Durable clothing for kids

[Iconoclast]

My sons, 4 and 6 years old, always seem to rip their trousers when playing at home or at school. It's such a waste, even for secondhand clothing.

It occurred to me that while I have some lightweight ripstop fabric, triple stitch reinforced pants with teflon coating and double seat and knees, I'm not familiar with any comparable clothing for kids.

Does this even exist for children? If not, would it be possible for me to somehow reinforce the fabric (jeans) or even apply teflon myself? If there's no similar clothing available, I might just start my own brand here. :)

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Sounds like a good idea to me! The Free Our Kids lady was posting recently that she had a bunch of baby clothes from the 70s that seemed much more durable than modern ones.

In the meantime, if they tend to always rip in the same place, you could try putting an adhesive patch on the inside of the fabric. Or, of course, on the outside, if you can figure out how to make it look cool :-).

[UpstateNY]

Your idea sounds great. A kids version of these:

http://store.nols.edu/Store/pc/NOLS-Windpants-p283.htm#.U0H_gq1dXzQ

[scottydog]

We have the same problem with our 2 boys.  Even their snow pants, which clearly have extra fabric for more durable knees, have taken a beating this winter.  We have been able to extend the life of some favourite pairs of sweat pants with external patches in cool shapes (e.g. simple animal silhouettes).

I've had some luck putting iron-on patches on the inside of my own pants in spots that were getting pretty thin.  On jeans the wear spots were still evident but they didn't get any worse; the jeans eventually just wore out somewhere else.  On khakis the only evidence from the outside was that the pants were stiffer where the patch was.  People generally don't look that closely at my pants so I never worried about it.

My wife is tempted by the "iron knee" pants from Lands End.  Does anyone have experience with these?

In the meantime, I must learn how to sew so I can apply patches to the pile of holy-kneed pants that's been collecting in the boys' closet...

[TrMama]

Time to learn how to patch a hole. When they get too worn to patch anymore, cut them off to make shorts.

I use Heat N Bond to make patches from bits of scrap fabric and then iron the patches over the hole. Then use a decorative hand stitch to make sure the patches don't come off in the wash. All you need is an iron, scrap fabric, needle and thread. Google, how to make appliques for instructions.

To make the patches look intentional, cut them into a cute shape (animal, truck, whatever) and patch both knees.

[galliver]

Do they have separate school clothes and play/home clothes? Because I would assume they have more time and therefore more chances to hurt their clothes at home (or at the park, out camping, etc) than at school. If you separate the two, the newer clothes stay nice longer, but eventually get relegated to home wear when they get ripped, stained, faded, or go horribly out of fashion. And when *those* wore out they become cleaning rags or patches. Not sure the price of more durable clothes is worth it for kids...

[Iconoclast]

Thank you for your replies. I will see if I can order pants from Lands End or Dockers on the internet and see how we like them. The nearest Lands End store is about 400 km from here, in Germany...

I've tried putting extra patches on the inside with textile glue, but I don't think it makes them very rugged. As for sewing patches on, I've done that too, but I'm still looking for pants where they already did that at the factory. :-)

The kind of pants I wish existed for kids are these:
http://www.511tactical.com/taclite-pro-pants.html
I've lived in the tropics for a while, and they are simply fantastic. Even here, I wear them around the house most of the year.

[Thegoblinchief]

Dickies makes school uniform pants. If you're okay with navy blue, they are durable as heck.

My girls like them despite no longer even being in Catholic school anymore.

Amazon usually has them for around $8-10.

[Cuttlefish Clive]

I've been wondering the same thing. My 6 yr old can destroy a pair of pants in no time flat. It doesn't help that she won't wear jeans, only knit leggings or sweatpants. I've been considering patching them, but IDK what material to patch with that would actually hold up. My first thought was to use one of the pairs to patch the others, but it seems like a lot of work for what could end up being only one more wearing.

[totoro]

Do you have boot sales where you live?  In Canada we have the equivalent "garage sales".  I used to get all my little boy clothes from them and did not care if something got ripped beyond repair.  At 25 cents to 2 dollars a good quality item it was a no stress event.  Stuff that made it through that era got passed down to friend's kids.

[KBecks]

Does Hanna Andersen make boy's clothing? Their dresses last foreeeeeever. Lands' End makes boy's pants with reinforced knees and they will take returns forever, so you could buy a pair at no real risk and see if they stand up to abuse. Get on their mailing list; you shouldn't buy anything that isn't at least 25% off.

My boys have ripped the heck out of the Lands end reinforced pants.  They rip through layer one and then the pants are too trashy looking to wear to school.  I have made ripped pants into shorts for them, it is easy, I may never have to buy shorts again.  I would not return pants that my kids have worn out, I don't think that's what the return policy is for.   My new method is to buy cheaper pants, encourage the boys to be gentle on their clothes, and then make the shorts.   LE reinforced pants go for $25 - $30 per pair, not a great value.

[KBecks]

My middle son loves the LE pants, and he went through a stage (perhaps he is still close to that stage) where they are the only pants he wants to wear (which sucks because they are $25+).  It seems the denim ones may last longer, however he wears the denim ones less frequently than the twill ones.  He is also very slim, but I am finding that I can get elastic waist sports pants at Kohl's for around $12/pair or less that fit him and he likes.  The Children's place also has some good sales. 

[MayDay]

We also have this problem.  All the pants become shorts, and I never have to buy shorts.  It seems to be a stage that mostly boys go through, and eventually outgrow. 

Fabrics are definitely being made thinner, in my experience.  We had an old hand-me-down REI brand jacket that lasted through the first 2 kids, then a second family with 2 kids, then my 2 kids.  Finally on my younger (kid 6) it developed a hole.  After such success, I paid near full price, over 50$ for a new one in a larger size.  My 2nd kid just started wearing it and it already has a hole in the sleeve.  ARGH.  Not sure that it is morally returnable since we did get 2 full years of use out of it, but I surely will not be buying anymore REI kids jackets with such a quality drop. 

[MrsPete]

My wife is tempted by the "iron knee" pants from Lands End.  Does anyone have experience with these?

I can tell you how to make them yourself, and it doesn't even require sewing.  My mom used to do this with all our jeans.  Since we were a family of five kids, we were only allowed three pairs of jeans every fall (and then they were cut off for shorts in the summer).  I don't remember any of us ever having a rip in our pants: 

Buy a pair of iron-on patches from the Walmart sewing section.  Color doesn't matter because the patches won't show.  These are sold in pairs, but if you're working on a small child's pants, you might be able to cut the patches in half and get two pairs of pants from one set of patches.  Don't skimp -- the patches only cost about $1. 

Start with NEW pants.  The idea is to prevent the rips from ever beginning -- if you already have rips, it's not going to work.  Have the child put on the pants, and mark (with a pin) the middle of the child's knee. 

Turn the pants INSIDE OUT. 
Position the patch on the INSIDE of the knee.
Iron it on, taking care not to allow it to overlap the seams.  The patch will stay flat and nice if it's on one piece of solid material.

Those knees will NEVER wear out.  The kid will ruin the seat of the pants long before you even show wear on the knees. 

[scottydog]

My wife is tempted by the "iron knee" pants from Lands End.  Does anyone have experience with these?

I can tell you how to make them yourself, and it doesn't even require sewing.  My mom used to do this with all our jeans.  Since we were a family of five kids, we were only allowed three pairs of jeans every fall (and then they were cut off for shorts in the summer).  I don't remember any of us ever having a rip in our pants: 

Buy a pair of iron-on patches from the Walmart sewing section.  Color doesn't matter because the patches won't show.  These are sold in pairs, but if you're working on a small child's pants, you might be able to cut the patches in half and get two pairs of pants from one set of patches.  Don't skimp -- the patches only cost about $1. 

Start with NEW pants.  The idea is to prevent the rips from ever beginning -- if you already have rips, it's not going to work.  Have the child put on the pants, and mark (with a pin) the middle of the child's knee. 

Turn the pants INSIDE OUT. 
Position the patch on the INSIDE of the knee.
Iron it on, taking care not to allow it to overlap the seams.  The patch will stay flat and nice if it's on one piece of solid material.

Those knees will NEVER wear out.  The kid will ruin the seat of the pants long before you even show wear on the knees.

Many thanks for this idea.  I love it!

It took me a month to finally get the materials and try it, but I patched up 3 pairs of my eldest son's pants this morning.  Each pair had a hole in one knee, but I put the patches on the inside anyway since the holes are small and he's not picky about how they look - he would have happily worn the torn pants today.  The iron-on patch kit I found came with 3 temporary stick-on patches, and I put two of them back-to-back over a hole and then sewed them together around the edges plus an X through the middle.  I sewed the same pattern onto an iron-on patch on the other knee for symmetry.  It's far from perfect, but it's definitely good enough.  It's the first time I've used a sewing machine since I was about 12 years old and it feels great to resurrect some of my son's favourite pants!

Now I just need to start being proactive about it with new pants...

[abhe8]

I think is pretty cost effective to just buy lots of pants at goodwill. they go for $1 or $2 a pair. they may not last all year, but i can buy 10 pair for about $15 bucks, and those will surly last longer then 1 pair of 25 or 30 dollar pants.

I keep a few pairs of "nice pants" that I only let my boys wear to church or other nice event. they have to change when we get home.

I like the idea of putting patches on the inside to prevent holes. i might have to try that!

[brand new stash]

My kids are 4 and 6 too, and one of my 6 year old daughters is horrible on the knees of pants.   I buy almost all their pants at yard sales or consignment, but even still she has holes in them usually on the first wear. I've started just patching over the holes in a colorful fabric, and accepting that it is part of her style to have patches in the knees.