Collaborative post
When you buy children’s clothing and accessories, you ideally want them to last until they have grown out of them. Unfortunately, kids don’t generally think the same way! This is especially true if they enjoy arts and crafts, or like to play outside. Likewise, your child may wear glasses or other accessories that need due care to avoid the need for replacement.
While your child may not be old enough to properly look after their items, you can start to teach them about caring for their belongings from a young age, as well as taking steps yourself to avoid damage. Here are a few simple ways to encourage those good habits.
Looking after glasses
While not strictly an item of clothing, your child’s glasses can be an incredibly important accessory that helps them to see clearly, and even engage with schoolwork. If their glasses get bent, learning how you can fix your bent glasses yourself could save you the time and effort that you may have previously spent visiting the opticians. You may want to consider doing this yourself, rather than allowing your child to adjust the frames, as too much pressure could cause them to break.
You can also reduce the likelihood of damage by keeping your child’s glasses in a case when they aren’t wearing them, such as for showering, PE, and sleep.
Clean Shoes
Your child may regularly grow out of their shoes, but they still need to be taken care of.
When it comes to your child’s trainers or school shoes, you may want to consider polishing them regularly to extend their lifespan. This can help to protect the leather from water damage, or from cracking due to drying out. Another benefit of regularly cleaning and polishing shoes is that the polish can help to hide unsightly scuff marks, as well as giving you the chance to remove dirt and debris. Cleaning the treads will also help your child to have better grip when walking, running or climbing, which can go a long way towards preventing accidents.
Use name labels
It’s not always wear and tear that causes us to replace their belongings; often it’s a simple case of them getting lost. If your child attends nursery or school, you’re probably very familiar with this situation!
Make sure you put your child’s name in all items of clothing and accessories that they take out of the house. This can be as simple as writing their name on the tag, but a longer-term solution is to buy a set of name stickers which are designed to withstand the washing machine and dishwasher.
Separate Laundry
You may be well-versed in altering your washing machine temperature depending on the fabrics being cleaned, but it’s also important to separate loads according to colour. Washing machines are more effective now than in the past, but it’s still possible for colours to bleed or fade during the washing process. Spending a bit of extra time sorting out your loads can help to keep your child’s school shirts a crisp white, rather than a mottled or faded grey. This is a simple task that even young children can help with.
Children’s clothing can be an expensive necessity, especially if you have to frequently replace items due to improper care. By taking a few minutes each day to take care of their clothes, shoes and accessories, you should find that their belongings last longer. Ultimately this will save you money, and by reducing your consumption of manufactured goods it’s also a great way to embrace a more sustainable lifestyle.
What are your top tips for taking care of children’s clothing and accessories?
The post How to look after children’s clothing and accessories appeared first on Growing Family.