There are those who get to wear PJ's or casual clothes (a house dress?) if working from home, those who have uniforms, others who are business as usual and then some of us who have to decided how much of our wardrobe to sacrifice as we go of to work...
Bleach marks on clothing have always been a reality working at a childcare. It's much riskier now though, the recommended dilution has changed from one that didn't leave marks to 4 tablespoons of bleach per quart of water. And we are making up a lot of bleach dilution.
The joke around work is we need t-shirts that say "Bleach happens."
The majority of us choose to buy second hand clothing for work (considering budget and the general risk factors to clothing from young children). I also wear the things I've made.
Last week was bad...two more items with bleach spots. This is not sustainable.
Solutions include:
- Only wear things that currently have bleach stains until the bleach to water ratio changes. It would be a uniform of sorts. A capsule wardrobe.
- Make a set of aprons or smocks just for work. I would need a fresh one each day as it would have to be washed daily. Having no dryer, I would need at least three. Might as well stick with the "everything with bleach on it already" plan. (I do already have one smock for emergency purposes.)
- Continue to mend anything that is a problem. Cut sleeves shorter, shorten dresses into tunics by making a seam that removes a bleach spot, add more pockets, dye things so that bleach spots blend in and so on.
- Add more bleach as a design element. This isn't a great choice since using the minimum amount of bleach is a good environmental goal.
- Use markers to color in spots so that they aren't noticeable (a black sharpie for black clothing is a classic solution at work).
I am also considering something else... embracing the mark and make a heart patch or a label for each item of clothing with bleach on it... Essential worker, COVID 19.
It's time to see the mark left behind as one of effort, not a stain.