How Often do you wash your dc's school uniform?

[FrockHorror]

Aaaaah! After yet another morning of having to put radiators to finish drying DD's uniform , I was wondering how often you wash your DC's uniform?

I am having to do it every other day, and on a Wednesday the whole lot has to go in, meaning we have this mad rush on a Thursday morning to finish getting it dry. It's driving me mad! DD is in reception so there is always lots of paint and glue stuck to her at the end of the day, not to mention the smearings of lunch she seems to bring home too (I don't know how she manages it tbh) .

Do you only have one Uniform?

I used to have 3 shirts for DGD two trousers and two sweatshirts, shirts were changed daily, sweatshirts and trousers every other day.

my ds has new uniform every day, have 3 sets so by wed we always have new uniform ready.

New shirt every day (have 5 cheapo ones)
Trousers probably once or twice a week (depending on how grubby)
Fleece/jumper once a week (have two, if theres a stain its bunged in the washing machine but as they're horrible synthetic crap they're dry in about an hour.

Shirt changed everyday - trousers/sweatshirt when they are dirty which is most days still in Y3. DS has 5 polo shirts though and several sweatshirts (some looking a bit shabby) and trousers. I work 3 days a week though (leaving the house at 7.20) and don't have a tumble drier so couldn't cope with your sort of regime.

Have five of everything - so in theory it all only needs to be done at the weekend. In practice ds1 is very good at losing his sweatshirts, making holes in his trousers and getting indelible marks on his white polo shirts - so the numbers dwindle and I usually end up having to buy more uniform part way through the year when we get to the point of having to wash every day!

A bit like LunarSea we have 5 sweaters for each DS, same of trousers and more polo shirts. They both have clean uniforms daily as they get filthy.

I just couldn't bear to do it any other way. The constant round of washing and ironing would drive me scatty. And also I figure that having more means they get worn less frequently and will in the long run las a bit longer. Their sweaters are an awful colour to keep clean being pale blue.

Same as Shoshe.

DS has 3 pairs of trousers and now that he is in Yr 3 we often get 2 days out of them. Polo shirts are clean every day - we have 9! M&S 3 for 2 offer and last year I ended up junking a few over the year as I couldn't get them clean. I wash his jumper at the weekend generally - he only wears it to and from school as the school is very hot.

Same as Sagacious. No school jumper needs to be washed every day unless it has tomato ketchup spilled on it. This is The Law.

Depends what dd has been up to. We do a daily inspection and see what can be used the next day. Quite often jumpers just need a rub down with a damp cloth and they can worn the next day. Skirts tend to last 3 days easily. Polo shirts 1/2 days depending.

We have 3 jumpers (only one with logo) and 6 polos (3 are from last year)and 2 skirts.

I have about 20 polo shirts In my defence, none were bought by me brand new (some were unworn but from Ebay). Lots were from the 2nd hand uniform sale when they sold them off at the end for 10p each! It means that we never ever run out. We only have about 5-7 pairs of trousers, but again, that's more than a weeks worth, so fine. He has two school logo jumpers, and a couple in the same colour from the £2 range at Tesco's. If his trousers/jumper are clean, they get worn again (and again...), but if they're dirty, then they go in the wash. If his jumper has only a tiny mark on it, then I just clean it with a babywipe.

So in answer to the OP, he tends to have a clean polo shirt every day (they're usually grubby), and probably 3 changes of trousers/jumper a week.

Usually once a week, sometimes less.

Have loads of cheap shirts/polo shirts/t-shirts, 4 pairs of trousers and 6 cheap jumpers/sweatshirts.

We have one 'keep for best' uniform with the embroidered polo shirt, sweatshirt, and fleece jacket and a pair of trousers which we keep for days out/photos.

Thanks for that. We have 7 polo shirts, 2 skirts, a pair of trousers and 2 sweatshirts as the school are terrible about ordering in new ones. Somehow, I can't quite bring myself to buy any more uniform when she is growing so quickly and when it just gets wrecked with paint, glue etc.

The polo shirts are obviously not a problem - she wears a clean one every day but everything else is. The other problem is the cost of uniform. Luckily most of it doesn't have to have the school logo on but some of it does and it can only be bought through the school.

Still, I think I might have to invest, seems the only way I'm going to sort my drying problem out!

Can you not get a smock?

My Dd's uniform cost 300 quid in all so we aren't in a pos to replicate it!

there are smocks you can get with long sleeves and they stop most of the gunk.

Another suggestion as there seems to be a lot of logo'd stuff is : does the school not have a lost property box / second hand uniform stall? you might be able to pick up something there.

I wash DDs uniform on friday.

same as sagacious here. Jumper often dirty by day 1, but they just have to wear it regardless (have to wash it separately and I'm not prepared to do that more than once a week). They have one school jumper and one fleece each so can swap if necessary.

Both dd's have on clean uniform every monday and then a clean set again on a Wednesday.

Ds has clean on monday and it gets changed several times a week.

The girls have 2 sweatshirts, 4 polo shirts and 2 skirts/trousers each.
Ds has 3 sweatshirts, 4 polo shirts and 4 pairs of trousers.

If something needs washing for the next day then i hang it in the airing cupboard overnight and it is always dry by morning.

Smocks and table napkins come home on Fridays, to be returned washed and ironed on Mondays. So they do four days (no school on Wednesdays).

Everything else except woollen cardigans and overcoats is washed daily.

Fortunately (or not, depending on which way you look at it!) I have to do a light and dark load of washing every day for the 4 of us so its not really the washing that is the problem, more the actual drying. The school was just advertising fleeces but want £15 for a 3-4 year old size and regardless of whether I could afford to or not, I think that is way too much money to pay on a fleece.

As for a smock, the rules seem to be that if the children do not want to wear aprons etc during messy activities they do not have to (darn the EYFS ) and DD is one of those headstrong children who definately doesn't want to.

Well, I buy the fleeces quite big so they last up to 2 years, so I think its worth the outlay for something they wear so often.
Or just buy a second jumper/cardigan?

We have 5 lots of uniform and it gets washed every day, without fail DD1 will come home covered in mud/paint/glue etc. I thought it woulf just be a reception class thing but into the third year at school shes still a messy thing.

Frock I try to make things last more than one day, but sometimes it is impossible. At the beginning of term I cut too many corners with the logoed sweatshirt/cardigans. I only bought 2, and tgere were none in stock when I tried to buy more (the cardigans are £14

So I bought a black cardigan from M&S - only £8, as a spare, I imagine that the Reception teacher has more meaningful things to do than uniform inspections tbh! . No one has noticed that our new cardigan has no logo.

@ two loads of washing every day. When DS started reception I bought him age 5-6 clothes - he was 4 1/2 and it was a choice between 3-4 or 5-6. He is still wearing that size now in Y3 and will be 8 in Feb. Not the same items I hasten to add and the ones he has are shabby and looking small so I will replace them for next term. He has gone up a trouser size each year though - started off in 3-4 in reception and is now in 7-8.

We have 2 sets so i wash it/change her twice a week.

I normally wash everything at the weekend. Both DC have clean polos every day (cheapy ones) Trousers/skirts/pinafore dresses and sweatshirts/cardigans get changed probably 2- 3 times a week. Strangely DS in Y2 needs more frequent changes than DD in reception