What to Do with Old Clothes

Did you know, the average American throws away 70 pounds of textiles each year? That’s a lot of unnecessary waste! Instead of adding even more fabric to our already overcrowded landfills, consider these creative ways to repurpose old clothes.

1. Donate them to your favorite charity or thrift store.
2. Sell them on an app like Facebook, Mercari, Poshmark, etc., but be sure to keep the upcoming season in mind. Selling winter clothes in summertime is going to be harder than listing them in the fall.
3. Sell them to a consignment shop. Note that these stores typically split the profits with you 50/50, so if you’re looking to make money off your old clothes, you may be better off selling them on your own.
4. Take them to H&M to recycle via their garment collecting program. They take any style, any brand, and any condition of old clothes or textiles.
5. Make a t-shirt memory quilt. If you’re not handy or crafty, there are people and companies you can hire to do this for you with your old clothes.
6. Make DIY wall art with a scarf or long piece of fabric. Your walls are your oyster! Fulfill your lifelong interior designer dreams and decorate your space however you want.
7. If your old garments are in good condition, you may be able to exchange for cash at stores that take gently worn clothes and shoes, like Clothes Mentor, Plato’s Closet, Uptown Cheapskate, etc.
8. Pass them along as “hand-me-downs" to friends, family members, or neighbors.
9. Recycle them locally (find your city’s solid waste convenience center or recycling box).
10. Recycle them via a national take-back program (For Days, Retold Recycling, Knickey, etc.).
11. Donate your old clothing to animal rescue groups (call first and make sure they’ll accept them). You may need to wash them first. Bonus: animal groups often take old towels and bedding, too.
12. Contact non-profits to see if they accept them (men’s shelters, women’s shelters, refugee groups, etc.). You will likely need to make sure your clothes are clean and in good condition for this.
13. Tie up a gift in a DIY fabric tote bag or shoulder bag instead of using a gift bag and tissue paper. You’re giving them two gifts in one this way!
14. Recover throw pillows. Add your unique sense of style and show off your interests for an instant conversation starter by recovering throw pillows in your favorite band or team t-shirts. Note: if you live with someone, you may want to check with them before changing your décor.
15. Reupholster an accent chair. This would require quite a bit of fabric and a certain skillset, but there are plenty of YouTube videos that can help you navigate this project.
16. Create your own curtains or shower curtain (you may still need to buy a liner, though).
17. Learn to sew and make clothes for your children's dolls and stuffed animals. You could even take it a step further and make them their own beds, chairs, pillows, etc.
18. Upcycle your old clothes into something else. Watch a video tutorial if you're unsure how to do it, but there are tons of options including, coasters, reusable napkins, table runner, bows, jewelry, koozies, pin cushions, keychains, etc. The possibilities are endless here!
19. Host a yard sale and sell some of your gently worn old clothes. Be sure to price things appropriately (yard salers are looking for deals – $1 for a gently worn top is much more likely to sell than a $10 top, even if it has the tags still on it).
20. Use your old clothes for cleaning. Socks, shirts, scarves, and more make great cloth rags that can be washed and used over and over.
21. Let your kids use your old clothing for play or dress up. Let their imaginations run free as they turn your old clothes into capes, dresses, scarves, and more.
22. Make gifts for your friends and family. There are tons of tutorials online for using old scraps of fabric to make holiday gifts and ornaments.

If you’ve wondered what to do with old clothes that cannot be donated or sold, this list provides lots of options to repurpose old clothes and bring them new life without having to throw them away.

Sources:

• https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/home/clothes-recycling-guide
• https://www2.hm.com/en_us/sustainability-at-hm/our-work/close-the-loop.html