To think school shirts should not be white!

[igotnotimeforthis]

I'm new to school shirts and stuff, so please bear with me. I just don't get why are they white?
DS got his stained the first time he wore them and the stains are not coming off. Plus after TWO washes they are grey!! And I didn't wash them with dark colours.
Please help! How can i get them clean again? Vanish didn't do anything- used the rubbing in method and adding to the wash as well.
These were nearly £10 per shirt!! I'm so disappointed i will just buy the cheap asda ones next time

£10 a short?! Are they Gucci?
Def go for Asda... or m&s which do a great non iron (for lazies like me)
I put a scoop of vanish oxy action in with my white wash and have never had any turn grey

I use biological powder, not the liquid or tablets and a ton of napisan to try and keep them white. But yes it's a total pain. DD is only in p1 (think it's the equivalent of reception) and it's full white shirt and tie for uniform, I'd love if they changed to a polo shirt in any other bloody colour!

Ace is your friend. It's the only thing I use. My whites are gleaming and my 5 year old is a mucky divil

Ace for stains and washing soda to help keep white.

I gave up after the first week tbh.
DD is only in foundation and they came back woith paint, glue, sparkles etc all over them. She only wears hers under her dress and they're only polo shirts so I have no idea how they got so filthy.
Now I just bundpg them in a bowl of water with white vinegar and leave them to soak for half hour, cool wash, spin dry. They're all a bit dull but they're clean.

DC are yellow and are equally a nightmare.

I refuse to buy logo one so £2.50 for 2 in Asda and replace when needed.

They make brilliant cloths for the bathroom.

It's got a school logo on it, that's why the price, but safe to say I will just buy the plain white from now on.
Will try M&S

But what about stains? Ketchup , by the looks of it on 2 of the shirts and not coming off....

Ace

DD is sixth form and her shirts are £22.50 per shirt and then neck and collars are often covered in makeup very hard to get out

Everything should be orange. Or brown.

A camouflage pattern of orange and brown would be best.

When I'm in charge things are going to change.

When possible Line dry them - that is great and removing stains and brightening up things

I guess I am lucky - polo shirts at DD's school are navy.
But with white wash I use 2 scoops of (lidl equivalent) Vanish oxy powder to get rid of stains and keep them white for as long as possible.
Also at our school although the cardi's and jumpers have to have the school logo, the polo shirts don't so it's Tesco or Asda own all the way here.

Lidl do a whites wash powder its called something like W5 and you bung a scoop in with your normal soap and do your wash. It significantly improves things. If a stain is stuborn (tomato based sauses - ketchup, bolognese, curry) then I presoak in a scoop of the W5. My machine has a fancy soak function for a few hours then goes into a wash. To be completely honest with three children, two with major spillage issues, I generally do the presoak.

Line drying/ sun bleaching helps to fade light stains too. Not so good at this time of year.

My kids had red shirts for high school. Unfortunately, you can't buy these for £5 for two like you cam with white! Huge huge expense!

I'm with you there, OP. My boys went to a charter school, and when they started there the uniform was white polo shirts with the school logo and grey pants. Who puts a 6-year-old in a white shirt then gives them chocolate milk for lunch?! I would bleach them, then the burgundy logo would turn pink. :) Eventually they switched to burgundy shirts, which was so much better.

I was so pleased when ds1 moved on from infant school with white polo shirts to junior school with navy polo shirts! Having to do a white wash every week and keeping white shirts white when they were getting covered in all sorts of non-white gubbage at every opportunity was a nightmare.

Ds2 in particular was (and still is!) really messy and frequently comes out covered in assorted ink, lunch, paint, glue, mud, I dread to think what else... Life is so much easier now that he too is wearing a navy uniform!

DS1 is now at secondary school and has pale blue shirts to wear. Touch wood they don't seem to be too bad and he's pretty good at keeping clean unless you count muddy knees from football.

But it seems bonkers to have white as the option for so many infant schools when they are the age group that gets the messiest!