Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

Ruined clothes, what would you do?

96 replies

Sakura03 · 02/08/2021 10:17

We're mostly very happy with DS' nursery but its bothers me that the children don't wear aprons when painting as nearly all my son's tops are stained (black paint), on Friday it was top and trousers, earlier in the week he'd covered his hands in black paint and used his top instead of paper, despite using a decent stain remover the top is completely ruined. I buy him cheap clothes for nursery and I expect the occasional accident but I think it looks awful bringing him in in badly stained clothes. The fact that his clothes is cheap shouldn't really matter as in my opinion you should still look after your clothes. That's the way I was brought up and I want my son to learn that we look after our clothes (just the same principle that we apply to toys etc). I feel like pointing this out to staff, what would you do? Do your nursery use aprons? Tia

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

NoMoreTractors · 02/08/2021 10:57

That would frustrate me. Why can't they use washable paint? I'd maybe buy a big pack of cheap black tshirts to send him in. And yes once they're stained just keep sending him in them. Tescos own stain remover in the pink bottle soaked over night (not the recommended 5 minutes) is the best I've found if that helps at all.

NuffSaidSam · 02/08/2021 10:59

'I would happily send my kids in slightly splotchy clothes, but massive swathes of black that you can't get out is a bit different, I think!'

It's fine, honestly. They're babies, no-one at nursery cares if they've got paint stains on their clothes.

Go for dark clothes if it bothers you too much at least then you can't see it as much.

RubyGoat · 02/08/2021 11:01

When DD was at nursery they did have a uniform but it was expensive, & not compulsory. We generally sent her in leggings & t-shirts, cheap from the supermarket or local charity shops etc. Shoes were the machine washable canvas fabric type that lace up, we usually had at least 2 pairs of shoes on the go at any time for nursery so they could be regularly washed as she got mud, sand, paint etc on them very often.

Little kids are mucky. They like to play. You need to dress them to accommodate this. Also, there is a difference between clothes that are dirty or in poor condition with holes etc, & those that are merely stained.

Kendodd · 02/08/2021 11:01

It's also not a very good use of their time when they could be facilitating learning and play.

I would argue that putting an apron on and off is learning.

Kendodd · 02/08/2021 11:03

I expect the aprons got binned due to covid.

Wanttocry · 02/08/2021 11:04

@WhatsWithAllTheCarrots

I think PPs saying just send them in stained clothes maybe haven't had the experience of clothes returning more paint than fabric?! I would happily send my kids in slightly splotchy clothes, but massive swathes of black that you can't get out is a bit different, I think!

They wear aprons at my DD’s nursery but she still has tops that have sleeves completely black with paint (and they don’t wear aprons for eating so she has tomato over the rest of the top). I genuinely do not care at all. I tend to just send her in in the stained ones (no matter how stained) and leave the non-stained ones for wearing at home.

Dragon50 · 02/08/2021 11:08

I love it when my toddler comes back messy - shows they’ve had a fun and active day.

The paints always wash out for me though. Tomato soup stains were an issue but I have dyed a favoured too navy when that happened.

MiddleParking · 02/08/2021 11:11

My personal bugbear is how if the clothes get wet they shove them in their bag absolutely sodden in a nappy bag. Breeding ground for mould, and totally gross to deal with!

Ozanj · 02/08/2021 11:15

I work in a nursery and would take off a child’s clothes before messy activities if the parent requested it. I do understand why they don’t use aprons as it can often ruin the spontenity of messy play & changing toddlers can take so long that it can impact other activities on the timetable. But if it annoys you let them know and they should work with you.

Oh and as an aside - there is nothing wrong in sending kids to nursery in ‘ruined’ or stained clothes. As long as they are clean and your child is otherwise healthy and thriving we don’t report to social services just because the parent uses paint splattered clothes for nursery.

Ozanj · 02/08/2021 11:17

@MiddleParking

My personal bugbear is how if the clothes get wet they shove them in their bag absolutely sodden in a nappy bag. Breeding ground for mould, and totally gross to deal with!

It shouldn’t grow mould in just a day. Unless of course the parent is forgetting dirty clothes in the bag for weeks.

user1471543683 · 02/08/2021 11:18

I work in a nursery and we were told to get rid of them because of Covid. Bit strange as they could touch other resources that other children had touched but not aprons!! Also they way nursery is nowadays the child rules and if they want to paint without an apron then who are we to stop them. Nursery is changing and not for the better.

itsgettingwierd · 02/08/2021 11:19

I never expected them to keep ds clothes clean.

But I do expect them to have aprons and teach a children to put them on, to wash hands instead of wiping them on clothes etc.

I do t agree with teaching children from a young age we can just ruin clothes and buy more cheap. These are all simple things that support what needs to happen for climate change.

Lemonlemon88 · 02/08/2021 11:21

Not if you sort your kids bag out every day??

RadioPenguin · 02/08/2021 11:23

I'm a preschool assistant and it's entirely up to you to sort. Either you supply them with an apron or you send them in clothes you don't worry about getting stained. We have children turn up every day in beautiful dresses and designer clothes and it's just not suitable. Children are messy. They want to play with paint (painting hands) play with sand, water, slime, foam etc. We all would much rather you send your child in old scruffy clothes! If you're going somewhere after, send them in with fresh clothes and we can get them changed before leaving.

PP who commented on wet clothes being put in nappy bags. What would you rather us do? We need to keep doors and windows open for ventilation (covid) and we won't be able to dry your little darlings clothes before hometime. Just empty the preschool bag as soon as home and then chuck in the machine? Or, supply a waterproof top and bottoms so it doesn't matter.

Willowtree999 · 02/08/2021 11:26

My DD would have found a way to paint herself even with an apron. Just buy cheap, dark leggings and t-shirts for nursery wear. Life's too short to worry about stained clothes which are ultimately going to get more stained.

Cantbebotheredtothinkofaname · 02/08/2021 11:40

I send DC in cheap dresses, dark if I can get them, and just keep them and send her back in stained clothes when she gets paint stains on them. Nursery will surely realise what the stains are, and the clothes are obviously clean, and neither am I spending hours trying to remove the stains when they will just get stained again the following week! It is frustrating when aprons aren’t used but knowing my child they probably removed the apron even if they put them on originally

AGirlHasNoShame · 02/08/2021 11:41

Our nursery is not allowed aprons due to covid.

Children are expected to take a free flow approach to play and we are not allowed to force them into an apron (when we have them) or painting T-shirt if they don’t want to. Children will then see other children painting without and do the same as them and know we can’t stop them.

If a parent asked specifically for us to change them into a painting T-shirt and the child was happy to, sometimes it’s impossible to remove yourself from the room to change them as you would be leaving children unsupervised (getting their bags from the cloakroom and using the changing room to provide privacy) You also have to deal with 1000 incidents every day, when you have your back turned a child can easily cover themselves in paint in 30 seconds.

We have two year olds throughout the nursery and they don’t understand why they have to wear them and 90% of the time won’t let you change them.

I also had to laugh at the poster suggesting using aprons is learning. We don’t promote this kind of learning, we have to promote learning through play at all times and rules/routines etc don’t come into it at all and are not allowed to be enforced. Neither is tidy up time, if the child doesn’t want to tidy up we cannot make them.

Nursery has changed and not for the better as a previous poster said. It’s a thankless job.

nocturnalcatfreetogoodhome · 02/08/2021 11:43

I’d be really, really annoyed with that. All I can suggest is either speaking to them or buying him all black/grey clothes. If they’re stained with other stains you could dye them?

Is it due to Covid? Would he be allowed to take painting spares or wear an old jumper?

girlmama32 · 02/08/2021 11:44

Just put the stained clothes back on him for nursery? Then it won't matter if he gets paint on them again, as long as their clean nobody is going to care if they have stains on them. Children should be able to play without worrying about getting their clothes dirty.

Mammyofasuperbaby · 02/08/2021 11:47

I ended up dressing my son in head to toe black as I was sick of his clothes getting ruined.
He couldn't wear the uniform as the smallest size was 2-3 years and he was in 18-24 months until he was 3.
He'd often come home covered in food coloring as they'd put it into the water outside and obviously it dyed the clothes. I couldn't afford to keep replacing clothes and couldn't send him in stained clothes as the nursery were arsey about the children being "dirty" even when the clothes were clean but stained by their own doing.
So I dressed him in black- can't see the stains.

onelittlefrog · 02/08/2021 12:04

Surely the paints used in nursery are non-toxic and washable?

If it's not coming out in the wash I'd be questioning what they are using to be honest and whether it's appropriate for toddlers who tend to eat as much paint as they put on the paper!

Ozanj · 02/08/2021 12:13

@onelittlefrog

Surely the paints used in nursery are non-toxic and washable?

If it's not coming out in the wash I'd be questioning what they are using to be honest and whether it's appropriate for toddlers who tend to eat as much paint as they put on the paper!

Non-toxic paints and crayons aren’t always very washable.

nocturnalcatfreetogoodhome · 02/08/2021 12:16

@Mammyofasuperbaby

I ended up dressing my son in head to toe black as I was sick of his clothes getting ruined. He couldn't wear the uniform as the smallest size was 2-3 years and he was in 18-24 months until he was 3. He'd often come home covered in food coloring as they'd put it into the water outside and obviously it dyed the clothes. I couldn't afford to keep replacing clothes and couldn't send him in stained clothes as the nursery were arsey about the children being "dirty" even when the clothes were clean but stained by their own doing. So I dressed him in black- can't see the stains.

What eejits! What did they expect for you to do? Have an endless store of clean clothes because they thought the toddlers would prefer red water to clear?!

INeedNewShoes · 02/08/2021 12:16

DD had just finished nursery so it’s no longer an issue for us but I agree with you OP!

Absolutely delighted when she came home caked in mud and soil and don’t even mind food - it all washes out and shows she’s been having fun.

But the paint!! It apparently is ‘washable’ and if you soak clothes in cold water prior to putting in the machine apparently it comes out but even doing this hasn’t always worked.

Worst time was when she came home with black paint all over her new trainers which I couldn’t get out despite trying everything possible.

The paint we use at home washes out easily with no faffing around soaking stuff.

DD has never worn precious clothes but it still doesn’t feel right having umpteen leggings/t shirts outfits permanently paint stained forever.

THATbasicSNOWFLAKE · 02/08/2021 12:20

Wait til they start reception and everything is covered in white board pen

Flip

1 2 3 4

Swipe left for the next trending thread