Photo: Waldemar Brandt / Unsplash
School polo shirts rarely wear out all at once. The collar curls first, and by spring the white has gone grey. If a younger child is coming up behind, that’s the shirt you were hoping to hand down. Whether you can depends mostly on what happens at home, in the wash and on the ironing board.
Washing less often
Jumpers, cardigans and blazers don’t need a weekly wash. Hang them up after school, let them air overnight and deal with marks as they appear. Every wash rubs the fibres against each other, and that’s what causes bobbling on sweatshirts.
Polo shirts and shirts do need washing after every wear, but most of them come clean at 30 degrees. Turning them inside out before they go in protects the outside of the fabric, and a lower spin speed means fewer creases to deal with later. Treat stains at the sink as soon as the kids get home from school, while they’re still fresh, as a hot wash can set food or grass stains for good.
Check the care label before you iron
Most uniform shirts are a polyester and cotton mix, and the iron symbol on the label tells you how hot to go. Two dots means a medium setting, which suits a mixed fabric. Ironing hotter than the label allows can leave a shiny patch on a dark pinafore and a collar that’s stiff and slightly yellow.
It helps to iron while the fabric is still very slightly damp, or with plenty of steam, because polyester mixes can hold a crease stubbornly once they’re bone dry.
One ironing session a week
Doing the uniform in one go on a Sunday evening is quicker than ironing a shirt every morning. You’ll also spot the loose button or the dropped hem while there’s still time to fix it. For a week’s worth of uniform, steam generator irons make the session shorter, because the steam comes from a separate tank and you’re not stopping to refill halfway through. Start each shirt with the collar, working from the points in towards the middle, then do the cuffs and sleeves and finish with the front and back.
Whatever you iron with, put shirts straight onto hangers and leave them to cool before they go in the wardrobe. A warm shirt folded into a drawer picks up new creases almost straight away.
Fix small things early
Sew loose buttons back on as soon as you spot them, because losing one can mean replacing the whole set. Keep a small kit with white and navy thread, a few spare buttons and iron-on patches somewhere you’ll actually see it.
Passing it on
When a child outgrows their uniform, sort it straight away into what’s good enough for a younger sibling, what can go to a school uniform bank and what’s past saving. Research by City St George’s, University of London, for The Children’s Society found that 38% of parents struggle to afford compulsory uniform and PE kit, and second-hand uniform is becoming easier to find. Many uniform banks and charity shops collect ahead of the summer break, when families are buying for September, so it’s worth doing the sorting before term ends rather than in the last week of August.
