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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to want to buy school trousers that aren't polyester and covered in teflon??

36 replies

thisisyesterday · 18/01/2010 19:26

becauses, it would appear I am.

argh! I can't afford to pay £22 for school trousers
but I wouldn't wear polyester/viscose trousers all day and I don't think ds should either.
and as for all this teflon/stormwear/staindefence crap... what is with that??? just wash them fgs!

OP posts:
mrmagoo · 18/01/2010 19:34

I couldn't agree more. A couple of years ago Asda did some inexpensive pure cotton teflon-free school trousers and I stocked up, but since then I haven't been able to find any. And the supermarket assistants I've asked since have obviously thought I'm bonkers.

mrmagoo · 18/01/2010 19:36

Whoops, I'm obviously not agreeing that yabu.

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 18/01/2010 19:40

lol mrmagoo
it seems crazy, when i searched on google i came up with so many parenting forums and things where people were asking for them, I think that shops are missing a trick really

tbh even a polyester cotton mix would be fine! just not 100% synthetic
i managed to get his last 3 pairs for £11 each (which is still expensive) but he goes through the knees so quickly.

m&s do a polyester/wool blend but again it's covered in stainguard and stormwear!

OP posts:
sowhatitsonlysnow · 18/01/2010 19:41

Surprised that even the John Lewis ones are synthetic

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 18/01/2010 20:33

i know, apparently a lot of places used to do them but these days people just want non-iron, non-stain etc etc etc

OP posts:
PlanetEarth · 18/01/2010 21:07

Yeah, they all seem so flimsy! Stainproof is all very well but warm would be nicer...

Mermaidspam · 18/01/2010 21:17

Do they not do these for boys?

Spidermama · 18/01/2010 21:20

I get used but posh ones from ebay. There's plenty of cotton in M&S trews.

I have four kids at primary school so am washing four sets of bottle green nylon, white polyester and grey teflon.

I'm NOT a fan of school uniform at primary age.

Funnily enough DS1 always, alsways loses his bottle green tops but he never lets his favourite hoody go missing.

foxinsocks · 18/01/2010 21:21

I bought ds the GAP Chinos

they are cotton and far warmer/thicker than the school trousers you can get

they are more expensive but they last so much longer that it's ended up saving us money

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 18/01/2010 21:22

planetearth, i think the m&s wool blend ones would be a bit warmer, just cos of the wool

OP posts:
Original poster
thisisyesterday · 18/01/2010 21:22

spidermama, i checked ebay, found lots listed as being cotton, but they don't look it so have asked about 10 people to check labels for me lol

OP posts:
MilaMae · 18/01/2010 21:25

I looked everywhere as Dtwin 1 has slight exzema behind his knees and nylon makes it worse.

M&S sold them the previous year thankfully he's smaller than his twin so I made do with his cast offs but we're getting low. I'm hoping they'll bring them back next year,the lady in M&S said they'd had loads of complaints that they'd gone.

I'm sure I read that Teflon is carcegenic which was another reason I didn't want everything covered in it.

Takver · 18/01/2010 21:34

You can have fairtrade cotton ones for £14 here.

Same shop does fairtrade polo shirts too.

MadameDefarge · 18/01/2010 22:43

John Lewis do 100% cotton ones too, which I bought for ds with eczema. a bit pricey but worth it.

bran · 18/01/2010 22:59

I was about to recommend the fairtrade ones, but Takver has beaten me to it. DS has these as I didn't want him to have fancy treated fabrics in case it triggered his eczema. They're good trousers. DS has nearly gone through the knees of one pair of his, but he is like that with his casual trousers too so I think it's him rather than the trousers.

Next is good for cotton polo shirts and sweatshirts, but don't do cotton trousers for some reason.

bran · 18/01/2010 23:02

And YANBU, I forgot to say. I had a difficult time this year as DS's school uniform changed and he needed jumper with a logo. But, of course, the ones that could be bought through the school weren't pure cotton. They also wanted red polo shirts from John Lewis only so everyone would have the same colour, but they weren't pure cotton either.

Morloth · 19/01/2010 08:22

Teflon trousers are the best invention ever. Messy trousers + baby wipe = no need to wash!

I would coat the boy in Teflon if he would hold still.

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 19/01/2010 09:23

bran, ours is the same, the school jumper is 100% acrylic. not only is it itchy, hot and sweaty, but he has only worn it half a dozen times and it has bobbled like mad

i bought one official one, and then got 3 100% cotton ones from asda for £2 ech!

OP posts:
bran · 19/01/2010 09:52

Snap TIY, I bought the Asda ones too. I bought 5 and sent them to the company that was supplying the official jumpers to have the logo embroidered on. Including everything (jumpers, postage each way and the embroidering) it came to slightly less than the official jumper. They have worn very well, but are a slightly different shade to the offical jumper. [couldn't care less emoticon]

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 19/01/2010 14:28

wow that's quite cool.
ours don't have to wear the school jumper, but they like them to have at least one to wear if they're out on trips and such like.

OP posts:
Original poster
thisisyesterday · 19/01/2010 22:36

ok, does anyone know any brands that make cotton ones? even a cotton mix would do tbh!

the trutex ones linked to further down are only available in size 7 up, and he is 5

OP posts:
bran · 19/01/2010 22:41

I bought age 5 for DS so they had them back in August, phone them and ask if they will have them back in stock soon. Otherwise, they are reasonably slim fitting and not particularly long, so you could be age 7 and turn up the bottoms a bit.

DS is about average height and won't turn 6 until June and TBH his are a little short on him now although they were just right in September. I'm holding out and letting him look a little silly because a) he hasn't noticed yet that they are a bit short and b) he will be wearing shorts for summer term and I'm vainly hoping he won't grow any more before then.

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 19/01/2010 22:47

i need them asap tbh as he only had 3 pairs, and he has torn one now and i can't keep up with only 2 pairs

they're the same make as his current ones which were age 5 and I had to turn them up, so think the 7 will def be too long.

hmm, might have to be some emergency polyester ones

OP posts:
bran · 19/01/2010 23:13

I'm out of ideas I'm afraid. If it were my DS, who can't wear treated/coated fabrics, I would either put him in smart grey chino-type trousers or buy a pair of cheap polyester trousers the same shade and cut them up to make knee patches. It wouldn't look great, but it would be better than nothing.

MadameDefarge · 20/01/2010 00:20

Did my post about John Lewis 100% cotton school trousers go completely unnoticed?

read the thread! Makes me despair when I take the time to post and not even the OP bothers to read properly.

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