Used clothing not good enough for thrift shop

[aliceincolo]

What can I do (besides making rags) with my families old stained clothes? We have a ton of rags for cleaning the house... Also, what do you all do with yer old unmentionables?

[BedHead]

We have Goodwill here - they take everything and if they can't use it as clothes they sell it as rags.

Old unmentionables go in the garbage usually.

[aliceincolo]

Thanks, I shop the Goodwill every week, but they have a lot of signs up about the quality of items that you donate. I will ask them.

[funkygranolamama]

i know goodwill uses old stained clothing to make cleaning rags and such. if you are crafty you may use pieces to make a quilt, or cut to shreds to make rugs or crochet something out of the strands of cut up clothing.

our local animal shelter loves to receive old stained clothing and towels. they use it to put in the kennels and for the animals to sleep on.

[philomom]

I bury mine in the garden. It keeps the weeds from coming up in the mulch-y areas.


I know it sounds weird, but I can't stand to throw anything away.

[Ruthla]

Try offering them on Freecycle- even with the stains somebody might want them as playclothes. Just be honest about their condition or somebody else might just throw them out.

[Toolip]

I cut the elastic off my cotton undies and throw them in the compost heap.

I know that there is some Lycra in them too but it doesn't seem to be a problem

[Jojo F.]

Our city takes old clothes in the recycling.

I save most of the old clothes and make stuff out of them like baby wipes, dipes, mama cloth, and anything else I /DS can think of. He wants me to make some jellyfish, we'll see how that goes!

[countrymom]

Originally Posted by philomom

I bury mine in the garden. It keeps the weeds from coming up in the mulch-y areas.


I know it sounds weird, but I can't stand to throw anything away.

That made me smile...very crafty. So it prevents weeds & eventually decomposes...neat idea.

[aliceincolo]

Really good suggestions! I have never thought of composting clothing. I wish I were more crafty, and I am going to call the animal shelters right now to see if they can use them!! Thanks!

[Neth Naneth]

:

[BlessedOne]

yeah we have a thrift store that has a homeless shelter and they take old clothes and use it for rags to clean the shelter and such.

If the unmentionables are stain free....then some thrift stores still take them.

you could always have a garage sale and have them as free (if they are not too horrible) or advertise them as "work" or "play" clothes and have them for free. I know one time when I was a young, my mom and I went around to garage sales to pick up cheap old play clothes for the summer, so I would not wear/ruin all of my good clothes.

I keep a lot of mine around for spare fabric.....for instance I have my hubby's old undershirts that I am going to turn into nursing pads for me.

[luckysam]

I am so glad you posted! I have been having the same issue, and besides rags have been thinking about what to do with our stained clothes. I started to wonder if I could shred them and use them to fill pillows, stuffed dolls, and quilts I could make out of non-stained pieces of fabric. Any thoughts from you crafty and sewing mamas as to how well this could work?

[BlessedOne]

Originally Posted by luckysam

I am so glad you posted! I have been having the same issue, and besides rags have been thinking about what to do with our stained clothes. I started to wonder if I could shred them and use them to fill pillows, stuffed dolls, and quilts I could make out of non-stained pieces of fabric. Any thoughts from you crafty and sewing mamas as to how well this could work?

it could work.....although probably would not get the same effect as cotton fill.

[Toolip]

Originally Posted by luckysam

I am so glad you posted! I have been having the same issue, and besides rags have been thinking about what to do with our stained clothes. I started to wonder if I could shred them and use them to fill pillows, stuffed dolls, and quilts I could make out of non-stained pieces of fabric. Any thoughts from you crafty and sewing mamas as to how well this could work?

dolls stuffed with rags are great!

[LaughingHyena]

We use old undies for rags, usually for when DH is cleaning his bike chain or other greasy jobs. After that they get thrown away.

[Alkenny]

Contact a local church and see if their ladies' groups use them. When I worked at a nursing home, we had a Mennonite lady who came in once a month and took all of the clothing, sheets, etc. What she could salvage, she donated to the shelters and what she couldn't she tore for bandages or to make quilts, etc.

[mamababamba]

In our area cotton clothing can be recycled in our regular recycling bin.:

[Jennisee]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

Try offering them on Freecycle- even with the stains somebody might want them as playclothes. Just be honest about their condition or somebody else might just throw them out.

:
Some people are good at getting stains out of clothes and save money by getting stained freebies.

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by luckysam

I am so glad you posted! I have been having the same issue, and besides rags have been thinking about what to do with our stained clothes. I started to wonder if I could shred them and use them to fill pillows, stuffed dolls, and quilts I could make out of non-stained pieces of fabric. Any thoughts from you crafty and sewing mamas as to how well this could work?

OK - this I've done.

1) You need to shred them pretty fine - say 1" square or you get big lumps in what you are stuff.

2) Items stuffed with rags are a lot heavier than items stuffed with polyfil.

3) It takes a really, really long time to cut them up - I had this bagfull and it wasn't enough for what I was doing.

4) shredding that much stuff really dulls your scissors.

With all this in mind, go forth. I wouldn't do it again, myself.