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Original poster

Do you send any old grot to the charity shops?

36 replies

BroccoliSpears · 05/10/2008 16:16

I took a bag of stuff to the charity shop for a friend recently. I was horrified by the scrotty old tat she was sending. Clothes with holes or deoderant stains, not particularly clean bibs, jumpers so bobbly no one would wear them. Was embarrassed to give them to the charity shop. She's a lovely woman, and a bit of a shop-a-holic and is always beautifully dressed, as are her children. I wonder who she thought would be thrilled to buy such tatty rags? She cheerfully rummaged through the bag and showed me what she was sending so she obviously thought it was fine to send.

I don't send brand new Hermes scarves or anything particularly impressive, but I only send things I think that someone might realistically buy.

I used to work in a charity shop and some of the rubbish people send is breathtaking (literally in the case of unwashed socks and tatty old stained underwear).

So how used is too used? What do you send?

OP posts:

lulumama · 05/10/2008 16:18

i don;t send anything that has holes in or is obviously stained.. i.e i would not send baby clothes that had indelible milk or food stains on them. i would send clean, but not neccesarily ironed things.

wheresthehamster · 05/10/2008 16:20

Only things that I would buy myself.

That bag you took in will just be clogging up the 'rag bin' until collection day. Shame on your friend!

expatinscotland · 05/10/2008 16:22

No. I put stuff that can't be sold in textile recycling.

TsarChasm · 05/10/2008 16:22

Well no I don't send anything too bad, in fact it's pained me to send in some absolutely lovely things now and again, but who is going to come on and admit they do donate 'scrotty old tat'? I guess everyone has a different benchmark for scrotty maybe.

zippitippitoes · 05/10/2008 16:23

i think only about a third of donations are useable

monkeymonkeymonkey · 05/10/2008 16:25

I wouldnt send things that couldnt be sold, so clothes in good condition only, with no stains or holes. Otherwise the textile recyling bin is the place for it.

DoubleBluff · 05/10/2008 16:26

Only clean and wearable.
No holes/ stains or bobbles.

PeaMcLean · 05/10/2008 16:28

We don't have any textile recycling here. The council's advice was to take it to a charity shop.

Those Oxfam bins at supermarkets also say no rags.

So I'm never quite sure what to do with them.

CarGirl · 05/10/2008 16:29

I think they get paid for the "rags" so much per tonne.

Simplysally · 05/10/2008 16:33

I've sent stuff wth buttons missing but always clean although I suspect a lot of stuff is re-washed before being put out. I wouldn't send anything I wouldn't buy myself (not that I tend to buy in charity shops so I'm not closing the recycling loop ). Anything not fit to be sent goes in the textile bank. One charity shop near me puts any old stuff out but I don't think it pays. I like the charity shops that look more like boutiques with only a few things on each rail instead of cram it all on or the shops who put clothes out by sizes! I guess that goes against the idea of rummaging for a bargain .

bubblagirl · 05/10/2008 16:35

no as it is a waist of time for the poor workers to keep sorting through and chuck out you can send to clothing bank for recycling not sure what ours is called but some are placed round back of charity shop

twinsetandpearls · 05/10/2008 16:37

No I send nice stuff that no longer fits or I woould no longer wear to the charity shop. They are always washed and ironed.

PeaMcLean · 05/10/2008 16:41

When you say "clothing bank" do you literally mean it's for recycling not resale? not the oxfam type ones?

Tigerschick · 05/10/2008 16:49

I only take things that I would be willing to buy myself to the charity shop.
We have 2 types of 'bins' near us: 1 is for rags (that's where I put things that are stained or torn) and the other is for 'clothing to be worn by people in the third world' (that's what it says on it).
I know quite a few people who put things in the second bin that are stained, but not massively so, or have small tears in them - the philosophy being that a slightly stained shirt is better than no shirt at all. Not sure about that myself but there you go.

wheresthehamster · 05/10/2008 16:50

Sally - stuff with buttons missing will not be sold. Very few shops will have washing facilities. A complete waste of time and money although I expect they will have ironing facilities.

Shops will only have a finite of room for rags. Ours has a cage that will take 40 bags.
Anything over that will have to be put in the dustbin as h & s won't allow bags in walk-thru areas.
There is only so much room in the dustbins. You are not allowed to have bins overflowing into the street. Most of the room in them will be taken up with broken furniture, toys etc.
When I was working in a charity shop, sometimes I had to take a load of stuff to the dump myself.

Please don't use a charity shop because you can't be bothered to sort the stuff yourself and want to save a trip to the dump!

Simplysally · 05/10/2008 16:56

Well it was a long time ago - I was 19 and assumed that someone would sort it out at the shop but that's as bad as it got. One charity shop near me seem to collect the stuff, take it to a central location and then redistribute the stuff but that may be for that particular charity (Cancer Research). I wouldn't send rags to be sold or got rid of, that's insulting to the shop and the workers .

pointydog · 05/10/2008 17:00

I send decent stuff that has been washed. As should everyone.

chipmonkey · 05/10/2008 17:01

I only put stuff in that I would be happy to wear or put on the dc's.

wheresthehamster · 05/10/2008 17:03

Just read my post back

I didn't mean to sound like some clipped-toned, righteous old school marm. Apologies

SmugColditz · 05/10/2008 17:05

I stick any old tat in, on the advice of the shop manager - she says they can pulp it and sell it, so in go single shoes (the kids') and (clean) pants, odd socks and ripped and stained clothes

bamboostalks · 05/10/2008 17:07

I thought they were happy to receive old clothes etc as they could sell them on. I also thought they could use old bras etc as they were sent to third world where there is a massive shortage.

purits · 05/10/2008 17:10

Can somebody clarify, please.
Do charity shops want 'scrotty old tat' or not? Although I usually send sale-able quality goods, I have been known to send DS's old ripped shirts (minus the buttons) in the belief that they had value as rags. Is this not true? (Or rather, I know rags have value but do they not have enough value to be worth the effort?)

Simplysally · 05/10/2008 17:12

WTH - don't worry .

It'd be good to know the preferences of charity shops. I might ask next time I go in one.

wheresthehamster · 05/10/2008 17:20

I think it's about £1 for large bin bag of rags.

Compared to maybe £50 for bin bag of saleable items.

I'm only going by what a small shop like ours could feasably take.

One suggestion is if you have 'rags' then bag them up separately and label them as such, then they can be added to a rag-bag straight away and not have time wasted on scrutinising each item individually.

whomovedmychocolate · 05/10/2008 17:21

Some chain charity shops do accept rags. Just as most don't accept electricals but a few do - you just have to ask. Most have a policy which they can give you a copy of. I tend to segregate mine good stuff to charity shops and have been known to harvest buttons before composting cotton clothes (they do actually compost in about a year) if they are beyond use.

My local charity shop sells the buttons I harvest for 20p for six - which is pretty cool so all those who buy Sally's stuff can be sorted out

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