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Original poster

Do your children wear clean school uniform every day?

70 replies

blossomhill · 08/09/2004 10:26

Following on from the clean pj thread I thought I would start this one! Mine both have complete clean uniform everyday as they always have something down there jumpers, dresses etc. Lots of my friends children don't and I wouldn't (only t-shirts) but have to as they get in such a mess!

OP posts:
auntyquated · 08/09/2004 12:52

i'm with lonelymum here - i get as long as poss out of the uniform...
if it's not brken don't fix it
if it doesn't look/smell dirty don't wash it

auntyquated · 08/09/2004 12:54

anyway- at the moment i'm on here too much to do any washing

Easy · 08/09/2004 13:06

We're still early days, only going 9-till 12 for the first 2 weeks, but I'm planning to use a clean polo-shirt everyday, only wash trousers and jumper when they need it. so far he started last thursday, had to wash trousers yesterday. Bought 6 shirts (Adams packs of 2) 2 trousers, 2 jumpers (have insignia on them, so £7 each) 5 pairs of sox, but only using 2 cos I ran out of name labels, waiting for delivery.

Surprised about having to buy P.E. kit at 5 years old. We used to do P.E. in our vest and pants! Cos ds has super-wide feet, couldn't get cheap plimsolls for him. paid £26 for trainers. hit on the idea of sending his summer doodles to school, as he's only going to wear them half an hour a week, and keep the new trainers for wearing after school.

Bet I end up needing to buy more trousers and jumper tho'

Easy · 08/09/2004 13:07

oh and ds wears clean p.j.s every OTHER night, coinciding with bath-nights

scotlou · 08/09/2004 13:10

I agree with lonelymum - if it looks clean and doesn't smell it can do another day! I try and get more than 1 day out of DS's polo shirts - but my DH was horrified! He thought I was being cruel - I then told him the gym kit had lasted 3 weeks (I'd forgotten to get it back from school). Said he'd take care of DS's washing from then on - but still no sign!
Short / trousers and sweatshirts generally last 2 -3 days. As for PJs - my DS only wears the trousers as he gets too hot - and if they are cleanish then they will last a week. Same with DD - although she tends to spill her breakfast down them so ends up with clean ones every day or 2.

Original poster
blossomhill · 08/09/2004 13:13

When you think about it I have 2 children who have clean pjs every night = 14 pairs of pjs
2 children who have clean uniform every day = 10 lots of uniform. I do too much washing
With the pjs though they have breakfast and then get dressesd hence dirty pjs.

OP posts:
Original poster
blossomhill · 08/09/2004 13:14

I only wash there pe kits every half-term though. Have the choice to take it home every week but that's too much hassle!

OP posts:
nutcracker · 08/09/2004 13:14

My Dd2 started today, but Dd1 is in yr2 now and usually i'll change her blouse/polo shirt 2-3 times a week and her skirt/trousers/pinafore/summer dress when it's dirty, or when dd has left them crumpled up on the floor like this morning .

When i was little, we had clean pj's about every 3 nights and clean beds every week.

Mine get the clean pj's but the beds get done about every 10-14 days as I just forget.

marialuisa · 08/09/2004 13:15

I'm scarred by memories of boarding school where you HAD to wear the same shirt for 3 days and the same jumper/skirt all week (and we were at school 6/7). just remember feeling so yucky and i was only 7 so sweat wasn't an issue-but then we weren't allowed to bath/shower everyday either!

Easy · 08/09/2004 13:16

We have been told by school to send P.E. kit at the beginning of term, ds will bring it home for washing at half term! O.K., but my ds gets ever so sweaty when running around. It'll be horrid by half term.

clairabelle · 08/09/2004 13:17

I acn't believe this about PE kit, dd strats school tomorrow and one of the other mums told me this. They take their PE kit in at the start of term and only bring it home to wash at half term. Yuck. Won't it be a horible crumpled smelly pile by then that I have just paid for?

auntyquated · 08/09/2004 13:21

they wear the pe kit for all of 20 mins, they rarely break into a sweat...it isn't cardiovascular work tey do. yes it gets creased but 25 4 year olds in creased kits looks sooo cute.

Original poster
blossomhill · 08/09/2004 13:26

I just make sure I have it home to wash and iron for sports day but other than that I am not worried.

OP posts:
clary · 08/09/2004 14:27

Gosh I have three small children so the washing machine is always on...I constantly try to limit the load by getting 2 wears out of things, as blossomhill says.

Don't think I am dirty.

Of course, if clothes are stained eg with dinner/paint then I will wash them, but by and large it ends up as DS1 wears shorts/trouesers 2/3 times, school jumper twice, clean polo shirt daily unless very clean and non-smelly. DD I try to get 2 wears out of shorts/trousers and also T-shirts if it's winter and they are under things. Not in the summer tho. DS2 is 17 mo so I often have to change his clothes during the day! (sigh)

roisin · 08/09/2004 14:44

Mine rarely get more than a day out of their polo shirts or shirts. (I buy them ONE with the school logo on, then 4 cheap ones - I agree the expensive ones don't wear any better than the cheap ones!)

But I find sweatshirts generally look OK for another day or two after a quick rub with a babywipe or similar.

Do yours get changed when they come home from school? I kind of think they ought to, but I have never bothered to fight that battle yet, and as they are usually putting their PJs within 2 hrs of getting home it doesn't seem fair.

Lonelymum · 08/09/2004 14:47

Blossomhill, if you are doing all this washing every week, can I please ask, how much of it do you iron? I suppose that is what puts me off changing clothes before they strictly need it: not the washing (the machine takes care of ti) but the ironing.

marialuisa · 08/09/2004 14:48

If the dress will do another day she gets changed, if it's for the wash she keeps it on!

Easy · 08/09/2004 14:51

Roisin, I've started with the routine of changing out of uniform as soon as he comes in, but he's only half days ATM.

Knowing me it'll slip by the wayside over time (sigh!)

KateandtheGirls · 08/09/2004 14:58

Lonelymum, I NEVER iron. Almost anything is fine as long as you take it straight out of the washer and put it into the dryer and then take it out of the dryer as soon as it's dry. I suppose if you hang your clothes out to dry they do get a bit more wrinkled, but rarely enough to need ironing IMO.

There's no way my kids could wear the same clothes 2 days in a row. They're always filthy, especially after a day at school.

Can I ask a question? If you, personally, wear the same shirt more than one day, do you literally wear it on 2 consecutive days so that everyone knows you haven't washed it, or do you hang it up after wearing and wear it another day? Also, do you shower every day? If so, doesn't it feel kind of gross to put on dirty clothes? If not, don't you yourself feel kind of gross to be unshowered and in unclean clothes?

Not attacking, just trying to understand.

Easy · 08/09/2004 15:02

I agree about ironing, Never Iron (except dh's business shirts, and he doesn't always wear shirts, depends where he's working, often polo's and stuff now)

I think if things are taken out of the washer promptly, it's just a waste of time and effort (there have been long threads on this in the past)

zebra · 08/09/2004 15:27

Possibly the lack of understanding is mutual, K+Girls, not that I care at all how often people wash themselves or their clothes, as long as they dont smell or look dirty.

I probably bathe (dont like showers) only 2x/week, although I do an at-the- sink wash more often. I often wear the same clothes several days in a row. I dont care if some1 else thinks that is odd. I cant stand being sweaty tho - on hot days I soak my shirt in water & wear the wet shirt 2 keep cool. If I do get sweaty then of course me & the clothes must be washed. DH & I have killer senses of smell, he wouldn't hesitate 2 order me 2 shower & visa versa....

I am often baffled how much clothes other people wear -- how warm they dress, I mean. I would sweat buckets if I dressed like other people.

zebra · 08/09/2004 15:28

But funny enuf _ I do iron the school clothes -- esp. if they r 2-4x worn.

fio2 · 08/09/2004 15:31

iyts funny zebra because i am sure my children bath and change their clothes more than I do

Lonelymum · 08/09/2004 18:48

Kateandthegirls! I cannot believe you posted that! You really speak your mind don't you? And not for the first time to me! Don't get me wrong. I am laughing, not angry. I like people to say what they think and not pussyfoot around as long as it is OK for me to do the same.
To answer your questions (though goodness knows why I am) yes I usually wear the same thing on consecutive days (saves having to think about it once every other day) or, if not appropriate, I save the thing for another day (hang it up? yes sometimes, not always). I don't flatter myself that anyone notices that I am wearing the same thing twice. If they do, they haven't got much else on their minds.
Yes I shower every day. Didn't always, but dh is Australian and was horrified to think I might miss a day so now I always do it and would be horrified myself to miss a day.
Once clean, I don't feel awful puting on dirty clothes because, in my mind, they are not dirty. If they were dirty, even after one day's wearing, I would put them in to wash.
I don't happen to own a dryer but even if I did, I would probably still iron exactly what I iron now: all t-shirts, shirts, bed linen, dresses, pjs, skirts, most trousers but not tracksuit bottoms.
Hope that helps you to understand! Keep speaking your mind!

NomDePlume · 08/09/2004 19:07

LOL-ing at why K&TG, would need to 'understand' ! What's there to understand ?!

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