It’s that time of the year. School Uniform is everywhere you look, and for the first time it’s all over my house too. Oscar starts school in September, so I’ve been buying pieces here and there for weeks now. It’s so cute in some respects and so heart breaking in others. I’m too scared to have him try it on all at once yet! What if I crumble completely?
Either way, I’ve spent a lot of time and energy and, lets not beat about the bush, money on this uniform. I certainly want it to come home with him every night! And so it falls to me to start the job every mama dreads. Labelling the uniform!
When I was a kid there was one choice of label (as far as I know). They were embroidered and probably came from Cash’s. My mum sat diligently sewing each and every label into each and every item of uniform we had. And there were three of us!
When I first started to think about labels I assumed I’d go the same way. That embroidered labels were the one and only option. But when I asked about, I found things had certainly moved on. The choice it would appear is now endless, and everyone seems to have their preference. So when I was asked if I’d like to try some iron on and stick on labels from My Name Label, I was very grateful!
The British franchise of an Australian brand, My Name Label stocks lots of different kinds of labels, from allergy awareness to personalised address labels, but their mainstay is uniform name labels. They have various different designs to chose from including different colours, fonts and images to customise your labels with, which were super easy to pick on the website. I could see the options appearing in a proof image as I chose them which was really helpful. Originally I was against the idea of an image next to the name, as I felt it made the label look messy. But then it occurred to me that customising the label with a simple image would give Oscar a visual cue that this item was his. Perfect for a child who can’t yet read his full name and particularly for one who has a strong visual memory.
So I placed my order and received my labels within days which surprised and delighted me!
I received a combination pack, which was basically a bit of everything:
- White Iron On labels in Standard and Mini
- Silver Stick On labels in Big, Small and Mini,
- Silver Shoe Stickers
- Bag Tag.
I love how it all matches! I chose to have the iron on ones in white, as I wasn’t sure how they’d wash otherwise. But I loved the silver and so chose that for the stickers!
The stickers are fairly self explanatory I guess. They’re a strong but flexible plastic, no paper involved and so far have dishwashered well! After all, what point is there to a bottle label that can’t be dishwashered?
The iron on labels were all new to me. Thankfully they came with clear instructions, which was great for a novice like me. The idea is to peel one off, put it where you want it, cover it with the covering paper provided, iron for 15 seconds, then remove the paper. Easy.
TopTip #1 Do not under any circumstances leave the sheet of labels on the item of clothing you’re about to iron. I did. I am a fool!
Three labels ruined! I had to turn off the iron and wait for it to completely cool before I could get the molten plastic off. This took ages! However, I understand the likelihood of you being as stupid as me are slim, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. And by the way I did manage to get it all off. Thank goodness!
Top Tip #2 If you leave the job half way through, make sure you put the cover paper somewhere safe. While I waited for the iron to cool before degunking, I left everything out on the ironing board. When I came back, the wind had blown the paper away and it took ages to find it. Again, I have faith that you’re less messy than me, but I thought it was worth noting, because if you lose that paper it pretty much renders the labels unusable. You can replace it with non stick baking paper (such as Bake-o-Glide) but what a pain that would be if you’d left it to the last minute to label the clothes and you had none in the house? Basically, look after your cover paper.
I decided to try the labels out on several different materials and it seemed to adhere well regardless. And as it’s not a sticker, but rather a plastic you melt into the cloth, there is hardly any chance of it lifting or washing off. Much better than I imagined to be honest.
I haven’t tried the shoe stickers yet as we are waiting to get his shoes until September. As he doesn’t start school until the third week I thought I’d wait and miss the crush! But they are similar to the other stickers, designed to sit under the heel and come with a clear top coat sticker for extra protection from little boy’s smelly feet.
But I do love the bag tag. It’s the same design and is a tough piece of plastic on elastic. How cute it this?
Despite my own silly mistakes I really like the labels I got from My Name Labels. Because there is no stitching they’re unlikely to rub or cause any irritation, something that many of my SEND friends will have to consider. They also look particularly smart on his uniform. Now he just has to try it all on together.
And I have to not cry when he does!
Thank you to My Name Labels for sending us these labels to review.
I was not paid to write this post and as always all opinions are my own.