I CANNOT get his shirts clean. Already!

I've just done my first white wash using Prudax. Everything is spotless after a 40 degree wash. My life has changed.

Surely there's a massive difference between "I am wearing dirty clothes because I CBA with basic hygiene" and "I've come to pick up my kid in my work clothes because I've been working, oh and my work involves getting messy"?

I'm not a teacher, but as a mum standing outside school I've never seen anyone turn a hair at parents turning up having obviously come straight from gardening / decorating / dealing with animals.

I'd be enforcing "wash the bonfire off your face before you go to school" but the rest really wouldn't worry me. I've even given up on the "wear matching socks" fight (though I may have to revisit it if he grows again and his trousers don't hide them as well...)

I use bold, which is the only bio powder that doesn't flair our eczema. 60C for whites, and they come up really clean.

lins I'd have recommended washing up liquid - apply to area, stretch over bowl and pour boiling (or v. hot water) through to rinse (I'd test one with boiling water first in case it wrecks them, and repeat until gone and IME grease stains do eventually disappear after a few normal washes...
but bicarb of soda is fantastic at removing dusty grease buildup from the tops of kitchen cupboards/cooker hoods - so maybe a bicarb paste or soda in the wash...

www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=250707542 - this stuff is good too. Got shoe polish off my carpet

Please ladies, advice on getting fat/grease stains out of grey school shirts. My boy in reception is a messy eater! I've tried washing up liquid (ecover) and vanish spray, as recommended on another thread. No joy. All 4 shirts have dark patches on the fronts and sleeves.
Going to try swarfega tomorrow, if Sainsburys stock it.

I also mainly have him in short sleeves = no cuffs to get dirty.

I used to be very previous and replaced everything when it wasn't looking sparkling. Three school changes and four lots of school fees later plus a child who grows constantly often after 2 wears of trousers! = boys now in Asda trousers and shirts and they are washed and worn again, pen or no pen!

Shout spray to clean their necks? I'll buy a bottle for the bath.

Have to say, when it comes to boys a lot of the issue is personal hygiene- a darn good neck wash keeps the collar tide mark to a minimum!
Having tried everything since over last couple of years I've found shout spray to be best value for money.

I wasn't passing judgement on people or tailoring types, I was just reporting what you see in these interviews. Some people bend over backwards to try to look smart with very limited budgets, others spend more but look scruffier (including posh state school types, btw).

The pre wash won't do anything if you've already set the stain with a warm wash. So do the pre wash first. I always do one for the white wash with stain remover powder

Jamaican Blue Power soap, it's on Amazon, cheap as chips. Works really well, especially if you can peg out on the line to get the suns whitening power on them as well. All the Jamaican cleaners here swear by it. We use it on school shirts quite often.

Thanks tread.. So look for plain cotton or polyester nothing marketed as easy iron.

Christinecagney: I think there is a difference between children getting dirty and mums trying to get the stains out again.

I once told DD's nursery teacher that I would start wondering if I get her back clean after a day playing. The same is now for school, if she comes home too neat, I want to know what she did in breaktime.

I remember coming home with green knees, we played football at breaktime and I wore trousers (Germany, no uniform). My mum knew I would do it again but still did everything to make the stains go away.

I use zoflora in the wash as it is a disinfectant that also kills the bacteria.

Somebody upthread said about sweat smells that aren't washing out. I haven't tried it but I had to pass this tip on to someone who had a real odour issue...apparently you need to blitz the item of clothing in a microwave first and this kills the microbes that feed on the sweat which are actually what is making the smell, you can't wash them out.

"The mention of first world worries is ironic. Having lived in third world countries for over a decade, I'd say that you have to be a first worlder to NOT care about the cleanliness of your clothes."

For goodness sake BravePotato the clothes are CLEAN. The OP said she had washed them but they remained stained. There is no lack of cleanliness.

Teachers have more than enough to deal with without concerning themselves with a grass stain on an otherwise clean shirt on a well cared for child.

chocolatespiders - the easy iron is basically a synthetic coating on the cotton so it makes the fabric less breathable, and so more smells are trapped.
Might as well have bought a cotton/poly blend in the first place tbh.

I'd second the comments from Boffinmum about boil/hot washing stuff. It does ruin v expensive shirts over time though so not recommended for every wash.

My mum regularly dyed my school shirts a faint pink/blue/grey - no one batted an eyelid except my Dad whose office had slightly higher expectations of personal appearance.

I'm going to ignore the comments about shiny suits. Quite off topic and will just turn a nice helpful thread into a slanging match in no time at all.

I second Biotex. Never found Vanish particularly effective tbh. Also Discovered a really good stain remover called Its Gone. Got it from Amazon. Got out pen,grass stains and other random stains. It's a spray so no messing about with stick and rubbing etc. Mine wear blue polo shirts so I'm quite lucky. Think all school tops should be navy blue!!

"Boffinmum, what about posh people from state schools?"

Sorry- don't understand? Posh people from state schools? Shurely schome mishtake?

Boffinmum, what about posh people from state schools? Loads here where we live. (we even have a posh state school!)

Also, what do you then DO with the information? What role does class play in the application process (do spill the beans!)