To send my 7 year old to school in unironed uniform?

[Floosey]

I really struggle with laundry. I struggle so, so much and I don't know why. I end up just not having the time or being organised enough to put away or iron so my son often goes to primary school in a creased t-shirt. We're not talking slept in creases, just dried crinkled and needs a quick going over creases.

Apart from the creases, my son always goes to school in the correct and washed uniform (I once got up at 5 to hair drier his trousers because I'd forgotton to put a wash on until the night before and that was the only way they'd be dry in time) but ironing always gets the better of me.

We have very few things that need ironing but his school t-shirts do. I bought more expensive iron-free ones but they had the school logo on and got nicked. Strangely his supermarket own brand stuff always finds it's way home.

He's clean, looked after and engaged. We always go to parents evening etc.

Do you look down on parents like me?

My son has 2 sets of everything and I iron both sets Sunday night and he wears each set 2 days (3 if there’s no marks). Takes literally 10 minutes.

Of course not: aren’t most school uniform items billed as non-iron now anyway? Just don’t cram the machine, shake them out we’ll, dry on hangers and you’d be hard pushed to tell the difference.

However the sneering at those in here that do like to iron is quite annoying

I don’t think questioning the worth of something is sneering necessarily.

Particularly in the context of the OP fearing judgement for not doing it.

Polo shirts come out of the drier and straight to the wardrobe. I only iron them when they haven’t been hung up soon enough.

Life is way too short to iron.

I absolutely hate ironing but always ironed my children's uniforms. I did shirts every morning and found that more bearable than standing doing a whole pile every Sunday. I liked them to look smart.

I iron all DS(12) uniform, down to his tie and PE kit, because I’ve only got him and I have the time to do it.

When I was a child there were four DC at home and all my DM ever seemed to do was iron.

I’d never judge anyone who doesn’t iron, each to their own.

A 7 year olds t-shirt takes seconds to iron.

Don’t understand the posters who seem to think it’s a Herculean task.

Would you wash your hair and just leave it? Not bother to run a brush over it (because it’s clean even though it looks a mess)? Same principle applies.

Uniform is the only thing I iron, I think because I worry what people will think. It's a PITA really. I don't do an amazing job because I'm pretty shit at ironing and I just hate it.

It would take me longer than seconds to clean the melted hama beads off the iron and find a suitable surface to iron on before I could actually do a shirt...

I've worked in a primary school and honestly have never even noticed which children had ironed vs non-ironed polo shirts. You'd have to be looking pretty closely to tell.

It would take me longer than seconds to clean the melted hama beads off the iron and find a suitable surface to iron on before I could actually do a shirt

because I worry what people will think.

But what would people think?

Children’s clothes aren’t ironed therefore what?

I own an iron from a charity shop which I had to get because of the dratted hama beads (top parenting thought of the day: just don't buy hama beads).

I was thinking of getting them but then my DPs bought DS the ones you spray with water.

I do have an iron and have used it once in ten years, and that was only because DH needed to look smart for a visit from the regional manager and got a bit stressed about it. I'm still slightly annoyed that I had to use it.

Obviously, I don't iron. Don't have a tumble dryer either. Just hang everything up. Life really is too short to waste time on something so completely pointless.

OP does your machine have a time delay? I love mine (now that I've figured out that the delay time is when it finishes not starts 🙈) & you could set it in the morning to finish just before you get home.

As for drying I usually have my airer in the living room as that's where there's room for it & it's the warmest room in my flat... clothes tend to dry overnight but sometimes thicker items take longer & I have a couple of the radiator airers which are great for smaller items like DS's t-shirts.

I have a dryer but 95% of my clothes don't go in it mainly because they'd end up misshapen & I couldn't wear things if the seams weren't properly aligned etc - already admitted I'm weird up thread - they've got to be hung on the airer properly too.

Try not to get too overwhelmed by tackling it all at once - maybe aim to get through the current pile by the end of the week & definitely get the husband told that if his clothes aren't in the basket they don't get washed but the machine will be in constant action & not available to him until Sunday at 8pm.

To the PP with the heated airer - how good are they? Do they dry evenly? I was looking at one but wasn't sure it'd be worth it!

Would you wash your hair and just leave it? Not bother to run a brush over it (because it’s clean even though it looks a mess)? Same principle applies.

Actually I often forget to comb my hair. Combing it makes very little difference to how it looks though.

And it doesn't take seconds to iron things. I'd have to get the iron and ironing board out, figure out where to plug the damn thing in without being in the way, figure out how to turn the damned thing on, wait for it to heat up, spend a frustrating few minutes ironing more creases in to whatever I'm ironing, before having to put everything away again and then go eat chocolate to recover from the horror. If I'm pre-menstrual I'd probably have managed to burn myself as well.

I don't own a tumble drier and have no where to put one, plus environmental concerns.

OP, you should look into dehumidifiers. Changed my life when we got one - mainly because we could close the bathroom window and have a warm bathroom, but also because it helps dry washing and can even help reduce heating bills. It's is more environmentally friendly than a tumble dryer as well. You can even get covers to put over your clothes horse, the dehumidifier sits under it as well and dries everything even quicker than just having it on in the same room. Reduces condensation as well.

Moved house now, but I still wouldn't want to be without one!

Life really is too short to waste time on something so completely pointless.

Completely pointless to you but I work in a job that involves lots of meetings with my peers & interaction with clients and rumpled & disheveled is not the impression that I want to give.

It's why I blow dry & straighten my hair in the mornings (or put it in an updo), why I put make up on, why I choose my outfit carefully etc for me not ironing said outfit would be akin to tipping up to work in my pjs with hair like the wild woman of Borneo.

So ironing is not completely pointless to me, the point of it is that I feel comfortable & confident wearing clothes that have been ironed & uncomfortable (in both the physical & social sense) if they're not.

Would you wash your hair and just leave it? Not bother to run a brush over it

Yep - thick naturally curly hair

No brushing required

If you give clothes a shake when you hang them up, fold them when you take them down and don't leave them screwed up in the basket they are not 'rumpled and dishevelled'.

Honestly they look absolutely fine and indistinguishable from ironed clothes once the wearer has put them on and travelled to work/school.

@BarbaraofSevillle both of these have been hung up to dry... are you really suggesting I could wear these to work today as they are & look smart & presentable?

I've never met anyone in a professional job that doesn't iron at least their work clothes - there's a reason I'm going on a business trip next week to meet an important client as opposed to the other woman who does the same job & it's because I don't rock up to work looking like I've slept in my clothes, it doesn't present a good image of the business.

I'm not suggesting anyone iron if they don't want to but it does look untidy & people do notice - maybe not in an overt "she/he's not ironed that shirt" way but in the same way you'd register if someone had blonde hair without really noticing the conscious thought you'd register that the overall appearance was a bit rumpled.

But hey my old grandad taught me how to iron & he was in the navy so it's probably been ingrained into me - DS's school trousers always had perfect creases but they didn't stop the holey knees

Whiskey: those clothes probably weren’t billed as non-iron though were they? Most generic uniform items are. Agree, time and place, but for a hard pushed parent with a long as your arm to do list an unironed polo that the creases will have dropped out of by morning break really isn’t a big deal.
Different for teenagers maybe, who are more image conscious, but the beauty of teenagers is they can do these things themselves.

Well obviously you don't buy clothes that need ironing. When I shop for clothes, I think about how it will wash and whether it will need ironing and if I think it needs ironing or will go out of shape on washing, I don't buy it.

I work in a professional job and all my work suits come from M&S, with plain fine weave t-shirts underneath. The suits are probably just a slightly nicer and adult sized version of a school uniform, and aren't creased and don't need ironing.

Do you have too many clothes? Its an easy trap to fall into when you cant keep up with the laundry

Sort clothes out and just keep a few items , wear clothes more than once ! you dont need to wash clothes after a few hours wear unless you are in a very dirty job . Change out of school uniform as soon as they get home , the clothes they put on can also be worn for a few days . Odd spots can be sponged off . The clothes will last longer too

And hang clothes up as soon as they are dry / been taken off