I CANNOT get his shirts clean. Already!

[Soonish]

I've just washed some of ds1's school shirts twice using persil and using a prewash the second time.

Zilch effect, the collars and cuffs are filthy and there are random grass stains too.

These are brand new, super ultra non iron ones from M&S that he has probably worn about 3 days each.

He's just started secondary and I am almost in tears of despair. I can't afford to keep replacing them every few weeks.

What do I DO?

Thanks tread.. So look for plain cotton or polyester nothing marketed as easy iron.

Jamaican Blue Power soap, it's on Amazon, cheap as chips. Works really well, especially if you can peg out on the line to get the suns whitening power on them as well. All the Jamaican cleaners here swear by it. We use it on school shirts quite often.

The pre wash won't do anything if you've already set the stain with a warm wash. So do the pre wash first. I always do one for the white wash with stain remover powder

I wasn't passing judgement on people or tailoring types, I was just reporting what you see in these interviews. Some people bend over backwards to try to look smart with very limited budgets, others spend more but look scruffier (including posh state school types, btw).

Have to say, when it comes to boys a lot of the issue is personal hygiene- a darn good neck wash keeps the collar tide mark to a minimum!
Having tried everything since over last couple of years I've found shout spray to be best value for money.

Shout spray to clean their necks? I'll buy a bottle for the bath.

I used to be very previous and replaced everything when it wasn't looking sparkling. Three school changes and four lots of school fees later plus a child who grows constantly often after 2 wears of trousers! = boys now in Asda trousers and shirts and they are washed and worn again, pen or no pen!

I also mainly have him in short sleeves = no cuffs to get dirty.

Please ladies, advice on getting fat/grease stains out of grey school shirts. My boy in reception is a messy eater! I've tried washing up liquid (ecover) and vanish spray, as recommended on another thread. No joy. All 4 shirts have dark patches on the fronts and sleeves.
Going to try swarfega tomorrow, if Sainsburys stock it.

www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=250707542 - this stuff is good too. Got shoe polish off my carpet

lins I'd have recommended washing up liquid - apply to area, stretch over bowl and pour boiling (or v. hot water) through to rinse (I'd test one with boiling water first in case it wrecks them, and repeat until gone and IME grease stains do eventually disappear after a few normal washes...
but bicarb of soda is fantastic at removing dusty grease buildup from the tops of kitchen cupboards/cooker hoods - so maybe a bicarb paste or soda in the wash...

The trouble is that he isn't particularly clean anyway. He is scruffy. He is constantly playing outside (I make him change after school) and his hair is quite long and he often has ash from the bonfire on his face, is probably not very clean behind the ears, and he looks disorganised and dishevelled whatever I do.

He is learning to wash his hair and starting to use deodorant though he does not need to yet.

I guess I have to accept that the teachers probably 'have concerns' already, but when you have a child like this, you sort of get used to that. It's just that I want him to feel normal, and to look as normal as possible and to try and assuage their fears I suppose.

So yes I worry about his clothes. It's all I can do. Shoot me.

I also look scruffy btw. I'm renovating a house. So I turn up at school after a long day of plastering or woodwork and I am generally covered in dust and paint and all sorts of stuff, and the baby is also normally covered in dust despite being looked after by his Grandma most of the time I'm working, but I haven't time to change either of us before going there.

They probably already have a file on us. We tend to look reasonably clean in the mornings I suppose.

I use bold, which is the only bio powder that doesn't flair our eczema. 60C for whites, and they come up really clean.

Surely there's a massive difference between "I am wearing dirty clothes because I CBA with basic hygiene" and "I've come to pick up my kid in my work clothes because I've been working, oh and my work involves getting messy"?

I'm not a teacher, but as a mum standing outside school I've never seen anyone turn a hair at parents turning up having obviously come straight from gardening / decorating / dealing with animals.

I'd be enforcing "wash the bonfire off your face before you go to school" but the rest really wouldn't worry me. I've even given up on the "wear matching socks" fight (though I may have to revisit it if he grows again and his trousers don't hide them as well...)

Yes I suppose so but I do wonder what they think of a plaster covered baby

I've just done my first white wash using Prudax. Everything is spotless after a 40 degree wash. My life has changed.