How to keep kids' uniforms looking fresh

Did you know that more than 90 per cent of schools in the UK require uniforms? According to the Money Saving Expert, families with children at primary school or secondary school are paying, on average, more than £300 per child, per year in uniform costs.

During a cost of living crisis it’s then particularly important that parents are best equipped with the knowledge on how to keep their children’s uniforms from entering a full state of disrepair during the early stages of ‘back to school’.

Uniforms prove a costly endeavour

Statistics from the Department of Education report that parents of children at state secondary schools are forking out a whopping £2.1 billion collectively on school uniforms.

Despite new legislation coming into effect in December that is geared towards making school uniforms affordable and accessible for all, requiring schools to use competitive and transparent contracts with suppliers, and ensuring schools publish their uniform policy online so it’s both clear and easily understood, is its introduction going to prove futile?

With this in mind, in this article we take a look at 9 ways which you can extend the usable life of your kid’s school uniforms.

1. Get changed as soon as they arrive home - getting the kids to change out of their uniform when they arrive in the door from school, if possible, will help reduce the likelihood of any additional staining from food or playing outside
2. Sort by whites and colours - there’s no denying that many of us have become pretty lax when it comes to sorting our whites and colours but, when we’re dealing with school uniforms that we’re trying to stretch the usability of, err on the side of caution. Use colour specific detergent too and you’ll help preserve the bright notes
3. Out of the dryer, on to the hanger - many pieces of school uniform are designed to have creases in, so try your best to protect these and you’ll find that the uniform lasts longer. This will also help keep some of your ironing pile down!
4. Use a deballer on jumpers - a rather inexpensive gadget that can extend a jumper’s life for weeks if not months, a deballer helps to keep jumpers, cardigans, and skirts looking fresh as the day they were bought.
5. Employ the damp clothes trick - clothes are notoriously difficult to iron when they become ‘over-dry’. Bringing them in from the line, off the clothes horse, or out of the dryer while still slightly damp will make ironing much easier.
6. Clean and polish the shoes - who knows what happens to kids’ shoes but they always seem to end up worse for wear after a week of the new school year. Use a shoe brush to buff out scuffs and if they happen to get wet, let them dry naturally before applying polish - this is certainly one you can get the kids involved with!
7. Bring out the labels - it might seem like a tradition that is far past its time in 2022 however, the last thing you want is the little one’s uniform getting mixed up with other pupils.
8. Call upon the protective spray - one of the best ways to reduce scuffs on shoes is to coat them with a layer of protective spray before they’ve had their first outing.
9. Rotation - of course, there’s no magic number of how many pairs of trousers, shirts, skirts, and so on you need, but if possible, rotating them to prevent overuse will help to to reduce unnecessary wear

So, there you have it, some simple tips to help combat the curse of the school uniform!