How do we feel about clothing donation bins?

[reddaisyandcake]

I've always bagged up clothes and put them in the donation bins, like salvation army ones in the supermarket car park. But today I was told they dont go to charity shops anymore, they're weighed in and recycled.

This is good, but I've been putting in clothing still with labels that just doesn't fit assuming they'd be in a charity shop for someone else to enjoy.

I dont know why, as its all to a good cause, but I feel a kind of way about it. I genuinely didn't know and thought it was the way to donate clothing.

How do you pass on good quality unworn clothing? (I havent the energy for Vinted!)

So what’s best to do with rags? We usually wear clothes and shoes until they are very worn, and can’t be passed on to others.

I live a good clear out! We have a basket that we chuck stuff for the textile bank ( that description might be showing my age) mainly gets sad/holey socks and nickers. Twice yearly sort as I switch to different season when I split into decent stuff for charity shop and not good enough to textile bank. You might also find particular clothes can go to other places, some food banks take winter coats, there are charities that help with office and interview clothes for people returning to work.

our tip has a textiles bin

I only use the bins for old clothes that can’t be sold. I take nice things to the charity shop. I don’t bother with Vinted and I pass nice kids clothes on to friends, but my clothes I donate. I only give things to charity shops if they’re clean, sellable and in good condition.

I am sure that a lot of people just use charity shops as a guilt free way to palm off old rubbish. It especially irks me when I see bags of abandoned tat outside a closed charity shop.

My village hosts a weekly coffee and chat session for locals and refugees to socialise and at them we have regular clothes swaps/ regifting sessions.

for me i prefer to use the salvation army bins, far easier, i havent dropped off at a charity shop for many years.
i dont donate socks or knickers anywhere and now with having to prebook the recycling tip, i will be even less inclined to use their textile bins

I applied for a job with Salvation Army emptying those bins
it said they go back to sorting warehouse
anything good redistributed to shops and they rest went to rags

Thanks for this. Have a big clear out planned for the first bank holiday in May and was wondering what to do with it all as our local charity shops are currently full.

I've found this recent statement from the Salvation Army (my bolding).

TL;DR, yes when it's a Sally Army clothing bank they do try to re-use good quality clothing. But for less good quality stuff there's global oversupply.

https://salvationarmytrading.org.uk/statement-on-reduction-in-clothing-banks/

Statement on Reduction in Clothing Banks
16.2.2026

Salvation Army Trading Company Ltd (SATCoL) has made the difficult decision to reduce its clothing collection bank network around the UK.

Like many charity collectors, SATCoL is experiencing challenging market conditions. A combination of global, local and economic pressures has significantly affected the textile reuse and recycling sector and means we are no longer able to cover the full cost of collecting and processing donations through our clothing bank network.

Our profits go towards The Salvation Army’s community work and so we want to ensure every donation helps us raise money for the UK’s most vulnerable people.

Although the demand for second-hand clothing has increased in recent years in the UK, there remains an oversupply and we have to sell many donations on the international second-hand textiles market via trusted traders, similar to other charities and textile collectors. In recent years, there has been a huge increase in low quality second-hand clothes in circulation across the world which has significantly decreased the value of this market. This directly impacts how much we are able to help fund The Salvation Army’s essential community work which is why we have to make changes to how we operate.

Therefore, from February we will start to remove some of our clothing banks from locations across the UK but thousands of clothing banks will remain in place and be available for public use. You can also donate by post to us.

Aaron Johnson, SATCoL’s Director of Clothing Collection Division, said:
“We are always really grateful when people make the effort to donate their clothing. There are still thousands of Salvation Army clothing banks in operation but we understand it will be frustrating if you visit one that has been removed.

“We want to reassure our generous donors that we are giving careful thought to any decisions to remove clothing banks. We know that you want your donations to go towards supporting vulnerable people and reducing our clothing bank network will help ensure that your donations do just that.

“We are still in need of good quality second-hand clothing for sale in our charity shops and donation centres, and many thousands of these items are passed on to people who have very little or nothing at all. If your nearest clothing bank has closed, please use the map to see where the next donation point is or consider using our Donate by Post scheme.”

Oh wow. I love a charity shop haul but it seems people aren't buying as much from there nowadays. Ive stopped buying fast fashion items, dont go to Primark etc. I need to rethink my whole attitude to buying clothes and shoes.

I put somethings in bins and some i just take to a shop. If they're not in good enough condition to donate to a shop i will put them in the charity bin expected them to be recycled but stuff that i have only worn a few times or grown/slimmed out of i take to a shop. It never occurred to me that clothes put in a charity bin would go to shops i just assumed they would be recycled.

it also confirms that other charity shops will send to second hand textiles market overseas, even if you donate to the charity shop, does not mean they will be bought by customers.
we really need to buy less