Understanding those Laundry Symbols on Garment Care Tags

"In the “good old days” laundry was done with soaps, scrub boards, wash tubs and lots of elbow grease.

Today’s advanced washing machines, hi-tech detergents and laundry additives make wash days easier and more successful, especially with the array of fabrics used in contemporary clothing. 

The laundry basics, however, haven’t changed and are more important than ever. Here is a quick refresher to help get sparkling- clean results, washload after washload." -- 

--Textile Industry Affairs

As we settle into fall, the kids new back to school clothes have been worn and washed several times now. We want them to last the entire school year and in some cases, into next year so they might find a second life as a hand me down. In order to extend the life of clothing items, you must pay attention to the manufacture's recommendations for laundering. Since 2000, the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Care Labeling Rule requires manufacturers and importers to attach care instructions to garments.  Manufactures can find a useful guide on compliance with the rule from the Bureau of Consumer Protection.  As consumers, following the manufacture's recommendations will give you the best results to keep new items looking new longer. Be careful when treating stains and look for warnings on the label before using any products that contain bleach.

When you do read the labels, you'll also notice laundry symbols on the care tags that are supposed to be quick reference for us. But if you've never seen explanation for what the symbols mean, they are kinda difficult to understand. I found several sources that give a nice overview. My favorite was from the Textile Industry Affairs; another is the Wikipedia entry. It is smart idea to print one of these cheat sheets and hang it somewhere handy in the laundry room. A creative idea to keep it from getting caked in detergent is to frame it in a simple, inexpensive certificate frame (like this one at Walmart) and hang it on the wall.

As I was researching the laundry symbols for this post, I found a ton of examples on Pinterest of photos of decorated laundry rooms where they creatively used the laundry symbols as artwork. Take a look at my Laundry Board on Pinterest. You just might be motivated to spruce up your laundry room. But you aren't the crafty type to try to imitate these ideas, some of these examples are from products available to purchase on Etsy.

photo used with permission from Microsoft

Video Pick :How to Rock a Uniform

Here is another recent video you can share with your tween or teenage daughter. It's from @Madisradd, or Madison.  According to her YouTube page, she is 17 years old and lives in Virginia.  Her channel features many crafty DYI projects. In this video, she shows ideas on how you can "Rock a Uniform".

 

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UniCycle, an exchange program in Northern Ireland

I recently came across a website, run out of the Bangor, Northern Ireland,  that maps out a program to help parents reuse and pass on outgrown uniforms.  The program is called UniCycle with the tagline to "repurpose grown out, not worn out uniforms."  The site points out that parents save money, children see recycling happening and the planet benefits too!  Because I'm also a supporter of these ideas, I wanted to share this site and program with you all.

Marianne Kennerley, the founder of UniCycle,  is quoted as stating why she started Uni-cycle:

"When my 5 year old son, Peter, grew out of his school trousers, still within their one hundred day guarantee, I had no-one to hand them on to.  With a younger daughter, Cerys, a year behind, parts of his school uniform had simply nowhere to go.  

Standing in the playground one day I realised that children grow at different rates and within a short space of time there can soon be be a surplus of barely worn uniforms that could and should be reused."

The website suggests that groups organize a uniform exchange program with a 3 step model.

1. Collect uniforms by organizing a collection day
2. Call to Action for the PTA volunteers to repair uniforms that need mending and sort the items by type and size.
3. Hold the uniform exchange in a the style of a pop up shop.

The site provides a toolkit which contains a suggested pricing model and sample flyers that can be used to promote the collection of items or the exchange day itself.  It rewards parents that donate items with vouchers that can be used to purchase other items at the exchange.  

What a great program that can be emulated anywhere.  To learn more:

• Follow Marianne Kennerley on Twitter @uniform_recycle
• Visit the site at http://uniform-recycle.org.uk/

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Pass the Fingertip Test

During the development of a schools uniform dress code, there is typically some back and forth that leads to an common understanding of the policy between the school board and the larger community of parents and students.  Once the policy is adopted, enforcement can be a constant battle for school administrators everywhere.  Recent articles included in the "in the news" series show many examples of battles between administrators and students, and in some cases, a larger group in the community.

A policy with clearly stated expectations and guidelines makes it easier for parents to understand so they can guide the student's choices when shopping.  Consistent enforcement by different teachers make clear examples of what's acceptable and what's not acceptable.

The length of a girls hemline for shorts, scooters, and dresses is a huge area for consternation.  Many schools have tried to set a simple easy to understand rule of thumb which is commonly referred to as "the fingertip test".   A young lady passes the fingertip test when the length of the skirt is below the fingertips of the student while standing with her arms extended straight down.  The same test works for jumpers, scooters and shorts. Maybe its a backlash to the mid-thigh trend we've been seeing for the past few seasons, but this fall, I noticed a trend of several retailers offering new longer lengths. Lands End's fall school uniform catalog features girls skirts in 3 lengths: above the knee, top of the knee and below the knee.  The French Toast fall catalog page on girls skirts feature both "the long and short of it" featuring two knee length skirts and one long skirt.  This can make shopping easier if your school has adopted the fingertip test as a rule of thumb to guide enforcement.

Below are some examples of new longer skirts:

Lands' End
 Girls' Plus Solid Pleated Skirt (Below The Knee)

French Toast
Kick Pleat Skirt

Lands' End
Little Girls' Solid A-line Skirt (Below The Knee)

French Toast
Knee Length Straight Skirt

Lands' End
Little Girls' Box Pleat Skirt (Below The Knee)

What do you think of these knee length and longer styles?

Video Pick: A Global Perspective on School Uniforms

This video pick is from Euronews. It is a great piece highlighting use of school uniforms in different countries around the world.

Swap.com: an online consumer-to-consumer department store

If you're looking for some serious deals and you're open to getting gently used items, then you might want to check out Swap.com.  It is an online site that can assist families to start selling, swapping and buying school uniform through Swap.com.

Swap.com is the first online consumer-to-consumer department store where you can buy, sell and swap pre-owned items. It focuses on kids' clothes, toys, kids' sporting equipment, as well as trading books and DVD's for all ages.

Swap.com offers a full-service experience, where customers simply send in their items to sell and swap with them. Swap.com does the rest. The sales price is set by the item owner. Shipping the items in and getting items listed is just $8.90 and our sales commission is low $1+20%. There is no auction or negotiation of the sales price. You can buy as many items as you want and you can pay with PayPal or credit card. Uniform Mom is an affiliate partner with Swap.com.  If you have a bunch of items to sell, click through to let them know Uniform Mom sent you.

I browsed around and found a few school uniform items, both for boys and girls.  You can even subscribe to receive an email alert when uniform items become available in your child's size.  You would go to the clothes category and use the filters for size, gender and type of clothing and then write uniform in the search box. Then you would be able to subscribe for the email search alert for when the items are added on Swap.com.

I haven't had a chance to try it out this service for myself yet.  If you have used the service, please add a comment below to tell us about your experience either buying or selling with Swap.com.