What do you do with old, tatty clothes?

[GrrrAaargh]

I'm sorting through my closet, as I've lost a bunch of weight, and hope to lose more, and it's all a bit of a mess in there anyway.

Obviously anything in good condition will go to a charity shop, but what do I do with the majority that's really not fit for that purpose? Most of the stuff is just too worn, with the odd unshakable stain and a split seam and whatnot. And obviously things like old underpants and holey socks! There's a surprising amount of this crap.

I'm not really in need of a thousand new rags for the house. The council doesn't collect this stuff (I've just checked), and there aren't any textile collection bins anywhere nearby. Am I missing a trick? I'd rather not just chuck it in the black bin.

I've asked at my local charity shop and they've said to bring them in but in a separate bag labelled rags or similar, they can then get paid for them by weight. Not sure if all charity shops do this but it's worth asking.

Apparently H&M take old clothing in return for a voucher. I haven't tried it yet but the details are on the website/app.

And well done on the weight loss ☺️

My daughter's primary school do a rag bag collection to raise funds.

Thanks! I'll ask around in the local charity shops if they collect rags - I hadn't thought of that.

There is a pay by weight portacabin where we live which pays for clothes and soft toys by the bin bag. Not much but it gets recycled. Maybe worth a google.
We use for not good enough to charity shop.

Take it to H&M and you'll get a voucher for £5 off when you spend £25 in their store.

Do you get bags looking for donations through your door where you leave it on your doorstep and they collect?

I would put them in one if those and label them as rags. Less work for you this way!

Our local clothes recycling bin is in the grounds of Sainsbury’s. It’s not local, but then nothing is local to me!

I just put them in the boot of my car then try to remember to dump them before I start my shop.

H&M collection box, and I you get a £5 voucher too

M and S has used to do a voucher too. Not sure if they still do as I haven’t shopped there since they plummeted downhill.

I put stuff like that in textile bins we have a few dotted about and also the tip has a few.

Most charity shops want rags, as long as they're clean, and the bags are clearly labelled "Rags".

If clothes aren't good enough for me then they're not good enough for anyone else either. I don't want anyone walking around in my old, tatty stained clothes, I only recycle if in very good or new condition. So honestly I would bag up then run them down to the tip.

It's recycled to become shoddy (upholstery and other soft filling). Any clothes bank will take it, I find, but do label as 'shoddy' or 'rags').

I hear them up & use them as cleaning cloths. Ideal for things like cleaning cars, windows, cleaning out the chicken, gardening cloths etc. Also good for decorating rags.

Our local recycling centre (aka the tip) takes rags - I take a bag or two whenever we need to go with something else.

My tip has a clothes bin for old clothes. Are you sure your local to doesn't?

I use them to sew new stuff. Cut out unstained bits, save a few, make patchwork blankets, soft toys or clothes for whatever doll appears to have need of it. Pencil cases, make-up bags, bags in general - your only limit is your imagination.

Thanks everyone.

@Sagradafamiliar - I'm kind of thinking of other ways of recycling the material than trying to force someone to actually wear it. I assume the rag collections will pretty much shred them and the material is used for something.

We don't really have a tip nearby. It would at least be a a bit of a taxi journey, same as to a larger supermarket (the local Tesco has no sorting bins). But we do have plenty of charity shops, so I'll try them first. If no luck, I'll google some more.

Tip

This is what H&M do with the donated clothes m2.hm.com/m/en_gb/ladies/shop-by-feature/16r-garment-collecting.html

Lots of factories use rags, so dont tip them

I use old socks as dusters sort o like a duster glove, other stuff goes in a separate rag bag for MIND who take rag donations. I always make sure to tell them. I did give old towels to the to an animal charity as they use them in their shelters.

I do use old socks to shine shoes and slip them on the duster to clear spider webs and dust high up, but our supply of old socks greatly outnumbers the demand. :)

I love the sound of what @Tessalectus does, although I doubt I'd be very capable in that regard.

When I used to volunteer in my local charity shop, the biggest weekly source of income was selling to the ragman! I have now moved, but still take bin bags of clothes to my now local shop, marks "rags."