Maintaining Your Child's Sports Uniform

Just like sports themselves, you can use your child's uniform to help establish responsibility. Dealing with it up front ensures a happy family and happy team. Moreover, it teaches your child respect and commitment to their team by realizing their appearance is a reflection on their teammates. Here are some strategies for simplifying the task.

Encourage them to hold onto their uniform if they take it off before they get home. It's hard to imagine something happening to it, but it is best to teach them that anything can occur. However trite it may sound, it is best to be safe than sorry.

Above all, wash it as soon as they get home to keep stains or smells from setting in. Sports offer many chances for wear and tear, so pay attention to the laundering instructions. Usually it is recommended to wash in cold water to avoid color bleeding, shrinkage, or wrinkles. However, it is imperative to check first to avoid any mishaps. Pre-treating with detergent or a pre-treatment product such as Shout helps with grass and mud stains, and you can pre-treat the underarms to avoid embarrassing stains. It is recommended you air dry them since dryers can shrink the uniform or crack the lettering.

Lastly, designating a place to put away the uniform guarantees your child can find it easily. If you have to return the uniform at the end of the season, you don’t want to risk your child’s standing with the team or cost the team money to replace uniforms that are missing or in bad condition. Maintaining uniforms are a consequence of participating in sports, but by staying ahead of the game, you can focus on your child instead of their sports equipment.