How many sets of uniform does everyone get?

[Dottydoodoo]

Hi there,

My DS is going to be starting in reception in September, and I am clueless about how many sets of uniform I need to get him! The school haven’t said anything about needing a fresh set every day due to covid, I feel like he will need a clean uniform each day because he always used to come home from nursery filthy and his day clothes have always got something on them by the end of the day! It feels excessive to get five of everything though, what does everyone else do?? Neurotic first time school mum here

I just remembered he also needs a spare pair of trousers in his PE bag too in case of an accident. I’m going to have school uniform coming out of my ears aren’t I!!!

I'd get one to wear, one to wash plus a spare of trousers. One to wear, one to wash with a jumper. Five shirts/t-shirts as mine both kept these on at home after school so could be bunged in the machine altogether on a Friday night to be boiled

Kids are expected to get mucky at school, they will all look quite bedraggled by next July!

Depends how often you do the washing. As a general guide - one to wash, one to wear and one spare - but that only works if you do a wash every one to two days.

I had four sets of everything and it was fine.

Oh, and don't bother washing the jumper/trousers every day, most stains/muck will sponge off ready to wear again tomorrow!

We got three of everything, which probably ended up being 4 of jumpers/ cardigans by the time they'd lost one for a week or so. I found that primary school uniform dries overnight on an airer if you need it to as well.

Our school is having them wear their PE Kit all day on PE days at the moment, so that is 1/2 fewer days as well, depending on how often they have PE.

If the uniform involves white polo shirts, they will come home each day filthy, and despite Herculean cleaning efforts, by week 4 they will be covered in whiteboard pen stains, but you won’t care by then. Reception children get pretty filthy 😃
I think we have 4 whole sets, and that was fine.

We had three or four shirts, three bottoms, one or two jumpers depending on whether they were cheap cardigans or logo sweatshirts.

Depends on how messy your child is and whether you are happy to wash mid week.

Dd had 5 polo shirts, 2 jumpers, 2 trousers and 2 tunics. She had a clean polo short every day and just wore the rest until it was dirty so some of it lasted 2 or 3 days some weeks!

This year they have to go in PE kit in PE days so I wont bother with school uniform trousers, 2 tunics will be enough.

I had 3 boys ( grownup now) and I worked every day, so they had 5 polo shirts, 2 sweatshirts and 2 pairs of trousers each - this meant if I couldn't do midweek washes for any reason, they still had enough clean shirts.
Make sure everything is clearly named, and even then half of it will get lost. So second hand/boot sale/supermarket etc is fine, but if you buy white polos, make sure they are 100% cotton, the ones with synthetic mix are hard to keep clean, whereas cotton can be boil washed/bleached.

I bought 2 skirts & 2 pinafores but 5 blouses & 5 polo shirts and 2 school cardigans.
It’s loads, but I’d rather have too much. Daughter started P1.

Most stuff came in packs of 2 or 3. So, 4 trousers, 6 polos. 3 jumpers, I think.
All the white school tops go in a wash with vanish on a Saturday morning. There is always a dark load mid week to ensure enough trousers.
No way until the top of primary mine would have kept clothes clean enough to be wearable the next day - but we did wear them til bedtime.

With reception age DC it's good to have a few spares as there can be accidents and paint, glue, etc can easily end up on clothes IME. I'd recommend a minimum of two of each and I think I had 3-4 polo shirts, 2 sweatshirts, 3 pairs of trousers (because you do sometimes get a dirty pair two days running), and about 10 pairs of socks (which tend to get lost).

I've always had five of everything - trousers, polo shirt/shirt and sweatshirt/pullover - and washed the lot every Friday night.

Friends have had more than five of everything to include eg a spare set at school in case of accidents (I've found that school always have spares in the lost property/accidents box if needed), spare set at grandparents' houses if the children often do sleepovers (chance would be a fine thing), spare set at the childminders etc.

Five of everything here.

Most schools are now asking that children come in fresh uniform every day due to COVID. I don't have a tumble dryer so have 5 of everything. Also, children lose jumpers a lot. I get a couple of branded t-shirts/jumpers then another 3 plain ones from supermarket.

I always had 5 of everything but your child might be cleaner than my DS! Washed the lot on a Friday or Sat ready for the next week.

I've always bought 6 of everything, plus extra pairs of socks/tights as maybe not be able to get from shop over the weekend (normally sizes sold out exactly when you need them!). Wash them on Saturday ready for next week.

5 shirts, 3 trousers, 2 jumpers.

I have five of everything, he comes home insanely filthy and I don’t want to be using the washer every other day for small loads.

6 shirts, (2 x M&S packs of 3 shirts), 3 trousers, 2 jumpers.

5 t shirts, 3 jumpers , 4 pairs of trousers.

If they have logo uniform, then one new set if you can afford it and the rest from the uniform pool. How many depends how often you have enough for a full load of washing but I'd go with a minimum of three polo shirts, two trousers and two jumpers. DS had five polo shirts and three jumpers second hand, then three pairs of trousers new, to wash weekly.

I’ve always had 10 of everything plus 2 blazers for secondary, because in my childhood our clothes were always dirty so I’m over- compensating. To be fair though supermarket uniform is really cheap, so worth not having to scrabble about mid-week to wash stuff. I’m ok financially, but I still used to have loads when I was very poor. Especially good to have lots if you’re able to hand down to siblings as the clothes are still really good condition when they are passed down.
I’d rather have two £12 Asda blazers than one M&S blazer.

Mine each have ended up with 3x shorts and 2x trousers as going on past experience they are both likely to keep shorts on as long as they can get away with.

2 x 3packs of polo shirts each

1 fleece, 1 jumper. (jumper will be pristine and untouched at the end of term )

1 set of pe kit to be worn all day on pe days.

I always think its better to have more shirts than less then I'm never scrabbling around on Monday morning.

Clean for each day. Ds is incapable of staying clean and I can’t be bothered flapping around washing uniform midweek. He also grows really slow, so reckon I can get my use out of them

I’ve got 5 or 6 of everything - if you work it’s very difficult to be thinking about washing and drying stuff every other day. The thing that gets dirtiest - IME - is jumpers. If they get the free hot dinners throughout infant school, they come home with it tipped all down their front every day. Plus jumpers get taken off at school and lost. ‘Where is your jumper???!!’ Maybe get more than 5 jumpers.... 🤦🏻‍♀️