Giving away old clothes

[Sunny]

Does anyone still do this? I'm not even sure if the organizations that are known for these collections, such as Goodwill, are still open for donations.

I read somewhere that these collections are becoming a lot less valuable, since new clothing can be produced more cheaply (probably in China) than cleaning up and repairing the old stuff. And obviously, new items are much more popular with people.

So, if the clothing collections are finished, what are we supposed to do with those items we just don't want to keep any more? I'm not talking about fancy designer clothing that finds its way to specialized consignment shops. I mean just the plain, ordinary stuff, in reasonably good condition, that people just want to get rid of because they're tired of it, it doesn't fit any more, etc.

 

[Keesha]

Goodwill and value village are happily taking donations here.
They are washed and sold to help people in need.

 

[Warrigal]

I recently sent a couple of bags of quite good clothes to the Salvos. They make money from them at their op shops. Some clothing makes its way to developing countries such as PNG where it is sold cheaply to the locals.

 

[hellomimi]

Call your local Goodwill, Salvation Army. Here in L.A. I found Goodwill branches accepting donations. They took furniture and small appliances, too.

 

[gennie]

Shelters for abused women. Many go there with only the clothes on their back.

 

[Gary O']

Needy folks always need clothes
Especially in winter

The missions
The shelters
The churches

 

[RadishRose]

I'm not aware these places have stopped taking clothing, at least in my area.

 

[hellomimi]

I'm not aware these places have stopped taking clothing, at least in my area.

For sometime, when lockdown just started, the thrift stores around here closed and were not accepting donations. It must've been the last two months when they re-opened stores and accepted donations again.

 

[RadishRose]

I guess it makes sense in regard to Covid. Could be risky handling all that personal stuff and then, no one going out for awhile to shop.

 

[Ceege]

I keep a bin in one of my closets and when it gets full I take it to Salvation Army. Not just for clothes. Old books, DVDs, kitchen items, etc.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Another vote for homeless shelters and shelters for abused women.

In this area, there is a community program that takes better quality clothing to help men and women with free used clothing appropriate for job interviews/work wardrobe.

 

[FastTrax]

I always donate my various sundry items to The Vietnam Veterans Association Centers (Not the Veterans Administration) The few times I donated to the Salvation Army I never used the roadside donation drop off bins but drop them off at the centers themselves, collect the receipts and give them to members enrolled in our discreet help assistance program at my church. I don't accommodate Goodwill because they follow a strict business model as opposed to a true charity, personal assistance and disaster aid model like VVA, SA and my church. I do commend Goodwill's community outreach job training program though.

www.vva.org/drop-off-locations/



www.satruck.org/DropOff



www.goodwill.org/donate/donate-stuff




One of the reasons why it is becoming risky to even go near donation drop off bins is this.

Can you believe this?

 

[bowmore]

Shelters for abused women. Many go there with only the clothes on their back.

When my wife passed away, I donated 3 huge boxes to a battered women's shelter

 

[Kadee]

I’ve just had a really good clean out and given heaps of items including clothing to my favourite op shop which is ADRA they also have a food pantry to help out disadvantaged people

I never understood what the name meant but I believe they are 7 day Adventist group

Some op shops in Australia are pricing items like it’s a big upmarket department store
So i give them a miss for Just browsing now days.

I cleaned out my linen press as well and asked around who’d be interested in very clean but used hand towels / face washers / bath towels / white sheets / pillow cases that had yellowed a little from age
I was advised that Vets are always great full from those sort of items ,so I spent a whole week washing / sanitising everything then took a big bag to the vets, who were very great full for my donation

 

[AnnieA]

I remember this article from several years ago...

No One Wants Your Used Clothes Anymore

Excerpt:

The rise of "fast fashion" is thus creating a bleak scenario: The tide of secondhand clothes keeps growing even as the markets to reuse them are disappearing. From an environmental standpoint, that's a big problem. Already, the textile industry accounts for more greenhouse-gas emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined;​

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[Warrigal]

When my wife passed away, I donated 3 huge boxes to a battered women's shelter

A sad duty but a noble one. When my little mother was dying in her nursing home, I had noticed that some of the other little old ladies had no-one to shop for them, so in her last week as I sat beside her bed I spent time unpicking the sewn-in name labels so that the clothing could be passed on to other women who might need relatively new garments that were not too long for them.

When I knew that she was going to die I had gone out and bought new, quality nighties so that she would be looking very presentable for the visitors that were coming to see her for the last time. She wore each of them just once in that last week. The last one was reserved for her to wear in her coffin, not that our family ever has a viewing for our dear departed.

The staff in nursing homes do their best keeping the residents' clothes clean but the industrial machines can be very rough them. Lace trims soon become ragged and make the clothes look shabby. For my mother and her sister I would take the garments home, remove the old lace and replace it with new. As I said before, not every resident has family who can provide these services and gifting presentable used clothing is not charity, it is thoughtfulness.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

As I understand it, charitable institutions have to pay for the sorting and cleaning of the garments. The goal is to provide inexpensive clothing for the needy. By the time it's purchased, they hardly make a dime. Most of the clothes are sold to bulk rag buyers. What they do with them, I don't know.

 

[SeaBreeze]

There's various donation bins that I use to donate clothes and other items, but I haven't had to donate anything since the coronavirus....not sure if there's any changes.

 

[ClassicRockr]

It's very surprising how many people will throw away clothes and furniture into trash bins here. We've seen this at every single apartment complex we've lived in. It really seems like young folks don't' want to take the time to take stuff to a donation place, but then again, they don't have any kind of transportation to take furniture.

As for us, we've got rid of quite a bit of furniture and other things, buy selling on Craigs List and taking to Goodwill or Salvation Army. Some things we had, that no longer use, but are still in excellent shape, send to family for Christmas.

 

[Sunny]

Thanks to all for the very useful advice. I will check out the local Goodwill and the nearest church, which used to have a large bin for clothing donations. Hopefully it's still there.

 

[Butterfly]

Dog and cat rescues are always delighted to receive clean towels, blankets throw rugs, etc.. for use in their kennels.

 

[-Oy-]

I bought myself a new waterproof Berghaus coat in Manchester yesterday. I wore it out of the shop and had the old one in a bag, which I gave to a homeless chap in a shop doorway. He got a Goretex waterproof coat that was looking a bit worn but still had life left in it.