Getting rid of old clothes - a few questions

[joshandjamie]

Hi

I'm doing a massive wardrobe sort out. I have some clothes I could sell on eBay (if I can be bothered).

However, the rest fall into two categories:

1. Could be used again but unlikely that someone would pay for them. Question here: are there any charities that take clothes like this? I thought places like Oxfam etc take things that they can resell. I have loads of kids clothes that I would really like to go to some needy children somewhere but don't know if there's anywhere that takes them. Same goes for old children's shoes that they've outgrown but are still in pretty good nick.

1. Should go into the bin. My local council says they collect fabric as part of the recycling collection. Does this mean that they take old clothes and somehow recycle the fabric or are they giving them to charities? And if they recycle them, I assume that this is the best way to get rid of old clothes destined for the bin?

Thanks in advance

I believe a lot of charities will send big bundles of clothes abroad, if it's stuff they don't think will sell in their shops, so the charity will get the benefit from it one way or the other.

And stuff that is not even interesting for that can be shredded and used for something (can't remember what )

And if you have a preserved railway nearby, they are often on the lookout for cotton waste - I think they use it when they're oiling the engines something like that anyway...

what about donating your kids clothes to a womens refuge?

for no2, they recycle it into carpet underlay and stuff. the air ambulance clothing bins near me do that. i think.

for no1, dunno... womens refuges, i thought about groups for teenage mums, refugees with dc, that sort of thing, would be a good place for stuff like that. have to track them down tho.

I gave a whole heap of clothes and toys to a refugee project and they were all given out very quickly to families who arrived here with virtually nothing.

how do you find refugee projects? I've been looking for a woman's shelter type place but haven't found anything remotely near me. And wouldn't have a clue how to find refugee projects. Any ideas on how to find them? Thanks for the suggestions

I took my stuff to the Refugee Council's nearest office.

of the Refugee Council www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/contactus/offices.htm

Women's Resource Project www.asylumaid.org.uk/pages/the_projects_purpose.html

Ooops! Messed up the links

Offices of the Refugee Council

Refugee Women's Resource Project

Thanks madbad, I'll take a look at the links

I thought that charity shops accepted all types of clothing. I thought that they sorted out the stuff that was not saleable and bagged it up. There is a rag man that comes round and buys the bagged up clothes and pays by weight. If it was me, I'd send the whole lot to the charity shop and they'll benefit either by selling the items or bagging it up for the rag man.

I think it may depend on the charity shop. Some (I'm told by a regular volunteer) put anything they think won't sell straight in the bin.

I usually give everything to charity shops, but with the refugee project I liked the idea that it was the clothes and toys which were going to be used and not just the proceeds from selling them. I'm quite sentimental about my child's outgrown things and like to think that someobody else is wearing them or using them and they're not lying in landfill, as they might if a charity shop simply binned them.

I've found a women's refuge shelter who take these things and give them to women who've escaped abusive relationships and who've got nothing. So I feel happy about that. Feel the same as you madbad, want to know my children's things are being used by someone who needs them

It's worth finding out exactly what your local Council does do with textiles. Ours (Surrey) states that "any item worthy of reuse is passed on to low income families either in this country or sent to third world countries. The rest is made into industrial rags."

On that basis, I tend to stick everything apart from genuinely attractive, sellable items, in the Council recycling bin and let them get on with it. The good stuff goes to a local second hand kids clothes shop/drop in centre in our town.

You can take old shoes into a Clarks shop & they send them to some charity - can't remember which.