Decluttering clothes for children

Penelope_Penguin

I've just come accross an existing thread on just this subject, so I'll merge the threads to keep ideas together

Penny. x

Spendless

pigpen wrote: »

Mine have way too many.

5 sets of uniform each.. the little ones have more.. and the girls have winter uniform and summer checked dresses

1 pair of school shoes (always clarks or startrite.. they have to walk on their feet all their life)
1 pair of trainers.. also a decent make & properly fitted.
In winter the 3 small girls have boots too

I buy 30 pairs of socks in one style per child.. then I know which socks belong to which child... DS1 has black ones with a 'W' on.. DS2 has black with a blue stripe and DS3 has grey.. DD1 has black with a silver heart, DD2 has white with a silver heart, DD3 has ribbed socks, DD4 has a glittery stripe through hers and DD5 has pink and white roll top ankle socks.. simple!!.. Pants are bought on a similar scale!

They have 1 winter coat and 1 summer coat each.. 16 coats!! lol I however don't have one at all!

They have at least 5 pairs of 'non-school' trousers.. or else what do they wear during holiday?
They have about 10 tshirts each
5 jumpers/cardigans
1 'occasion' outfit.. the boys have a suit and shirt, the girls have a 'party dress'

They have to have a few combinations of out of school clothes.. they cannot be wearing the same things over and over and over.. I would hate doing that so wouldn't dream of inflicting total lack of choice on thechildren.

I don't think that's too much, I think you have got the quantities about right.:T and I'm going to use it as a blueprint for mine. Perhaps a few less cardi/jumpers for me as mine are not big 'sweater' wearers, out of school. Am I reading your socks amount wrong though? or do you mean 30 pairs per child?:eek:

I've given this some thought and I personally could not go as low as 3. I'm down to 3 trousers for me (all on last legs) due to having very little time to shop over last few months & I'm struggling with limited clothes so I see your point about lack of choice. Also we go on holiday once a year and I would want more than 3 sets of clothes, especially in case of emergencies - dd is frequently car-sick on long journeys!

Currently dd has a lot of clothes, this is due to me having recently bought next years summer stuff in Sainsbury's sale, and ds has about right in tops, but is lacking in bottoms, does anyone else find age 8 -9 hard to find? It's not helped by him going thru 2 pairs of trousers at Yarmouth the other week, and 2 pairs of track-suit bottoms at a holiday play-scheme he''s attending. The play-scheme is only costing £1 and he's costing more than that in replacing his clothes each time he's there! He has a few shorts that mil bought him about 3 years ago that still fit, and I'm going to make him wear them instead.;)


I also want to thank eveyone who has recommended the pax wardrobes from Ikea. My daughter's bedroom is being decorated this week, and we are in 2 minds whether to let her keep sharing her brother's wardrobe in his room, or to find something small for hers. I was looking yesterday and single door wardrobes are hard to find, and even more difficult if you want drawer space underneath. I looked at the pax ones and they come in various different combos including having up to 4 drawers - brill.:beer:

carolt

mother_noah wrote: »

My son aged 6 has enough to clothe a small african nation !!!! When I last had a clear out of his sock drawer I counted 127 pairs ! Keep telling myself he does not need anything and still end up buying more.Not good for money saving.

Fantastic! - made me feel so much better about my dd's collection of about 50 pairs of knickers (partly as she is tiny and never seems to grow out of any of them, but still gets her big sister's hand-me-downs).

You should be deeply proud of your 127 pairs of socks; if it was me, I know I'd have about 5 pairs max out of that, and 122 odd socks, lol!

Margaret54

Hi all, have been reading your comments on clothes for children, and I am glad to say I don't have that worry anymore, as all six of mine are adults now:) This weather is so horrible and it must be very hard to get your washing dried, when you are having so many clothes to wash. My two youngest adults:) are still living with us, and so just the four to wash for, but in saying this, it is even hard to get the clothing dried recently. I always preferred to line dry everything. I have a washerdrier, but very rarely use it. I would dry indoors on a clothes horse, and hot press, or radiators(we have gas heating), but we are trying not to use the gas only for hot water at prsent. I still love to go to charity shops when i can, to have a little rummage around. I was in one yesterday, and there were loads of lovely children's clothes for a very little money. Even if you are on a tight budget, you maybe could spend just a few pounds and honestly you could pick up some great stuff, and for yourself as well, hubby etc. I think as children grow so quickly, they really don't wear their clothes out and a lot of stuff is handed into the charity shops like new. I agree with another poster, who said about their feet and I had a very tight budget to work with while bringing mine up and I always put a little by for the good shoes(Clarkes( at the time), and then I would buy clothes in the charity shops, when i could. i also bought them new clothes . You can feel good at getting a wee bargain, and no one needs to know unless you wish to say. I would pop home and check the care label and hand wash or machine wash and add the fabric softener, and another nice piece of clothing for us:)

angela2705

Hi.....you can get varieties of Ed Hardy and NIKE products at http://www.raininghollywood.com at very attractice prices. And all these for no shipping cost at all.

mother_noah

They were all pairs not an odd one in sight !

vastsarah_2

Just had a big clear out of boys clothes ,nothing for ebay.
But need to clothe a 11&14 year olds.
I have got a few hoodies ,trousers-jeans-trakkies and tshirts.
I have a turn about of 2-3 days for washing.
DS3 has aspergers,adhd likes baggie trakies nothing itchy.
Chavie clothes dont have a problem with that.wont wear jeans to hard.
DS4 very child like,which he should be at 11 will wear cords
They dont need "posh"outfit as never asked any were but i do like them tidy as there from a big family, and i have a bit of a hang up on dirty large familys living in a council house.

Any way what im asking what do you think is a good amount to have clothes wise.I dont want to over do it but not be tight .
this is for winter clothes only.
Another reason for this post had a talk with dd1 about what was needed in a wardrobe:mad:
sarah
p.s i hate shopping so wont be tempted to buy more

Magentasue

This came up a few weeks ago - will have a look but am pretty sure it was merged with an older thread. So hang in there - you'll be redirected soon!

Olliebeak

I'm not sure where today's teens are concerned - mine are all grown-up these days.

Whatever you go for, I'd stick to a range of colours that will 'mix and match' with each other (as we do with ourselves!) - it's once we start with outlandish colours that we find 'nothing to go with it'. On the other hand, if any of your boys 'has a thing' about certain colours, then you will have to go along with them. (I'm thinking here about my own grandson who has problems and loves certain colours .)

Makes no odds what we choose to buy for them - if they don't like it, they won't wear it . Always best to involve them in choices where possible - within limitations of course.

Penelope_Penguin

We have an older thread on just this subject, so I'll add your question to that one

Penny. x