to buy 11 white polo shirts for my 4yos school uniform, so I don't have to wash them as often?

[User1789]

DS started reception this week, and predictably his tops look like the 'before' shirts in an Ariel advert.

However, I don't really have that many white clothes, particularly autumn/winter, and DH only goes into the office 2 days a week and doesn't wear shirts any more except on high days and holidays.

This means I only do a whites wash about once a fortnight usually.

I had bought 5 polo shirts for DS to wear with his school uniform, but this does not a whole load make, or include a spare for him to take in in his bag. I figured out that the £9 extra quid on 6 more polo shirts will pay for itself in about a term and a half if I don't have to do an extra load every fortnight (excluding the cost of tumble drying/detergent/stain removal!). So, AIBU?

My son in his second year at secondary and has 10 white shirts for this exact reason - I wash all 10 every other Friday and it works for us as like you don’t have much other white washing.

tip: add a sachet of Dr Beckmann Glow White powder each time (along with the usual stain removers etc) and they will stay super white until end of term.

I think YABU for consulting MN on such an issue.

My dc has a full clean uniform every day, often even a fresh tie. It is necessary!

Wouldn’t you just do a smaller load? Doesn’t your washing machine have different levels or a single wash option?

What would you do with all the shirts ( that will most certainly need soaking or stain removal attention) between washing if you are collecting so many up?

i couldn’t stand to have dirty clothes sitting around for days on end just waiting …

I always overbought uniform. Even now at secondary school I have multiple sports kits and 15 shirts each so I just do a job lot every few weeks.

I'd worry if they were wet/damp/stained, waiting 2 weeks before they're washed they'll likely get mouldy and stains will never come out. Can't you do a short eco cycle wash every week?

You don't have many white clothes, but do you have white bedsheets or towels or anything?

If you tumble dry them you’ll soon have 11 very tiny polo shirts and need 11 more.

Mine have never shrunk in the dryer.

If you can afford it, absolutely. I have 10 sets of all uniform for my kids (all supermarket cheapies). Once a fortnight I wash and iron them all and then I don’t have to worry about uniform for the next two weeks. Definitely helps if you lead a busy life.

A few years ago I started throwing everything in together (bar things like jeans that have never been washed before) and nothing bad has happened. Okay, so the whites aren't brilliant white, but they're certainly not 'grey' - and you'll want to replace them relatively often anyway as they grow quickly at that age.

Can't you wash them with your sheets?

I have no white bedding or towels. They are one of my pet hates.

The only only things white other than, in the summer only, DH's cricket whites are the school polo tops.

@User1789 do you want to swap with me 😂 I have 4 children so 20 school white shirts a week 😱 plus DH work shirts so 25 a week!

When DD was in primary I never washed the white polo shirts separately(or any other white thing), I just chucked them in with everything else. I did hang them to dry though as the tumble dryer shrank them otherwise.

Since secondary I have washed the white shirts separately, I just use the half load setting on the machine, we have 6 shirts and they are washed every weekend.

Absolutely a good way to go! I overbuy too. My husband does the washing due to my chronic fatigue. He applies no thought or strategy to it. Kids would run out of uniform + we'd all run out of underwear if I didn't overbuy the necessities. I was recently helping hang out + honestly this one load had 4 pairs + 9 unmatched socks!

Laughing at the idea that young kids don’t need a fresh top every day. Mine are filthy!!

They are cheap enough. Just go for it.

Sounds like a great idea.

Although I'd bung in the white tops with towels every couple of days if not full.

I think I prefer this sort of question to most of what goes on MN. It’s a practical, non personal question.

I tend to have some extra uniform for both children because, while I am usually quick to get washing done, there are times when I don’t get a chance. There are enough things to fret over in this world - don’t make whether there are enough polo shirts one of them.

I do see people’s point about the environmental impact of buying more shirts but very few people genuinely only consume exactly what they need. Compared to the impact of a takeaway once a week, all the junk mail that comes through the door, bloody party bags, a few extra polo shirts aren’t going to make such a difference. You can put them in the clothes recycling bin once they are done.

What you’ve said makes perfect sense to me :)

Makes sense to me too. When I only had DD in school there was hardly any white washing because she was/is extremely clean and so would wear a polo shirt a couple of times.

DS started Reception last year and needed a new one every day because he's a little grub! He's been in Y1 for a week and he's not quite as filthy but still comes out covered in pen and paint and whatever else!

They do both wear PE kit to school twice a week, and so have 2 white tshirts each that get washed each time, however.

Just leave us to it then?

I'm finding it quite interesting. I have lots of washing foibles myself.

I'd probably lather them in stain remover, let them soak in it then do a quick wash. Try it then if it doesn't work but your extra pack.
Whatever works for you really and if they're still in good condition at the end of the year, charity shop them.

Perfectly sensible. They'll be in decent condition by the time she's grown out of them and easy to hand on. You may find you can buy some second hand ones to top up with as she goes through school.

As you're likely to be stuck with white washing for years now, you could also consider white sheets, towels or things for yourself as more viable now!