To throw away stuff I had planned to donate to charity.

[safariboot]

Because hardly any of the charity shops are open (understandably so) and the ones that are might not even be taking any more donations. Our house is cluttered from years of hoarding, I'd say a 4 to 5 on the "clutter image ratings", and I'm trying to do something about it though progress is slow at the best of times. There's a pretty big bag, mostly clothes, waiting to go.

YANBU - Bin it.

YABU - Keep it until it can be donated.

@AlCalavicci

Are H&M open yet ? I am not sure what there covid regs are regarding accepting clothes but it would be worth asking .

www2.hm.com/en_gb/ladies/shop-by-feature/16r-garment-collecting.html.
£5 voucher for a carrier bag of any kind of cloth, tatty clothes , towles , curtains , as well as good quality clothing.
Voucher can be spent on line or instore when you spend over £25

That’s the last thing a hoarder needs!

I'd try and take it to the clothes recycling points in the supermarket car parks

Found the link
www.icollectclothes.co.uk/

Our local church takes donations which they then distribute to people who need things or send to various refuges.

I'd be tempted to list for free on local FB sites/ Freecycle or put them outside your house with a 'please help yourself' sign.

Do not bin it! There's no excuse to put usable things in landfill!

Get it On Facebook. Free to collector. Will be gone in an hour.

Lots of charity shops aren't open yet. The charity I volunteer with is hoping to get staff/volunteers in on 6th july with a view to opening to the public the following week after we've totally rejigged the shop. (We closed in mid-March with a shop full of Easter eggs, winter coats and mothers' day display).

All charities are going to struggle as many volunteers won't want to come back because of age or health. Or just because they don't want to. I can't see us being able to open anything like full time.

In your situation OP I would agree that a clothing bank or one of those "cash for clothes" places is the best choice. Or advertise it for free to collect on Gumtree or something.

If other people are saving stuff for the charity shop, please don't get cross if the shop isn't open, or staff turn you away. We are going to really struggle with the increased volume of donations, and the decreased volume of volunteers.

There's a lot of options aside from throw it away or donate it to a charity shop.

Put it outside then post online (as above) Free - immediate collection please!

Well done! Now go and do another bag. If you're a 4/5 one bag isn't going to be skimming the surface. You can easily do another before anyone comes to collect them

Usually I'd say make a bit of effort, get creative and see what you can donate / up cycle / recycle. It's hard at the moment but not impossible.

However, if you're referring to the hoarding scale etc and experiencing difficulties with your mental health, or that of a family member, and you now feel in a place to get rid of it after years, just get rid of it. Don't make it any more difficult than you have to, and don't look for further excuses to keep it.

You are absolutely not being unreasonable, OP. You know you have a clutter problem and it's really fantastic that you're taking steps to deal with it. Whatever it takes to get these clothes out of the house, go for it. You'll feel the relief when they're finally gone.

And for reassurance to others in this same situation, I used to work in a charity shop sorting donations. The number of things we got that we couldn't sell on and had to throw away was pretty high - and that's a cost to the charity. So you're really doing them a kindness by not saving up your old clothes to donate. Unless items were as-new condition, a name brand or both, we just didn't have room for them. I'd imagine that goes double now with extra donations from clear outs and a lack of volunteers.

If you have the time and energy just make up bags of similar sized clothes and put them on freecycle. You can stipulate what happens for collections . ie ; Im putting the bags out at 9am and first come first served . Its amazing what goes if its in a bag.

If this is really too much for you right now just get rid of the stuff as best you can so that its out if the house. I wouldnt advocate putting it into a shed or garage . It has to be gone.
Then once you have reclaimed your house space you can revert back to recycling what you can.

[quote Rhubardandcustard]Found the link
www.icollectclothes.co.uk/[/quote]
Ah thanks Rhubarb. I've been holding back from doing my sortout because while it's filling the wardrobe, it's not hanging about in a bag in my hall (have nowhere else to put it). Now I can get busy with the washing machine!

If you do decide to throw things out you might want to see if your council offers bigger bin hires. We can hire a bin that’s at least double if not more our usual size bin for £50 or so, for 2 weeks, and they can also supply extra recycling bins too. Might be worth it if you’re doing a big clear out.

We gave our stuff to one of these companies that put a bag through your letterbox and come back a few days later. I know the charity gets very little but we got the space in our house.

Don't make it any more difficult than you have to, and don't look for further excuses to keep it.

I think there a good case for you to just get rid - as there's a huge risk you'll just keeping them otherwise.

Our current council and last council all did a clothes part of recycling - so I'd check on that and any nearby clothes recycling bins nearby.

Ideally you'd recycle them or pass them on but with the hoarding tendencies it probably best to get rid of them completely rather than hang on.

@Alsohuman
That’s the last thing a hoarder needs!
Yes I agree , sorry perhaps not the best idea .
though the vouchers could be given to family / friends but I accept that giving away stuff is a issue.

To them that are saying put it outside for free collection / FB / market place etc , while I agree this is a good idea please do not leave stuff out over night , it either gets blown about by the wind . scattered by inconsiderate idiots or routed in by foxes .
at the start of the lock down my road looked like a jumble sale that had been abandoned , there were clothes all over the road for weeks.

There's lots on fb where I live, you could contact your supermarket charity champion, Tesco and Asda have them, and see if a local refuse or food bank need them.

What a waste YABU

If it can be put into recycling points then do so. If not, bin it. It's likely to be what the charity shop would do anyway if not suitable for sale or doesn't sell after a while.

Put it on Olio. Local people will collect from you for free, I love it

I sold a load of my clothes through a company called something like cash4clothes. Precovid they'd come to your house, weigh it and give £4 a kg or something. I've also seen their vans on car parks. We've also started getting the charity bags posted through the door again recently so that could be an option?

[quote Rhubardandcustard]Found the link
www.icollectclothes.co.uk/[/quote]
Fantastic. I've just booked a collection. Thank you.

How depressing that 54% of people say just bin it.

What about household refuse sites?

A local one is open here. I put 10 bags of clothes in the clothes bank there yesterday.

Another hoarder here. The local charity clothes bin near our supermarket is open again and wasn't full this morning as DH has taken the ten bags I sorted there. And he is slowly taking the books I have cleared too.