old clothes - too knackered for the charity shop - where do you give them to be made into rags....?

[abusybee]

I'm clearing like mad. Lots of good stuff which will go to the charity shop, but what do I do with stuff like old underwear, baby clothes been through 3 kids etc etc
I think that the charity shops will send stuff off to be made into rags if it's not good enough to sell, but I'd rather not give them the bother of sorting through it all.
Anyone know if there's a more straightforward way to send them straight for recycling? What about those recyling bins in the street - what happens to them?
And what do you do with stuff like bras which you've only worn once or twice, so perfectly good condition - would charities want them? I've read every so often that homeless charities do have a shortage but is this true?

The charity shop I take stuff to collects 'rags' not good enough to sell, I just put it in a separate bag labelled as such and they put it straight in their rag bin, so it's worth asking the shop.

thanks -I'll ask them.

Our local dump/refuse centre has places for all sorts of things (like scrap metal, timber, oil, spectacles etc) and there is a skip for fabric too, so that's where our stuff goes if it's not suitable for a charity shop.