/mud , it doesn't matter how careful they or the adults are with aprons etc they will get stained (purple paint is the worst!)

[sodorisland]

Cafe I agree I wouldn't make him feel bad about the stains (he's also autistic so is at a special school which is why they need the labels)

It's just annoying, I will be ordering more tomorrow.

I would never have thought to try milk.

[EveOnline2016]

I give up on logo polo shirts. Just buy them from asda a few pound for 2.

[Sirzy]

Hanging out in the sun is great for getting rid of stains - obvious that depends on weather though!

Stains are just part and parcel of school life though especially in the early years.

[ShatnersBassoon]

Sunlight will get the tomato stain out, and the pen should be washable in an infant class.

Have you tried washing them?

[blueskyinmarch]

The tomato stain should come out easily enough with Shout or something like that. Pens marks are more difficult. Having had two children go through school I can say that I learned not to worry about stains. DD2 had bright green paint on the collar of one of her pale blue shirt from almost the first day of school (senior school I may add) and wore that same shirt with the green paint for at least two years. It was never an issue.

[sodorisland]

Yes I've tried washing them haha.

They are washing again now I've used napisian on one and fairy liquid on the other (a friends suggestion) hoping that they will work but I'm looking for alternatives if it doesn't.

[RoughMagic]

I bet 90% of Reception will be wearing generic supermarket polo shirts by half term. My DCs have one logoed polo each that they wear for class photos, special assemblies etc. The rest of the time they are in £2 ones from Tesco. The school have never complained.

[Velvetdarkness]

I got biro out of a dress by rubbing it with washing up liquid before putting it in the wash.

[ThumbWitchesAbroad]

I agree that tomato should come out if you use a decent stain remover on it before you wash it; pen though, that's another matter. Depends what type it is.

DS1 has red polo shirts for school uniform (different country) and has got fecking dry-wipe black marker on those before - it Does Not Come Out. Dry wipe markers are buggers - wipe off everything except fabric. HOWEVER - if it IS a dry wipe marker, I've had some success with removal using isopropyl alcohol on the stain as soon as possible, and definitely prior to getting it wet - you should be able to get isopropyl alcohol from the chemist (also might be called rubbing alcohol). But I must emphasise that it MUST be done PRIOR to getting the pen marks wet in any way, or there's no chance. It doesn't get all the stain out, but it does reduce it quite a lot.

[ThumbWitchesAbroad]

Aaaand xposted - seen now that you've already washed them.

[Sirzy]

I also hand wash stained things in cold water as I read somewhere that the heat can set the stain. Not sure if it is true but we have got to the end of year 1 and not lost any polo shirts yet - which is an Autistic, dyspraxic boy takes some doing!

[InTheDessert]

If you can wash once a week, and you've already got 5, you don't need more tee-shirts. If it's clean, you send them in wearing the stained item.
We are currently on 2 sets of school uniform. It needs washing every time, as it is sooo hot, and they get covered in suncream, so basically I wash every day.... When I worked FT, we had 6 of everything, mainly because most stuff came in sets of 2!!!

[quasibex]

I know this sounds weird but make sure you're using the powder version of your detergent. It honestly makes a massive difference to stain fighting, especially if you give it a boost with Vanish for stubborn stains. I could never figure out how my mother in law could get my daughter's uniform looking cleaner than I did until I realised I was using liquid versions of the same detergent that she used. I switched to powder and haven't looked back.

Also, I'd keep one T shirt for best (photos etc) then just accept that if the school insist on logo T shirts for the the children then random stains will develop on the clothes as part of their activities. You are not expected to bankroll new T shirts every week.