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Original poster

AIBU to ask why charity shops no longer accept "Rags"?

60 replies

PippaXo · 26/03/2025 07:03

My charity shop used to accept clothes not good enough to wear anymore as they could put them for recycling to be made into rags. I understand that they used to generate a small amount of money from this.

They have now stopped accepting clothes for recycling to make rags.
I was just wondering why? What has changed?

OP posts:
NotMeNoNo · 26/03/2025 07:20

Supply and demand. Donations these days involve more substandard clothes, there is no shortage of rag items, and there is a cost for processing and disposal/recycling. It might be the shop is having to pay rather than getting 25p a kilo or whatever, they may have a few tons a week.

They probably have enough waste from sorting donations anyway rather than taking in extra waste. There are plenty of textile recycling banks.

Ddakji · 26/03/2025 07:16

I’ve never heard of this before!

Surely your best bet is to ask them?!

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 26/03/2025 07:16

Mine does. I gave them a bag of moth eaten jumpers on Monday.

unsync · 26/03/2025 07:16

This was on the news last week. The price of rags has dropped substantially. There is a surplus in the system due to fast fashion, poor quality and over production. They lose money which for charities is not what they need. It's really not that hard to understand. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd0nr11myd1o

Ian Nicolson wearing a blue checked shirt and a black gilet. He has short grey hair and is cleanly shaven. He is stood in front of a garden

'Rag' price slump costs EACH charity £5k a week

East Anglia's Children's Hospices says it is hit by the plummeting price of unwanted clothes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd0nr11myd1o

PermanentTemporary · 26/03/2025 07:16

My guess would be that charges associated with waste have gone up and that they too often get dirty or otherwise unusable rags that they have to treat as waste.

takealettermsjones · 26/03/2025 07:15

Nobody will buy them.

Sinkintotheswamp · 26/03/2025 07:14

The bottom has fallen out of the rag market. I recall it's oversupply and cost of shipping.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 26/03/2025 07:14

Perhaps because nowadays, with cheap clothing made from polyester etc. rather than natural fibres, the rags cannot be easily reprocessed and end up as landfill and the charity wouldn't want to be associated with that?

Original poster
PippaXo · 26/03/2025 07:09

Why is that though? What has changed that the amount they make from rags has got lower?

OP posts:
romdowa · 26/03/2025 07:07

The amount they get is so low now that its not worth it for them any more

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