Changing School Uniforms

[wingingit1987]

Having a chat with a friend today and I mentioned ironing the uniforms tonight for the week ahead. I said I iron a fresh uniform for each day of the week and my friend says she recycles a uniform for a few days then swaps it out. Am I giving myself more work than I should be?

fresh uniform daily- YANBU
recycling it for a day or so- YABU

do you go into work in the same outfit two days in a row

I wear clothes many time before washing, yes. Anything else is wasteful and they don't smell / are not dirty.

5 sets here for both kids but I live in / come from quite a "deprived" area.

You can tell people are middle class when they don't need to worry about their kids looking clean.

My mum is a nursery teacher and it's something she always remarked on - that the kids in the naice city centre nursery where the parents were consultants and barristers would be in second hand / stained / otherwise tatty clothes with their hair frequently knotty etc, whereas the kids at the nursery on the council estate (for the most part) would be immaculate with their hair neatly plaited etc. It wouldn't even cross the former's mind that there would be welfare concerns or whatever whereas for the latter it's a harsh reality.

I genuinely can't imagine sending my kids to school in dirty clothes and not having something said about them... I also like to have everything washed and ready over the weekend and wouldn't have time to be doing it midweek.

Hell no!

All 3 have a pack of 3 shirts only because they come in packs of 3, older 2 have a skirt each, reception child 2 pinafores & 1 cardigan or jumper each. I try and make 1 set of uniform last, I’d only change anything if it’s caked in something I couldn’t wipe off. They do wear their PE kit 2 days a week, but only have 1 set each. Washing is done over the weekend.

By the end of the school year it’s all usually trashed anyway so why trash multiple uniforms.

I will happily do a fresh shirt daily when puberty hits.

In theory a fresh set every day is nice but it really depends on the uniform. If you can buy it in multipacks from the supermarket then fair enough, if every item has the school logo and can only be bought from the school uniform shop nobody is going to buy five complete sets. In Aus it is normal to have different Summer and Winter uniform plus PE kit so enough is enough.

I always had enough uniform so that I could do one wash at the weekend for all of it, I must admit there were times when the odd pair of trousers had to have a good wipe with a baby wipe to removed mud or spilt school dinner.

Mine had a clean t shirt every day at primary. I had to get 2 sets of pe kit as they wore it 2 consecutive days and no way was I sending my year 6 dc into school in sweaty clothes they'd word the entire previous day. Especially dd2 as she is a sweaty one.

Secondary school they'll have clean shirts daily and bottoms every couple of days unless they're dirty/smelly. Tights are clean daily for the girls as it's the same as knickers for me.

I do the same for work otherwise with 6 of us I'd never get through the washing.

They do extra curricular activities and again, sportswear gets washed each time. Other stuff every couple of wears unless dirty. Shirts get done each time. They spent a week at camp and only showered once each 🤢🤢🤢

I’ve got enough for a change every day but we’re in Scotland where the logo jumper costs £14 and the rest came from the high street or supermarket so it wasn’t expensive to buy a whole week’s worth of uniform. The oldest is primary three now and last year’s jumpers and T-shirts still fit, and the younger is in his brother’s handmedown nursery jumpers and jeans every day so everything is getting well worn.

Young children don't really sweat so stuff doesn't get smelly. But they cover themselves it tons of mess, food, and general dirt.

It possibly also depends if they sit round in uniform after school, or if they are home and changed right away.

Me if I can get 2/3 days out a pair of trousers I'll do it. Tops I change daily but they are white but never stay white.

Full fresh set of uniform every day here. Honestly, hadn't even considered not sending them in clean clothes 🤢

3 sets, one midweek wash. It's really not that arduous 🤷

Genuinely grim thinking of sending them is the same clothes, knowing what happens to kids clothes during a day at school.

DS6 has several tops for school (possibly 10? mostly second hand and haven't counted) to wear a fresh one every day. That includes jumpers. He wears new shorts/trousers every day as well. There's a spare set of uniform in his bag at school.
He certainly wouldn't go in wearing the same uniform twice. They run around like crazy, roll around outside.
Middle class or not. He's at an independent school and his classmates don't come in looking messy, either.
I don't wash during the week, though. I don't iron clothes. We do several loads on the weekend, then hang them up to dry outside and it's fine.

5 sets here too. Clean every day. Shirts tend to come in 3 so I have 6. All ironed as well, I wouldn't be sending kine in forty or unironwd uniform , but that's me. Both primary and secondary,

Kids need to be exposed to germs though?

My kids don’t wear uniform but I’d assume you’d have at least 5 sets if they did? They were regular clothes and wear something different every day and I wash what they’ve worn (6 and 3 so even jeans etc are usually dirty!). Surely no young child would wear the same summer dress or white polo for more than a day or two without it being dirty? Jumpers and trousers/skirts I’d wash as needed but still have a good supply!

I guess how old are the kids? At primary mine wore clean uniform every day because they came home filthy. Plus they wore PE kit twice a week, so we had two sets of that and three sets of uniform. Probably only two sweatshirts and I’d wash, but I also pick them up in the second hand uniform sales.

secondary I don’t think they’ll come home covered in paint grass and beans every day but we’ve got enough shirts for clean every day and two skirt / trousers so should be able to have a clean set with a bit of washing if needed but I expect skirt or trousers to last a couple or so wears.

Mine didn't have 5 clean a week. Shirts in upper primary onwards yes, but otherwise I don't believe trousers/skirts and jumpers need washing every day (jumpers often discarded part way through the day anyway). If they were visibly dirty they got swapped out or spot cleaned, then a wash at the weekend.

Waste of time, energy and money.

I'm surprised so many people send their kids to school in unwashed clothes. I know someone will be along to say that young children don't sweat but they still smell and spill stuff down themselves

Jumpers and trousers/skirts? Yes. Of course I do. Not every item of clothing needs to be washed after one wear.

My 7 year old has everything clean every day because he comes home covered in lunch. My 5 year old is much neater and can get at least 3 days out of a cardigan usually and 2 out of a dress.

I'm happy to provide a completely new set of everything every day if needed. But not just for the sake of it.

I have one child who needs fresh everyday as is a mucky puppy.

My other child can wear for a few days before changing.

If your child happens to eat nicely and doesn't play football to get all muddy they really do stay clean. Mine also changed when they got home from school so that was 3-4 hours wear 'saved'.

Some incredibly strong, quite vicious opinions on here.

No DS is in yr 2 and has 3 jumpers. He does have 5 polos and trousers because they came in a pack of 5. He will rewear trousers unless absolutely filthy and will rewear his jumpers

We don't have uniform but I can't imagine my kids not needing a clean shirt or blouse daily. They go from the sloppy age to the stinky age. And the polyester used for a lot of uniforms absolutely holds on to sweat and smell something fierce.

items like jumpers, pinafore dresses, trousers, skirts -- depends how quickly they get dirty and how expensive they are. I wouldn't want to buy 5 expensive secondary kilts, but i would absolutely have extra pairs of inexpensive trousers for active primary kids. I would imagine that if one of mine had had the pinafore or a summer dress she would have needed a clean one daily. She was remarkable at always getting something down her front.

I have always done fresh shirt every day. Mainly because in primary he was a messy sod and now he is a teenager he needs it. Trousers last two or three days. Blazer gets washed every few weeks

But if you put 3 children in clean daily, isn't your pile of washing a mountain by the weekend? 15 jumpers, 15 trousers and 15 polos to wash before you consider anything else. I need to break it up and do it throughout the week!

I'd expect a nine year old to put dirty things in the wash and clean things to rewear themselves.

You do realise those same germs are everywhere at school.