Unfortunately, you’ll find nearly 336,000 tonnes of excess clothing sitting in bins across the UK every single year. Likewise, you’ll find an additional £30 billion worth of unworn clothing sitting in people’s closets waiting to add to that number.
Luckily, there are plenty of different ways to turn that unused clothing into something useful. There are different ways to recycle or upcycle these clothes rather than tossing them out in the bin and contributing to more waste.
Below, you’ll find a lot of the different tips and ideas that you can use on what you should be doing with your older clothes. You can click below if you want to jump to a specific idea that you like. Shapewear.
Things To Do For Clothes That Are Too Worn To Continue Wearing:
- Upcycle the clothing into something brand new
- Check out Textile and Fabric Recycling
- Ask about Textile Collections to your local council
- Give the clothing to a shelter for animals
Clothes That Can Still Be Worn:
- Donate it
- Hand them down to family and friends
- Rent them out
- Swap them out for different clothes
- Trade your clothing for cash
Transforming It Into Something New
Believe it or not, but you can turn worn out and beat up clothing into something brand new. This is known as fabric upcycling. You simply give them to a recycler and they can use the worn-out clothing for new items. These items can include but aren’t limited to face masks, car seats, and even chairs.
Check Out Fabric Recycling Spots
You will find that any clothing that isn’t useful anymore can regain brand new life through clothing banks. By gifting these clothes to clothing banks, you will be able to do just that. You can visit Recycle Now if you are looking for one nearby.
Asking About Textile Collections
You will find that a lot of local councils will have direct access to different textile collectors. Therefore, you should be looking to check this out if you are interested. The good thing about these collections is that not only are they free, but they will put your clothing to good use.
Gifting To An Animal Shelter
You will find that animal shelters can make good use of your old and worn-out clothing. These shelters use them for a lot of different things including making their blankets, making beds, and more. You can bring a lot of different items and they will be able to turn them into items that can help the animals. You can bring in older t-shirts to sweaters.
Donating Your Clothing To Charity
Any clothes that are in good enough condition can be properly donated to charity. If the clothing still has some life in them, you can find your nearest charity and donate them. A lot of these charities will do their collections for free. You can visit The Charity Retail website if you are having difficulties finding charities nearby. While you may have a more difficult time getting rid of uniforms, you could always go through your employer to figure out where to donate them.
Pass Them Down
This is a good one if you have friends or family members that could use the clothing. This is an especially good option for children’s clothing. After all, children grow so fast. You should be able to find a new life for your child’s clothing when they grow out of their old clothes by asking your friends and family. Always wash the clothes before you hand them over and they will likely be overjoyed at your generosity.
Rent Them Out
One of the best options, if you are looking to make some extra cash from your clothing, would be to rent them out. This is especially good for anyone who is looking to maximise their available space but who isn’t looking to completely get rid of their clothing. You can rent out your desirable pieces and save space while they are being put to good use.
