With my attitude to school uniform

[cadburyegg]

DS1 in Y3, DS2 just about to start YR.

Mostly, DC1 needs a new set of uniform every day because he comes home with marks on his clothes from the school lunch, paint or from whatever else he's been doing at school. He's still quite a messy eater, although has got a bit better over the last 6 months or so and sometimes a pair of trousers or jumper can go a second day. Is this unusual? My friend's child of the same age apparently can wear the same clothes for 3 days.

I don't make them change into home clothes when they get home, although sometimes DS1 wants to. Another friend commented that I should because it saves the uniform getting dirtier, but I don't see the point in having to potentially wash 2 outfits instead of just 1.

I wash all whites together in one wash at the end of the week. If something doesn't wash out of a polo shirt, if it's a particularly bad/big stain I would replace but smaller stains like a tiny bit of pen or suncream I'd keep until outgrown or looking very shabby. I don't spend a lot of money on products to get the shirts staying pearly white. I also don't replace things every September "just because".

is my attitude unusual? I have never sent my children to school in dirty clothes but at the same time I don't think it matters if they have small marks on? Should DC1 be "cleaner" by age 7?

I've never really doubted myself until this week where I'm seeing a lot of stuff about keeping uniform pristine on social media.

My daughter can easily go 3 days in a summer dress and not get it dirty. My son struggled to stay clean for 3 minutes...

My children are fairly mucky and tend to come home with paint/ penmarks /mud/ foodstains. I don't tell them to get changed after school unless we are going somewhere as that too will get mucky and I will have double the laundry.

Lol, this is EXACTLY my thinking !!! Plenty of options for colours, so if they are going to insist on white then they have to see the consequences 🤣🤣

I think there’s a golden period where they’re not too messy and also not too sweaty 😁

My 13 year old needs a new shirt and jumper every day really.

my 10 year olds uniform could be worn for several days!

I don’t really make them change after school- just increases the laundry potential! Clean worn clothes are fine, as are small stains in my book.

My DS just started school and I bought everything second hand (it's all pretty good quality ie no stains etc) but seems stupid to buy new when he will outgrow it in no time and probably stain it all!
Only had his first week but will be changing him after school as he's somehow managed to spill dinner / paint / yoghurt on it after school this week. He tends to wear shorts and t shirts or pjs at home so less washing / drying than trousers and a sweatshirt!
School uniform is sooo expensive!

My boys are 7. They rarely get 2nd day out of uniform.

I buy all DDs uniform brand new every September and January, then around May for summer dresses and such. This term instead of washing her entire uniform after one wear (shes not messy, I'm neurotic) I just wash the shirts, hang up skirts and cardis, give them a spritz and steam ready for the next day. Then I'll wash that set on a quick wash. She has old clothes she wears at home after school which she can wear for a few days at a time and thats it. Small stains on the clothes over time is inevitable but as long as its clean crack on I say.

Ds Junior school was a white polo shirt with navy shorts, later years had navy long trousers . The shorts / trousers would last 2 - 3 days so he had 2 pairs and washed alternately The polo shirts were just grubby so I had 4 one one on - one for the next day and 2 for washing.

I am with those who say there is a difference between dirty ( ie stinky and grubby ) & an indelible stain on a clean shirt. The latter I would count as clean and send DS in with.

When he got into his final year it was amusing to see how many final year boys had trousers round their ankles ( ie they had grown too tall & trousers too short not they had lowered their trousers 😊 ) and their polo shirts had all gone a little less than pristine white because people ( me included ) had thought - I am not buying a new set of uniform for those last 2 terms.

I think changing out of school clothes is the child's choice but I do think that changing when they get home does not make a pennyworth of difference to a child who gets their cloths grubby. Still can't be worn next day.

@cadburyegg I have to count myself lucky there was no social media when DS was at school ( and even nowawdays I would not have looked ) but at the time all you could see was what your child's friends were wearing - so I reckoned if DS's clothes were clean even if a few pen marks and he didn't look like the worst kid on the block - I was doing OK.

Mine always had clean shirt every day, trousers sometimes OK for two days though obviously did get mucky on occasion necessitating a clean pair. Always changed into own clothes at home.

Having been a scruffy child at school I was determined mine would not be. I couldn't do anything about shirt hanging out, tie not done up properly and shoe laces undone during the school day :-). However he was always clean at the start of the day.

The beauty of the white polo shirts at primary was when all else failed I could bleach the stains. Secondary have polos in house colours so once the pasta sauce is ingrained there isn't a way to shift it. Clean polo everyday jumpers/trousers go a second (or gasp) even a third if they are clean but in 7.5 year of school that has happened about three times - paint/lunch at primary lunch/mud at secondary (although I do set about the mud with a nail brush if it has dried before bedtime.)
If the trousers/jumper look clean enough for a second when he get home I as him change or if he is off to an activity if the uniform is mucky he can stay in it as it's heading for the wash anyway.

I like the idea of white polo shirt, Others. They can go in the wash as soon as the child arrives home from school and are pristine in no time. Having said that it was the same with white shirts when mine was at school - but there is something cute about little ones in white polos. They don't need ties either!

I like my children looking clean and wearing uniform that fits them, I can’t imagine sending my children to school looking dirty and scruffy. My children change out of their uniform when they come home.

I'm a grown woman but can't seem to go one day without tipping something down my front. This evening will be spent washing the NHS uniforms I've trashed this week.
It wouldn't be so bad if electricity wasn't so expensive.

I ended up buying a set for every day as my DS gets so filthy and I was fed up of trying to wash and dry it over night. I'm sure it's cheaper in the long run as I don't have to keep putting the heating on or doing a wash with only a few items. I don't make him change, there's no point for a few hours and clothes that can't be re-worn anyway.

Fresh uniforms daily here for all my children.
They are dirt magnets 🤷‍♀️

Same, although now kids are older they don't need a new jumper and trousers every day.

I didn't replace shirts with stains. White shirts go in the wash with vanish on a Friday and I hang them in the sun for as long as possible at the weekend which helps stains fade. As long as the shirts are shirts I am not buying a new one!

DS has enough school uniform to potentially last for two weeks. He wears new uniform every day, including new trousers, top and jumper. He's also mostly wearing heavy duty "workmen" trousers. They run around outside, climb a lot, go to the woods and then roll around on the carpet as well. His trousers need to be made to make it through they on a daily basis. :)
We have the option of white tops (jumpers are dark blue) but most people seem to go for one of the other colour options: red, dark blue or grey. Some of the girls go for light pink tops and jumpers...but I prefer the dark blue ones for DS.
His clothes are also mostly second-hand. A new jumper is about £30 and I don't think that's worth it.

DDs 14/12/8 all wear white shirts for school, all change them daily. Puberty + primary school child in wrap around care = a full load of white shirts/vests/crop tops/sports bras by Friday evening.

Trousers/skirts/tights - depends, but I’d say they mostly wear a clean lot every day.

DD8 has 3 official school cardigans (the pockets are massive) and 2 v neck supermarket jumpers, but she’s hardly worn the jumpers, she’d rather wear a dirty cardigan with proper pockets

DDs14/12 wouldn’t be seen dead in winter appropriate clothing do their jumpers are on unworn.

Teen DDs change out of their uniform straight away, neither are a fan of formal clothes. 8YO gets picked up from the childminders and put straight into the bath at 6pm, then pyjamas.

I get changed into comfy clothes as soon as I get home too.