If you're getting ready for the possible return, have you given any thought to decontamination when you get home?

[Dilbertian]

In the 80s I used to wear a boiler suit as clothes (we were so cool ) Strikes me that they would be ideal to wear to work: strip off as soon as I get home, straight in the laundry while I go up for a shower.

I haven't felt the need to be so cautious after my occasional day with a tiny handful of semi-sensible KS2 keyworker children. But what's coming is different.

Are you making any preparations to do things differently to look after yourself and your family?

I change out of clothes I wore and put them straight on the wash. Wash coffee cup I take in hot water and wash my hands. I make a point of wearing my hair up too. I walk to work so dont need to worry about wiping down transport.

Not drama, my household income has halved due to corona and looking unlikely to improve anytime soon. I cannot afford daily washing. I just can't. I haven't been changing clothes after shopping or going out. For me and my risk level it is unnecessary.

If it says a daily change, like @Hercwasonaroll says, there is nothing to say that you have to wash said clothes daily. If I were a single person then I would not run a wash for 5 items of clothing every single day. I would put them in a wash basket or straight in the machine and wash them when I had a load. I also appreciate not everyone has the budget to have 5 sets of work clothes plus casual which is why I think schools need to relax their staff dress code as well as the pupils.

Teachers and care workers do very different types of jobs and yes, I would expect a care worker to have clean uniform every day due to the nature of their work.

@SE13Mummy secondary children don’t (on the whole) wear coats regardless of blazers or cost. They’d rather get wet or cold. At least a blazer is an extra layer

I often had to change clothes and jump in the shower as soon as I got in from work, pre- pandemic, due to the nature of my particular school job. If anything, I'll be coming home cleaner. Hence why my school has a casual dress code. I can understand it being much harder with formal wear.

@CarrieBlue my own Y10 DD and friends all wear coats to school in the winter! All the years at her school do, or did until blazers were introduced for the Y7s this year. There's another secondary near here that doesn't have blazers and students there tend to wear coats too.

And yet most of the children I’ve taught, plus most of the children I see walking in on my way to work don’t. Even primary kids don’t seem to wear coats that much here.

Our staff dress code and the children's uniform have been suspended during the keyworker childcare phase. Uniform is not to be worn when the children return this term and there has been no mention of the dress code being reinstated. Which makes it much easier for me to wear clothes that can be frequently and quickly laundered, or possibly for me to set aside 5 outfits to last the week before being laundered in one go.

I might end up in trackies/leggings/t-shirts/tunics at work, and smart clothes at home. How strange!

There is no reason why anyone can't just change their clothes daily.

Happy to change them daily. They don't need washing daily. There's the difference.

As an aside, blazers being introduced to my DC's school had no negative effect on coat wearing as they didn't wear them anyway.

I was thinking about this earlier. If I'm going to be teaching with my windows open (as per guidance), in Scotland, in winter; my normal school attire will be no good anyway! Unlike my previous schools in England, our students are used to wearing big coats thankfully,

My DS is in a specialist setting and the children have also been told to come in non uniform, easily washable clothes to be washed daily.

School have advised staff that we are expected to wear fresh clothes every day, just like the children, and they think advise us to strip, shower and launder as soon as we arrive home. Advise, not instruct (unlike 'wear fresh clothes every day at work', which is an instruction).

So none the wiser, really.

I've got the old nappy bucket with a lid in the garage. I think I'll repurpose it as my personal contaminated laundry bucket and bung my work clothes in it every day. It should just about take a week's worth of thin, summer-weight clothes. Then wash them all in one go on a Friday. Unless I run out of clothes!

@Dilbertian so of course you'd effectively be quarantining the Mon/Tue/We'd clothes, which points to another option I would have thought - take them off each day and bag them, or even hang them if you have a room you can leave shut, virus lasts ?24 hrs (need to check) on fabrics.

Useful for items you can't constantly wash?

I’m just intending to carry on as normal. Come home, wash hands, get changed into comfy pants and have a nice evening. I don’t see any need to strip at the door as I don’t believe that I’m going to be dripping with the virus. I wear a clean t shirt every day but my trousers/shorts will be worn again before a wash. I won’t be washing my handbag or disinfecting my lunch box. My cup will go in the dishwasher.