Decluttering clothes for children

Angelraesunshine

Spendless wrote: »

I work on the 5 of each rule for school uniform and I could probably manage a lot less, but I work on that just in case of emergencies like illness, or washer breaking (which have happened) and then I can at least get to w/end, without panicking. I use same principle for Peejays. I work on about 10 days worth of socks and knickers.

Another forum I use to lurk on (sadly no more) talked about this and suggested removing clothes from wardrobe down to say 15 of each and see how you got on, then remove down to 10 till you find your comfort level.

i work on a similar basis as above. School uniform they have a set for everyday and then stay in that uniform when they get home rather then change unless there is somewhere in particular we have to go afterwards. I have got most of this unifrm 2nd hand too from the pta uniform sales the school does and pay about a 10th of the cost for the clothes.

Pg's my DD1 has about 5 - 6 pairs and will wear some of them for maybe 2 nights my DD2 has about 10 pairs as she is very fussy and will only wear the pg's once and will often get so het up that clean pgs will go in the wash ( really trying to get her out of this but she is only 6) my DS has about 6 -7 pairs.

I find it best at present that the kids normal clothes should be able to last 2 weeks so i have enough hot and cooler outfits to suit. but as they are getting older i am weaning them down and not doing too bad with my 9 year old and now the ds has started school full time his is coming down too i only buy new clothes when they need something and then they get new clothes from family at bdays and xmas.

pigpen

Mine ALL have 5 changes of school uniform.. and the older ones have significantly fewer clothes than the older ones.. the older 5 have enough for 1 week without me needing to do any washing.. this includes clean pj's EVERY night.. same principal as undies.. you wear them on your bum so they go in the wash. The little ones could quite probably in theory go 3 or 4 weeks without needing anything washing.

Too much..

I am trying to 'streamline' .. basically I only replace stuff when they NEED it replacing.. that said I have just emptied the little ones cupboard of stuff she has outgrown.. loaded my ebay account and she still has 1.5 chests of drawers of stuff.. though she will go through 2-3 sets of clothes a day.

Lunar_Eclipse

... the answer to your very topical question is 'far too many!'

I say topical, since we have had a big clothes clear out this week and I was shocked at how many clothes they have grown out of, because it is a large number and should really represent a much bigger percentage of their total clothes than it does! The drawers are still full. We set up a clothes sale in our house yesterday and so far the girls have raised £28 in proceeds, which is going into our holiday/Wii fund.

I agree that they could definitely survive with a handful of all the items you mentioned. My two seem to really struggle with throwing out pj's though. DD1, aged 8, wore some of her fav bottoms last night with a different top which stopped just under her knees. They looked fine, but were probably age 4-5 when she nows wears age 11-12!

I just love kids clothes though ..... BUT have been inspired by someone recently in giving up a spending vice and thus have just vowed, at my children's dismay, not to buy any more clothes for them for a whole year! Aside from underwear and school uniform. I like extremes.:D

2cats1kid

I work on one per day plus a couple of emergency ones for things that do a day like socks and undies. For things that are changed less frequentlly like jeans, fleeces, pjs (for us at least) etc. I do one on, one clean and one in the wash, so 3 of them. Work on the same principle for bedding too, one on, one clean in the airing cupboard and one somewhere in the washing/ironing cycle.

For school uniform, DD has a clean blouse for every day, two jumpers that she alternates (although they are different colours and for certain events we are told they have to wear a certain colour - I know, I know, we are lobbying to do away with the two different jumpers!) and she only has 2 school skirts as although they are officially dry clean only, (but you can get away with a careful hand wash) they are pigging expensive, so I'm not having more than 2.

DD's big weakness is tops, and now she is on a clothing allowance she is likely to drown in them and have nothing else to wear! Still, she'll learn eventually.

beemuzed

Have to let you all know - still have a wardrobe full of DS's clothes, mainly tops and jackets - but he's now 33 and not living at home!! He's told me to throw the lot, but somehow that feels wasteful. When my two were small I had enough socks pants etc for a week, three pairs of trousers each plus jeans and loads of T shirts. Five school shirts each I think - and as someone else mentioned a coat plus jacket and an older one for playing around in.

Lunar_Eclipse

beemuzed wrote: »

still have a wardrobe full of DS's clothes, mainly tops and jackets - but he's now 33 and not living at home!! He's told me to throw the lot, but somehow that feels wasteful.

If you don't want to/can't bring yourself to do it, how about either putting them all into bags that you can give him next time you see him, or asking him to come round and clear them himself asap.:D

That way you are not responsible for any waste and have your own space back. Plus he is taking some responsibility for his belongings.

Alternatively, donate them to charity for a feel good factor or make some money from them in true MS style by selling them on Ebay/at a car boot sale if you're that way inclined.

HTH.

Merlot

I work on the basis of 2 jumpers each for children for school, 2 pair of trousers and 5 polo tops, its so easy to shove the trousers and jumpers in the wash every other night and get them washed.

As for the other clothes, they have 5 pairs of trousers each, 5 tops, and a sweat top each, 7 pair of pants and 7 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of shoes each.

I will not waste money on clothing for children, they get too worn out quickly and or simply grow out of them. (Btw they are Next clothing, so its not really that cheap, although I stopped buying Next T Shirts, the quality is rubbish lately, or maybe thats my washing:rotfl: ).

Merlot.x.

studentgirl_2

My boys grow so fast I dont buy so much any more. DS1 who is 13 has one pair of jeans,4 jogging bottoms,5 ts,2 vests and 2 nice hoddies. He has school uniform 2 sets but about 10 shirts.

Ds2 is 7 and has about the same but a few mor tshirts. I feel really tight when I put it down like that. But they always look nice and has clean clothes on. The WM is on every day in my house. I think I would like the boys to have more but I do wonder if they would wear it all. I dont think their are many adults who have new stuff twice a year. or do they?

liney

about: 5 PJs, 5 trousers, and 5 shorts, a dozen Tshirts which i will replace with long sleeves in the autumn, a 3 or 4 tank tops which are replaced with jumpers in the winter, a dozen socks and pants, i light jacket, 1 winter coat, half a dozen vests in the winter.

Uniform for nursey is 3 trousers, 5 tshirts and 2 sweatshirts.

Not that much really, but he grows out before they wear out, as a rule.

loocyloo

oh my! like another poster said ...how topical!

i finally got all the washing and ironing (the little i do!) done, and bar what the children were wearing ...everything was in their wardrobes/drawers! and everything was jam packed! i decided then they didn't need so many!

my dd is 3, and does need a change of clothes everyday! plus as a girl, we seem to need equal numbers of dresses/skirts as trousers! however, she is starting nursery in september, so she will wear uniform, and i am going to keep her to a couple of pairs jeans/trousers, few skirts and a couple of dresses, plus assorted tops to mix and match!

my ds is 7, and apart from school uniform, has lots of trousers etc in his wardrobe, but hasn't worn any since i don't know when! he just loves his shorts (wore them all last winter too!) so apart from a couple of pairs of jeans/track pants and maybe a smart pair trousers, i won't be replacing them as he grows! he has a couple of smart shirts /long and short sleeved, lots of tshirts and several jumpers/fleeces!

underwear ; they boths have loads ... enough to do a couple of weeks each! pjs ... quite alot, but like another poster, seem to wear them regardless of size until they REALLY can't get them on/over the head!!!

BUT, in my defence for the huge amount of clothes they currently have, is that the majority have been bought at nct nearly new sales, with some from ebay or charity shops. i have been selling some grown out of clothes on ebay and at nearly new sales, but its quite alot of work, for not always much reward, so i have taken to passing on the clothes to friends with younger children! just need to find some friends with children that bit older than mine who want to pass clothes on! they all seem to have same sex younger siblings!!!

loocyloo x