Stained clothes

thismuch · September 2013

I am going through all of our clothes and purging what we don't need anymore. We're giving some to a friend and donating some to a local charity. But does anyone know what to do with stained clothes that are otherwise in good working order. I have them all in a trash bag, but I'm having a hard time just putting it in the trash. Do international organizations want donations of stained clothes? I guess I just think that the sweaters would still keep kids warm stained or not etc. Any idea if there is anything else I should do with them, or just trash them.

SoDoMojo · September 2013

Our preschool has a bunch of extra clothes that I'm sure were donated. They use the clothes for backups in case a kid didn't bring their own change of clothes (preschool's messy, y'all!). I bet places like a coop preschool wouldn't turn them down. They can use them for crafts too.

klondikebar · September 2013

I've never found a place that will take junky clothes. I tried our local mission and they were so well stocked that they wouldn't accept anything in poor condition. It doesn't hurt to call around, but don't be surprised if you have to throw it out.

MrsCodeMonkey · September 2013

Offer it free on Craig's list or drop it off at a church.

BoatsNHoes · September 2013

Do not throw them away! Someone somewhere would be thrilled to have stained clothes: have you tried washing them with some kind of stain remover like oxi clean or even RLR?

katlizabeth · September 2013

Our St. Vinny's takes them. If they're not sellable as clothes (like stained) they sell them to a company that makes old clothes/cloth into paper.

SoDoMojo · September 2013

mbenit4 said:

I still say throw them away. I would never give anything to anyone that was stained. I don't care the circumstance. Just seems nasty as fuck.

Nasty as fuck to give a preschool, that just trashes clothes on a daily basis, stained clothes? Or they'll rip them up and make something out of them? They're still use in the cloth!

SoDoMojo · September 2013

@mbenit4 my kid's clothes go thru a lot at school. They're allowed outside no matter the weather (in Seattle that's a lot of rain and mud). Paint, food, bubbles... they kids are encouraged to do it themselves. That ends in a mess.

That being said: my kid does go to a pretty hippy-ish coop preschool.

SoDoMojo · September 2013

I don't know why he's holding it. I've questioned that myself.

On my way to find a new Macklemore siggy!

thismuch · September 2013

mbenit4 said:

SoDoMojo said:

mbenit4 said:

I still say throw them away. I would never give anything to anyone that was stained. I don't care the circumstance. Just seems nasty as fuck.

Nasty as fuck to give a preschool, that just trashes clothes on a daily basis, stained clothes? Or they'll rip them up and make something out of them? They're still use in the cloth!

To make something yes. Not to wear. I would be pissed if a daycare put my kid in someone's stained clothes. I don't know if that is food, milk, or shit. No thank you.

I never had clothes trashed at daycare.

I guess I don't have a picture of a homeless freezing kid saying, oh that's nasty. I think they'd be happy to be warm. I know nobody would buy them, but I was hoping to find somewhere where they could be used.

Most of them are toddler age clothes so the preschool probably can't use them, unless it is to make something. That is a good idea though.

What do animal shelters do with them? Bedding?

thismuch · September 2013

mbenit4 said:

thismuch said:

mbenit4 said:

SoDoMojo said:

mbenit4 said:

I still say throw them away. I would never give anything to anyone that was stained. I don't care the circumstance. Just seems nasty as fuck.

Nasty as fuck to give a preschool, that just trashes clothes on a daily basis, stained clothes? Or they'll rip them up and make something out of them? They're still use in the cloth!

To make something yes. Not to wear. I would be pissed if a daycare put my kid in someone's stained clothes. I don't know if that is food, milk, or shit. No thank you.

I never had clothes trashed at daycare.

I guess I don't have a picture of a homeless freezing kid saying, oh that's nasty. I think they'd be happy to be warm. I know nobody would buy them, but I was hoping to find somewhere where they could be used.

Most of them are toddler age clothes so the preschool probably can't use them, unless it is to make something. That is a good idea though.

What do animal shelters do with them? Bedding?

Actually when you are homeless you try to hold onto whatever dignity you can. You want to look neat, clean, etc. It is already very embarrassing. Especially when children are involved. You want your children to look cared for.

I would have been very offended for St. Vincent's or anyone to offer me stained clothes. Sorry. It isn't an either this or nothing thing. A lot of these places have plenty of clothes that are not stained to offer. So it would have made me feel like shit for them to offer me ones with stains.

I never donate anything stained or with holes based on my experiences of homelessness. Even after Hurricane Katrina we were never offered stained, torn, or clothes in bad shape.

I think an Animal shelter is a great idea.

I get what you are saying completely. But you also live in the US where we have an abundance of everything. When you look around the world you find that there are children living in garbage dumps who only have one shirt. People whose governments don't take good care of them and who don't have a country full of well-off people donating stain-free clothes. I'm guessing some of these people would be happy for my ink stained shirt.

https://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-plight-refugee-children-mae-sot?image=0

I guess I just have this idea in my mind that I could somehow give all of these clothes to an organization who can use them to clothe kids who otherwise would be in the same shirt day after day and who might be shivering at night because they are cold. Because those people are out there.

seahorse102410 · September 2013

I think they do ship old tshirts and stuff to very poor parts of the world. And stuff that's stained. Only thing I throw away is underwear.

secretsout · September 2013

I usually throw out anything that is stained/ripped/underwear/socks. If it is questionable, I might put it in the bag and let the organization I'm donating to decide. Otherwise, I trash it.

hero · September 2013

Reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose.

I don't know why someone would throw out clothing unless it has been contaminated with blood. I have offered friends old clothes, even stained clothes, with full disclosure that they are used and possibly stained. I have one friend that can take the stain out of anything and another that would upcycle the clothing into something else. My mom donates old clothes to Salvation Army because, if they can't sell to the public, they send it off to recycled.

https://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/21/image/la-ig-clothesrecycling-20100321

thismuch · September 2013

hero said:
Reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose.

I don't know why someone would throw out clothing unless it has been contaminated with blood. I have offered friends old clothes, even stained clothes, with full disclosure that they are used and possibly stained. I have one friend that can take the stain out of anything and another that would upcycle the clothing into something else. My mom donates old clothes to Salvation Army because, if they can't sell to the public, they send it off to recycled.

https://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/21/image/la-ig-clothesrecycling-20100321

Great link! Thanks.

lrn327 · September 2013

I still throw my stained stuff in the donation bag for Salvation army, but just don't write them down the donation form if that makes sense. (All donated items for a tax write-off are supposed to be in at least "good" condition.) They do in fact sell them off to recyclers that use the fiber to make other textiles. So, unless it's just truly gross, I don't throw away. Besides, I have a stain removal arsenal in my laundry room and I imagine there are other people out there that are also good with stain removal. ;-) You can always label the bag, "stained items" or whatever.

klondikebar · September 2013

Do all Salvation Armys do that? They wouldn't take any really worn clothing. That was many years ago though and maybe the person was incorrect. I never asked again after that.

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