Changing School Uniforms

The most wear DC gets is two before an item is washed, so it’s mostly clean clothes daily.

He goes straight to swimming after school one day and after he’s showered properly (as in not just a rinse off) he has a set of his own clothes to wear, but quite a few of his friends put their uniform back on after showering properly which I wouldn’t do, if just feels a bit icky to me, but whatever works for others is their business.

Overkill - kids do not need an entire clean outfit every day.

Fresh underwear and socks yes, and then wash whatever specific item is dirty when needed.

I have 4 children now all late teens early twenties. This debate was had when mine were in Primary.

Do what suits you and your family. For me I ironed 30 shirts every Sunday (5 for each of the kids and 5 each for dh and I) to ensure they were sorted for the week ahead. I prefer them in clean clothing daily. Others don't. That's their choice mine was different.

Pick what suits your standards and don't worry about what others say or think.

do you go into work in the same outfit two days in a row

of course I do! Who is washing work clothes daily?! Some things, yes, but skirts and trousers? Not at all!

my kids have 3 sets of polo shirts / jumpers and that does them. My eldest in secondary has 5 white shirts. wash the trousers once a week for the eldest. Little 2 tend to go through 2 pairs a week.

@cinnamonfrenchtoast Do you really bath your kids every day straight after school? Logistically impossible here and completely unnecessary. What are you teaching your children about cleanliness?

Mine get clean shirt and trousers everyday. They don’t have five of everything though. Mid week wash

In past years I’ve had the exact of what DD needs for a full week. This year she has a slightly different “rota” for school and I’ll be a set short, but she only does half days on a Friday so will be easy to wrangle a set from the week. Although she’s only small still, so does sometimes come home messy. She’s in summer dresses some weeks and pinafore and shirt for others. Next academic year her uniform changes a touch and I’ll not be buying a kilt for each day because that’s just too expensive!

I do think it depends what suits. Obviously I do put washing on in the week, but I prefer to have everything school ready for the week and then do a uniform wash on a Friday afternoon. I couldn’t be bothered ironing in the week. DH travels a lot so I’m often on my own in the week. This gives me one less thing to do!

Her uniform is generally in really good condition, and I pass it on to the school when she’s grown out of it. I also buy from school second hand sale and picked up a blazer second hand from another mum recently.

Surely it just depends on your circumstances though?

I work in a school and don't wash my clothes after every wear. What a killer for the environment.

If the clothes look clean, they get re worn.

Indeed. Mine change if they have swimming/Beavers/Rainbows after school. Not otherwise. It's totally unnecessary. It can be a preference but it really isn't some basic standard.

Eh? I think lots of people have five sets of uniform, especially people with kids in infants who work full-time! Fresh uniform every day then washed and ironed on the weekend. Different strokes I guess but I don't think telling the OP she isn't normal is fair or helpful!

OP I had 5 sets when they were in reception because they came home covered in lunch, paint, etc. now they're a bit older - from Y2 onwards - they have a fresh polo shirt each day but reuse cardigans and trousers.

Says who?

There isn't any 'should' about it, just your preference.

Presumably you're also washing the change of clothes every day as well even though they've only been worn for a few hours?
So that's 2 outfits plus (presumably based in your post) pyjamas every day per child and all your own clothes?
That's an insane amount of washing. I just wouldn't have time to get through it all.

With all due respect, this is not only extreme, but would not be a realistic part of people's often busy lives!

This depends on so many factors, there is no right or wrong - clearly most of the replies on here show that parents are trying to do their best/right thing regarding how often to change the clothes/wash them. I honestly think we do wash things far too much in this country (how often do we see the phrase 'I wash them on a short cycle if they're not actually dirty/smelly'?). Some things may do just as well with a good airing at the end of the day and a wash every 2d/3rd day, e.g. a school jumper with no visible marks or trousers with no stains, whereas others things do need washed each wear, e.g. a shirt which is close to the skin or a gym polo shirt. Of course socks/tights and pants would be changed every day. I do wish we'd accept though, like in many areas of life, that there are many different and equally valid ways to do things.

DS needed clean clothes top to toe every single day. I used to buy heaps of every for him. DD is going into year 5, can keep a cardigan clean all week and is trustworthy enough to judge for herself if clothes need changing or not, so she just chucks them in the wash with everything else and I don’t keep track of it. Every now and then we go through the uniform pile and top
up with a two pack of polos or a new skirt. The difference between two identically-raised children can be stark!

Definitely wear more than once before having it cleaned. Suits need dry cleaning. Are you seriously dry cleaning your work clothes daily? You must smell unusually bad. What about jeans?

Do you bathe them and change them every time they have been out the house anywhere?

attitudes like this risk being a lot more dangerous than a bit of life on a school jumper!

So you wash a skirt or trousers every time you wear them? What do you do in them that makes them dirty? What about suit type clothing that needs dry cleaning? You dry clean after every wear? Well you must otherwise it's minging 🤣. And the school blazer. If skirts are minging I guess you have 5 blazers and send them off for cleaning daily... Fresh shirt daily and everything else, unless dirty is washed about 2x a week so 2-3 wears. All washed at the weekend.

You do realise those same germs are everywhere at school.

Well...yes, which is why kids should be bathed after school and given clean clothes to wear.

Mine have clean clothes every day. I thought that was normal tbh. I wouldn’t wear the same clothes twice, with the exception of jeans. They get either slightly grubby, smelly, or crumpled.

I also don’t have the time or inclination to wash uniform midweek.

Younger they are the more they need. I wouldn't be able to afford 5 secondary school blazers, for example.

You do realise those same germs are everywhere at school.

I'd expect a nine year old to put dirty things in the wash and clean things to rewear themselves.

But if you put 3 children in clean daily, isn't your pile of washing a mountain by the weekend? 15 jumpers, 15 trousers and 15 polos to wash before you consider anything else. I need to break it up and do it throughout the week!

I have always done fresh shirt every day. Mainly because in primary he was a messy sod and now he is a teenager he needs it. Trousers last two or three days. Blazer gets washed every few weeks

We don't have uniform but I can't imagine my kids not needing a clean shirt or blouse daily. They go from the sloppy age to the stinky age. And the polyester used for a lot of uniforms absolutely holds on to sweat and smell something fierce.

items like jumpers, pinafore dresses, trousers, skirts -- depends how quickly they get dirty and how expensive they are. I wouldn't want to buy 5 expensive secondary kilts, but i would absolutely have extra pairs of inexpensive trousers for active primary kids. I would imagine that if one of mine had had the pinafore or a summer dress she would have needed a clean one daily. She was remarkable at always getting something down her front.