Stain Resistant School Uniforms*

What do school uniforms, pizza boxes and penguins have in common? Unfortunately, there’s a good chance that they all contain PFAS.

PFAS is often a key ingredient in the chemical treatments that make clothing, including school uniforms, stain resistant. We’re sold technical finishes such as ‘stain-resistant’, ‘non-iron’ and ‘easy-case’ with the promise they’ll make our clothes last longer and our lives that little bit easier, but we rarely question the source of the magical new quality, or the validity of the statement.

What makes our clothing stain resistant? Traditionally manufacturers apply formulas based on the same chemical group used to make baking paper grease-proof and frying pans non-stick, PFAS. PFAS are often referred to as the ‘forever chemicals’ due to the persistence in the environment, once we create them, they simply don’t go away. Long after the uniform itself is no longer used, long after even the fibres of the clothing degrade, these chemicals persist. We know that some of the chemicals used to produce the stain resistant finishes can be harmful to wildlife and build up even in our own bodies.

The damaging qualities of PFAS are well known. However, the counter argument is that in making clothes last longer and reducing the need for washing, we balance out the environmental footprint. Do the benefits of stain resistant finishes outweigh the downside of PFAS pollution? This is the question Fidra set out to answer.

For summary information, or if you want to share what you’ve read, you can download our PFASfree School Uniforms Fact Sheet for free by clicking the button below.

*Please note, this is no longer an active project and the information provided may be out of date

Fidra’s School Uniform Survey

Our school survey suggests stain resistance is not benefiting parents / carers as promised.

We have carried out our own independent research and found that whilst people value ‘stain-resistant’ finishes, they gain little actual benefit. We found no decrease in how often people washed school uniforms related to the ‘stain resistant’ finish, and no decrease in how often people replaced the school uniforms.

By looking into the specifics of the branded finishes offered to customers we also learnt that most finishes only last 10 or 20 washes. We calculated this represented less than a third of the average ‘first-use’ life (i.e. takes no account of use by subsequent children).

We have conducted a nationwide survey, including over 600 parents of primary school age children across the UK, to ask them about their school uniform washing and purchasing habits. We wanted to know:

• What choices do customers make when buying uniform?
• Do people alter their washing and buying habits in response to stain-resistant finishes on school uniforms?

The results of this small study will be used to increase our understanding of the market and understand what consumers want and need from school uniforms. This is used to help define our campaign approach. Key results are also fed on to research and development teams, and to retail and supply contacts, to help them ensure customer needs continue to be met whilst we accomplish our goal of eliminating the input of harmful chemicals to the environment.

Survey results

We’re excited that our full survey report is now available, and you can download it by clicking the button below.

The report tells us that:

• Customers that seek out stain resistance on uniforms are, on average, washing their clothes more often.
• Customers that seek out stain resistance on uniforms are, on average, replacing their clothes more frequently.
• Customers who seek out environmentally friendly products are just as likely to value stain resistance as those who don’t.
• Timing of washes, and replacing clothing, seem to be based on habit rather than need. For example, trousers and jumpers are likely to be washed roughly once a week and uniform is bought new around once a year.

These results suggest that stain resistance on uniforms isn’t resulting in reduced washing or increased durability of clothes, as claimed by manufacturers. We think this supports our idea that these coatings might not be making a big difference to the convenience of daily life.

What do you think?

Who Sells What

Want to know where to find uncoated, or PFC-free alternative uniforms? We have created the table below showing who sells what, when it comes to the major UK retailers.

The information included here is, to the best of our knowledge, accurate and up to date. If you believe we are missing information, or we need to make some changes, please Contact Us.

Edit: Last updated 21st September 2022.

Independent Retailers

If you buy your clothes from smaller chains, or independent shops, try searching our ‘Independent Retailers’ database by clicking the button below.