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Original poster

To expect my DDs to get more than one wear out of a school skirt?

98 replies

PoopySalata · 13/12/2021 21:54

DDs are 9 and 10, I am sick of constantly washing and ironing their school uniform.

I asked them this morning to please keep their skirts clean (nightmarish pleated little things that I hate ironing). They always have clean shirts and jumpers but the skirts drive me insane.

They've come home this evening and they are both filthy again, the youngest seems to think it's acceptable to wipe her mouth/nose on her skirt. The eldest has just told me if I don't like it I should just send their clothes to the dry cleaners and stop being so dramatic.

I think I probably got a clean skirt once a week when I was a kid, which was less that ideal. But please tell me that I'm not BU to expect a skirt to last two days?

OP posts:
Mudflaps · 13/12/2021 23:35

I'm fuming on your behalf, being spoken to like that would bring dire consequences be they 10 or 20. She would be spending a lot of time cleaning and very little time talking back for the immediate future.

Laureatus · 14/12/2021 00:17

Wow, poor you! YANBU. I used to have 2 school skirts and I played football every break and lunchtime in all weathers unless we were kept in for heavy rain. I never got my skirts so messy they had to go in the wash that regularly. My mum didn't do ironing and neither do I; just hang them up still damp straight from the wash.

Merryoldgoat · 14/12/2021 00:19

I buy enough uniform for a clean set every day. My boys look like they’ve been in mud baths and I just don’t have the energy for additional washing.

TyrannosaurusRights · 14/12/2021 00:24

Is the trousers option more practical for cleaning? Do they just prefer skirts? Can they have a mix of trousers and skirts. Once the skirts are all in the wash they’ll have to wear trousers until a wash is scheduled.

Xmasbaby11 · 14/12/2021 00:25

Ooh that's so cheeky. I think they should try to look after them more.

My dd 9 doesn't get more than a day's wear out of any uniform item, but she has ASD and I'm just glad she's stopped picking holes in her leggings.

Viviennemary · 14/12/2021 00:28

I would just spot clean. If they are not perfect so what.

KangarooSally · 14/12/2021 00:36

At that age they are old enough to do their own washing. Especially with such a rude, unappreciative comment. Make them be in charge of washing and ironing their own uniform from now on. If they don't then they can go in dirty and suffer consequences from peer pressure. Don't let them get away with being so spoilt and rude as they'll be a lot worse once teenagers!

londonmummy1966 · 14/12/2021 00:44

I'd hand her a bar of soap and tell her to scrub her own skirt clean. No way a skirt needs washing every day. I would just say though that if you decide to send her in a filthy skirt it might be worth regaling her teacher with the dry cleaning comment so she doesn't accuse you of neglect.

Dinosauratemydaffodils · 14/12/2021 00:47

I buy enough uniform for a clean set every day. My boys look like they’ve been in mud baths and I just don’t have the energy for additional washing.

Me too. Ds comes home caked in mud. Some days his trousers look like they'd stand up by themselves. He does however put them in the wash by himself (he's six) and then collect the clean ironed version to put away in his drawers. At that age I'd definitely be expecting them to help and for unnecessary stains like snot to be avoided.

Blossom64265 · 14/12/2021 00:50

9 and 10 are still young enough to be playing outdoors at school. I would expect them to come home dirty every day.

Just stop ironing the skirts. They are children. They don’t need perfect pleats.

ExplodingCarrots · 14/12/2021 00:54

If it was mud and dirt from playing I wouldn't be mad but if it's snot and food from wiping their nose and mouth I'd be cross. That's grim. I would expect that from a 4 year old not a 9 year old.
Time for them to have washing rota drawn up OP.

Nevertime · 14/12/2021 00:57

I've never ironed a pleated skirt.

I've also never put a clean skirt on a child daily

My DC were ironing their own school shirts before they left primary...

Chloemol · 14/12/2021 01:10

Just sponge the dirt off and send them in in them. They will soon learn to keep the skirts clean

Kanaloa · 14/12/2021 01:21

Your 9 year old wipes her nose on her skirt? How and why? Does she do it at home?

I’d be telling the 10yo she can pay for the dry cleaner out of her pocket money as she sounds like a rude Madame.

FridaRose · 14/12/2021 02:17

I was washing my uniform myself at that age... started at 8y.o.

Also I would not have dared to tell my mother 'it's not a big deal and take it to the dry cleaners then'. I could never speak to my mother like that, even now and I'm 35.

RainbowCrayons · 14/12/2021 02:29

@eddiemairswife

What is this obsession with washing everything after only one wearing? One skirt, one jumper, and 2 or 3 blouses a week is ample.
Wasnt/isn't this a covid requirement? Fresh uniform every day and then washed. DS's nursery still insists on this (though at nursery it's mucky every day anyway and needs washing, covid or not). I suppose the UK government will never announce an official end to unofficial rules so I'm not sure if we are meant to go on doing it for ever. I can't see Boris stressing about Ironing a school skirt in 5 years time.
WhatToDo1988 · 14/12/2021 02:41

Woaaah what rude entitled little shits. Wash the skirt. Don't iron it. Let them go in like that. If it's that dirty at the end of the day, they clearly don't give a shit what they look like.

RedSquirrelsAreAwesome · 14/12/2021 03:35

Get them involved with washing them every night and see if it changes their perspective especially the eldest!

TheBermudaTriangle · 14/12/2021 04:09

@Kanaloa

Your 9 year old wipes her nose on her skirt? How and why? Does she do it at home?

I’d be telling the 10yo she can pay for the dry cleaner out of her pocket money as she sounds like a rude Madame.

Exactly - how is this acceptable? Of course any clothing is going to be disgusting if bodily fluids and food etc are wiped on them...
HoppingPavlova · 14/12/2021 04:16

Don’t bother with the iron. I never did for pleated school skirts and you couldn’t tell the difference. Some mums slaved over them and seriously, looking at the kids there is no way any of them looked any different and you could tell whose had been ironed and whose had not.

HoppingPavlova · 14/12/2021 04:18

Also, I can’t imagine the logistics of wiping the nose on the skirt. I mean, how long are we talking for the skirtConfused. Does she just expose herself? Or go into a toilet and give a good blow (in which case there would be toilet paper handy she could use). You seem quite accepting of this.

OhFGSWhenDoesItStop · 14/12/2021 07:47

Oh that would have me fuming!
9&10 is definitely old enough to help with laundry. Sorting, loading, hanging up, folding and putting away. Logical consequence.

My DC wear trousers to school and often get filthy enough to require clean clothes every day - mud, grass, tree stains, occasionally spilt food, not snot or wiping mouths that's revolting. Give them a pack of tissues to carry around.

JustWonderingIfYou · 14/12/2021 08:31

At 9 and 10 i would have them spot cleaning and ironing themselves.

DrinkFeckArseBrick · 14/12/2021 08:48

Dont iron them just press them down. Or take your daughters suggestion about dry cleaning and use her pocket money!

Meatshake · 14/12/2021 08:49

My kid is gross so I bought 5 of everything (some secondhand to keep cost down) so I only have to do a wash at the end of the week 🙈

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