I’m clearing out the back room. I have a pile of old clothes. I’m sorting out the stuff that is wearable and I’ll donate that to a thrift store.
But what do I do with old clothing that has holes in it and is no longer wearable? I’m assuming a thrift store has no interest in restoring ripped clothing. Is there anyplace that has a use for old unwearable clothing that I can give these to? Or do I throw them into the garbage?
On the one hand, there are places that can make use of even ripped clothing, recycling them for their fibers…
But on the other hand, those places already get more than they need from the leftovers from thrift store donations, and still end up having to just landfill most of what they get. So there’s no real benefit to donating, over just landfilling it yourself.
Rags? Never enough rags around the house. I have a decent sized bag of old white socks around here somewhere, perfect for oil checks.
This stuff has been sitting around the house long enough. If I was going to figure out a use for it, I would have done it by now.
never mind
My understanding from a podcast I recently listened to is that clothing waste is becoming a bit of a problem. A lot of the unusable clothing that gets put in donation boxes gets sent to Africa, where it is unceremoniously dumped in the ocean. If your trash gets landfilled locally, that’s probably the most responsible option.
Yeah. We’ve had several threads on this general topic and you nailed the bottom line.
For most cast-offs, the sooner and more nearby it gets landfilled the better overall.
The USA is awash in cast-offs. If half of us never donated another thing there’d still be more supply than real demand for used goods.
If you have any quality fabrics, leather wool silk linen those might be of interest to crafters for reusing to make rag rugs or to use as patches or to unravel the knitting. Quality buttons are also collectible to some thrifters.
A few tears or holes on a thick flannel shirt are no big deal to patch. Even a few stains like ink blots near a pocket or on a sleeve are nothing to fear to a thrifter.
Ifs it’s basic button downs and poly blend slacks etc throw them out though some municipalities offer textile recycling.
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If you think you can use some of the clothing with holes in it to repair other clothing, keep it in a box in the back of a closet. I have at times used a small piece cut from a piece of clothing to fix a hole in another piece of clothing that doesn’t affect the look of the piece of clothing you’re repairing. Occasionally look through that box in the back of the closet. If there is too much clothing there, throw out some of it.
Old jeans are highly sought by crafters. The more distressed the better.
Yep, it’s a problem. Old clothes are a problem to get rid of.
Feel better if the reason they are old and worn is because you got a bunch of use from. That’s a step up from tossing out fast fashion.
My jeans generally wear out in the knees first, so they get turned into cutoffs which I wear all summer. But if the cutoffs get too worn to wear, would those crafters still want them? And how would I find these folks?
You can probably find some way to off the stuff to someone interested using it, but how much time do you want to spend on that?
You can try free posting on craigslist and FB marketplace, or your local BuyNothing group on reddit.
IME, if you’ve deemed them unwearable, just throw them out. Attempts to locate places or people to give them to just means you’ll end up keeping them around. Ditch them now while you still have the momentum.
Lookit what you done there.
mmm
Put your old shorts in a bag. Make a sign. "Free jean shorts. Take all "
They’ll be gone in an hour, tops.
(Oh and don’t throw the cut off legs away)
Make some really interesting quilts.
Massachusetts actually requires that textiles be recycled. Our local dump has bins for that purpose.
I guarantee they’ll still be sitting there; however make a sign that states they’re $5 & they’ll be ‘stolen’ in 15 minutes
The OP should move to where I live! We are required to recycle all used clothing, even if stained, ripped, etc. The website says:
All clean and dry pieces, even with stains or missing buttons, can be re‐used and repurposed. Don’t forget linens, towels, shoes, and accessories, like hats, gloves, socks, underwear, belts, purses, handbags, of any style, age or condition. […]
Every item is examined by hand. Approximately 95% of all clothing, shoes and other textiles can be given a second life.
- The best 40-50% are resold as clothes in the US and Latin America — that’s what pays for the collections and supports so many American jobs at the sorting and retail companies
- Another 25% or so are cut into wiping rags for use by different industries, bars, and contractors.
- The least-useful 20-25% or so would be ground into insulation. This insulation would be used in carpet padding and commercial (not residential) furniture.