To have handed these clothes back?

[CymaticPrincess88]

Basically the other day school phoned me to inform me that my DD had a stain on her top, I was aware, it had been washed. It was a rather stubborn stain but it seems a shame to chuck it away when it still has use?

Anyway she offered to give DD a spare top to wear and asked if this was okay to do so. I said if it was an issue then to carry on (in a much politer way than that of course)

Anyway later on that day DD arrives home still in the clearly cursed stained top. Has no idea about any spare tops. the following day she is sent home with a shirt she is told she can keep. I'm a bit at this point, but think no more of it.

Yesterday, she comes home with a bag of uniform bits. It seems that the teachers now think we are some sort of charity case who can't dress their kids. The joke of it is even if I did need these clothes, they're too small.

I'm more upset about the fact that my daughter was handed this bag of clothes in front of the whole class. No subtlety involved at all.

I seethed all night about it and then took them back this morning and handed them over to one of the staff, explaining my reasons above especially being handed them in front of the whole class and I'm now answering questions an 8 year old shouldn't be asking really, or shouldn't have to be asking, such as "Are we poor, mommy?"

Was I unreasonable to hand them back?

[Maryann1975]

Day 2 back at school after the six weeks holiday. My dd had permanent marker on the back of her tshirt. If I replaced her tshirt everytime they got stained, I'd be buying them every few days

^this^
What happens when you buy a new polo shirt and on the first wear the child gets white board pen on it? And often it’s not even your child’s fault, but the child next to them, who has turned around and caught your child on their arm with their pen. It’s so frustrating, nothing you can do at all. I’d be furious with the school for this. I don’t think it has anything to do with your financial situation. We can easily afford to replace stained uniform for our dc, but choose not to, because the chance of it getting stained again next week.
I think there is an old saying ‘the rich don’t get rich by spending money’. I’ve know some really wealthy ‘old money’ families and there is no way they would spend out to replace barely worn uniform.

[Strongecoffeeismydrug]

My five year olds yellow school shirts are full of ink stains!
The school only sell uniform twice a year and you can't buy it anywhere else ( next sell
Yellow shirts but it's the wrong yellow).
She's going to have to look like stig of the dump until the end of November when I can
Purchase more
She doesn't stand out as a charity case ( horrible saying) as all the class are covered in the none washable washable ink lol

[WutheringTights]

We're pretty affluent and live in a fairly well off area. Our kids go to school in stained tops all the time. Show me the stain remover that gets food dye and school marker pen out of polo tops and I'll buy shares in the company that makes it!

The clothing industry is terrifically polluting and bad for the environment. I'm not throwing away clothes because they have a few stains they gained at school - that would be a terrible waste, environmentally unsound and frankly ridiculous.

[SparklyMagpie]

Polo shirts are the bane of my life 😂

DS just started reception and I'd gotten him the school logo polo shirts for each day - BIG mistake he has come home covered in all sorts and the bloody bastard bolognese sauce stains from lunch time.

I do however have some plain polo shirts aswell now. Spent all weekend with vanish and ace bleach to finally get all of these stains out.

So I do understand but some phrasing could have been used better.

[SoyDora]

We can easily afford to replace stained uniform for our dc, but choose not to, because the chance of it getting stained again next week

Exactly this. I’m genuinely gobsmacked at the number of people who replace a polo shirt with a small stain on, when the likelihood is the replacement is going to be stained in a week or two anyway. Where does it end?!

[SparklyMagpie]

"Tomato based stains are one of the easiest to get out, all you need to do is leave the stained bit in the sun"

Would be alright if we had some sun here in the north west 😂😂😂

[AlansLeftMoob]

I feel like I'm missing a massive chunk of information here tbqh, why on earth would the school ring you over a tiny stain that you deemed fine to send her in with? YANBU to bring back the uniform if she wasn't going to be able to wear them.

I think it's quite sad that a child has been put in the position of being singled out in her class and now thinks that she is poor as a result but maybe this is a good opportunity to talk to her about waste and reduce/reuse/recycle - not exactly sure why you threw the offending shirt out now, wouldn't it have done for playtime? This whole thing is really weird

[caringcarer]

It was pointless sending her home in clothing that is too small for her anyway. I would be furious OP. You were correct to go in and hand it back. All kids get stubborn stains on clothing at some point but if you just throw it in to wash each time you have a load eventually it tends to come out. I have got a few towels with dark brown hair dye on but eventually after many washes it fades and then comes out.

[caringcarer]

A product called Bio Tex which we order on internet gets most stains out and whitens greyish items. Leave it to soak overnight and then throw a bit in to washing machine. I use it with whites like polo shirts on 60 degrees.

[Raspberrytruffle]

Vanish powder works absolute wonders on white uniforms etc

[GreenTulips]

I don’t think OP was asking for cleaning tips - it’s not the point of the thread

[GreyCloudsandSunshine]

Soak clothes in white vinegar for 2 hours then wash separately with a scoop of vanish in with the washing powder, works everytime.

[PumpkinPie2016]

YANBU - my son got a sharpie own stain on one of his jumpers in the first week and I am still using it. It's really wasteful to throw away uniform because of a slight stain because they seem to stain them all the time!

As an aside, I'm so glad our school can wear red polos!

[Billben]

A product called Bio Tex which we order on internet gets most stains out and whitens greyish items. Leave it to soak overnight and then throw a bit in to washing machine. I use it with whites like polo shirts on 60 degrees.

You can get it in all supermarkets. That’s what I use on a 40C.

I would have been livid if the school rang me about a stain and would have responded to the phone call accordingly.

[inwood]

Completely bizarre. My kids have laundered clothes every day, there's usually ink around the cuffs. I'm not buying a new shirt every time that happens.

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

I can’t believe how many people would throw away a perfectly good school uniform just because a stain wouldn’t come out in washing. Not very eco friendly.

Uniform is there to get dirty. As long as it’s regularly washed and therefore fresh what a difference a sharpie pen mark makes?
Is it a class thing?

[Nodancingshoes]

Currently all my sons shirts have pen marks on them. I will replace them at half term - until the he wears them.... I think they jumped the gun abit sending home a load of spare clothes unless there are other issues.

[poopofprettycolours]

Tomato-based stains - I have had good results by squeezing some lemon juice on the stain, sprinkling it with salt while damp then drying in sunshine.

[Ohyesiam]

It must be a very posh school. The primary I volunteered at for a few years only commented of the pot child was smelly. It was done sensitively though.
The breakthrough came when they changed the polo shirts to navy They all looked much smarter for much lon ger

[Ohyesiam]

• if the poor child

[countrygirl99]

Milton and ecover laundry bleach are both good for tomato based stains

[circleorsquare]

How weird! I'm a teacher and would never phone about a stain! Never worked in a school that has. My children sometimes have stains, I'm not wasting perfectly good uniform! Ridiculous

[Rainbowknickers]

I remember once when my dd was little she wouldn’t wear anything apart from a bright orange lion king top/leggings set
For about 8 months she’d only wear this outfit or pjs
Her then nursery teacher took me to one side to ask if money was tight and would I like some clothing from their spare bag?
Thankfully although money was tight it wasn’t that tight and she did have loads of other clothes-she just refused to wear them
If the teacher had acted like this one in front of everyone I’d have been so pissed off-there is a time and a place for the nice offer of help

[Hippee]

If you leave things to soak in Vanish for several days it is usually quite effective.

Not Sharpie of course - I refuse to replace Sharpie-marked sweatshirts - if they are going to let children use Sharpies at school, the children can continue to wear Sharpie-marked sweatshirts - there's no guarantee that there won't be other Sharpie-involved incidents in the future, and it's not "dirty".

As an aside, I have discovered that ironing baby wipes on pen marks does work on carpet (not nylon carpet!) - you iron over the wipe and then use the wipe to rub the stain - it comes off in a sort of rubbery state.

[HeadfirstForHalos]

When mine were in ks1 they permanently had stains on their polo shirts- from the whiteboard markers! It does not come out. Most kids had them and nobody was rushing out to buy new logo'd polos at a tenner each time as the same would just happen again. Stained does not mean dirty.