Towels etc..

[Keeley77]

Hi,

Can someone please remind me where to find the specific info regarding children needing to have their own flannels towels etc.. this info isn't included in the stat guidence but i'm assuming if you weren't providing individual towels etc you would be in breach?

I feel that there is lots of things that are regarded as statutory but aren't in the guidence? Not sure where i should be looking for this info.

Many thanks

xx

[AliceK]

I don't provide individual towels. I have a towel in my downstairs toilet which is changed every day. Mrs O was happy with that.
I did used to provide paper towels but the amount of waste was ridiculous.

xxxxx

[FloraDora]

Food Standards Agency - Safer food, better business for childminders

It's the food standards agency I think that says single use is best. Its in their safer business booklet.

[moggy]

There are many ways to avoid cross-contamination between children (what you are trying to avoid is child 1 with a bit of a runny tum or threadworm or snotty hands not washing hands properly and wiping contaminated hands on a communal towel that child 2 then wipes their hands on and is then at risk of contamination)

You can have:
- disposable paper towels.
- pile of single-use mini-hand towels like in a posh restaurant toilet: use once and throw in wash.
- named or colour coded towel for each child (ie: child 1 always uses red towel, child 2 always uses blue towel etc)
- and there may be other solutions...?

As long as you are confident with your method and can explain it and defend it to an Inspector or Env. Health then you are OK.

[Christi]

I have two large coat hooks with Ikea flannels hung up on them. They use one and throw it into the washing machine next to it. I am not worried about partially washed germs being passed on to the next child/me. Nor do I need to worry about a damp towel breeding germs! I do teach proper hand washing as well so feel fairly safe!

[Daisy1956]

I bought some face cloths and use them for single use then into the wash. Much easier when you have a few children and no chance of contamination. I didn't like the idea off using so many paper towels, we only have our re-cycling emptied every two weeks so it would be overflowing.

[Rachel6]

I bought face cloths from ikea,I think a pack of 4 cost about £2. I've got 6 different colours so one colour for each child & they also all come with a little loop on them to hang on a hook fab. Don't like using paper towels as I don't think it's good for the environment, that's just me :-)

[FloraDora]

I purchased three dozen white face flannels from a hotel laundry site and have them rolled up in a basket in a toilet and bathroom.
'Take and shake' is the slogan for the children, they love them. The quality is great, they come up really fluffy. All my grown up visitors comment on how nice they are too.

I decided to go white all round for ease as we are supposed to wash them at 90' - so I also ordered white hotel tea cloths, aprons for my DH as he is the chef and white chef's cloths. They all go in one big white wash on Thursday night ready for the next week.

[Glitter]

Two mindees yesterday solved the problem of separate towels.

One wahed her hands, then wiped them on her jumper before she ran off to play.
The other just turned round and wiped them on my jeans!

At least this saves having any towels at all.

[mrs robbie williams]

Floradora do u remember the name of the company? X

[FloraDora]

Floradora do u remember the name of the company? X

My DH is a retired D&T teacher, his old dept ( the food bit) ordered them for me, as they have been our advisers in all things food safety but the technician did say when I collected them that they were starting to source their textiles for food technology and catering through a firm via Amazon.
I am sorry I don't know the name of the company they got mine from but I think it was based in Stoke on Trent.

I will enquire...!

[rickysmiths]

Each child here has their own towel. I got them from Dunelm years ago and they have different animals on them. They are washed once a week in a 40 degree wash. I don't and never have washed anything at 90 degrees and I have never had a problem.

[*daisychain*]

We use the ikea ones with the different coloured tags, we have a ladder type tall radiator in the bathroom so we thread them onto the bars at different levels according to the size ( hope that makes sense!) we have 12 Los throughout the week, just wish more colours were available

[critch]

Face clothes wipe and wash for me all the way, I think it's how I was bug free before xmas!

[MessybutHappy]

[QUOTE="Glitter;1341688"]Two mindees yesterday solved the problem of separate towels.

One wahed her hands, then wiped them on her jumper before she ran off to play.
The other just turned round and wiped them on my jeans!

At least this saves having any towels at all.[/QUOTE

That made me laugh!

[Dragonfly]

Ha Ha Messybuthappy you can have all the colour coded/named flannels/cloths you like, but children are children and will wipe there hands on anything they grab first, including you ! .I have one towel changed once but some times three times a day.

[lilac_dragon]

Mine have different coloured face cloths per child to wipe hands on too.

I've just introduced a bowl of soapy water with a squirty hand soap next to it, on a small coffee table, as the los can access it themselves without having to climb on a chair to reach the sink. I used to help them climb up on the chair when they were potty training but now they wash their hands themselves and I worry about them slipping.

[wee_elf]

Thanks for the idea of using flannels, bought a load of ikea handtowels for 20p each at the weekend x

[Macca3437]

We did an IKEA shop this week, bought loads of the 20p hand towels. I think they great. They are perfect for us, as some children only attend once a week. I am constantly waging war against my pile of washing!

[Macca3437]

Sorry, there should have been a thank you for the idea on there.