Everyone has clothes that are old and worn, stained, or don’t fit. They want to get rid of them so they can make more room in their closet, but what should you do with your old clothes?
To do something with old clothes, donate them, make them into cleaning rags, trade them for new clothing, sell them, wear them as pajamas, or upcycle them. If old clothing can’t be used anymore in any way, throw old clothing away or send them to a store that will recycle them.
Old clothing may seem useless, but you can use them in many ways after you no longer want to or can’t wear your old clothing. To find out more about what you can do with your old clothing, keep reading.
What You Should Do with Old Clothing
When you want to get rid of old clothing, you don’t have to throw it away, even if it is old and stained. Here are some things that you can do with your old clothing.
Donate Them
You can donate your old clothing to charities or stores. If you donate your old clothes to charities, they will sort through them and find the clothing that can be given to people that need it. If clothing can’t be given to other people, it will be recycled properly.
To get rid of your old clothing, give them to various stores. If you know of any thrift stores in your area, give your old clothing that is still of good quality to said thrift stores. If you don’t know of any local thrift stores, donate them to Goodwill, H&M, or Planet Aid. (Source)
Trade Them
If you don’t want your old clothing but there aren’t very many stains or holes, trade it for other clothing that is new to you. There are groups on Facebook dedicated to swapping clothes in your community, and clothing swaps are often held by church groups.
Turn them into Rags
If your old clothing is stained and has a lot of holes, cut them up and use them as cleaning rags. You would be surprised at how useful clothing rags are for cleaning the household, polishing silver, cleaning bike chains, and more. (Source)
If you cut up your old clothing and use them as rags, you will almost never have to purchase new washcloths or cleaning rags. This will save you a lot of money over time, as you will almost never run out of old clothing, but you may not want to use old washcloths that have a lot of holes in them because of how much you have used them.
When using old clothes as washcloths or rags, you won’t really care about how they look, just that they work well enough to get your cleaning done.
Sell Them
If your old clothes still look good, you just don’t wear them or they don’t fit anyone in your household, you can always sell them. You will have to sell them for much less than what you originally bought them for, but it will help you earn some extra money on the side as you remove old clothing from your closet. You can use the money you earn by selling your old clothing to pay for new clothing.
However, it is extremely hard to sell old clothing, even if it is still in amazing shape. Many people only want to buy and wear new clothes, so they won’t buy your old clothing or will only pay a small amount, which doesn’t help you get rid of your old clothing. You can sell your old clothing on Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, and other buying and selling apps or websites.
Upcycle Them
If you like the pattern of your old clothing, upcycle it. When you upcycle your clothing, you turn it into something else. You can turn your old clothing into a quilt, braided rug, or different forms of clothing.
Turn Them Into Grubby Clothing
If your old clothing still fits but doesn’t look good and is stained or has multiple holes, wear them when you are doing work that will make you really dirty. My family calls it our grubby clothing. Wear your grubby clothing when doing yard work, mowing the lawn, moving, painting, or dying your hair. That way, you won’t damage the clothing you like the look of and can do dirty work while in extremely comfortable clothing.
No one will judge you if you wear old clothing while doing jobs that make you extremely dirty or could potentially damage your clothing like painting or dying your hair will.
Wear them as Pajamas
Old clothing is often extremely comfortable because you have worn it many times, so the material is soft and loose. Soft and loose clothing is perfect to wear as pajamas, and wearing your old clothing as pajamas means that you don’t have to buy any new ones. This will save you quite a bit of money over time. (Source)
Honestly, I often wear old clothing as pajamas, especially when my old shirts are getting too thin or stained to be worn out in public.
Why You Shouldn’t Throw Away Old Clothing
You shouldn’t throw away your old clothes when you don’t want to or can’t wear them anymore because it is incredibly wasteful. When you throw away your old clothes, they end up in a landfill. Clothes take years to break down unless they are made of natural materials. While clothing made of natural materials is becoming more popular, it is sometimes hard to find clothes that are completely made of natural materials. (Source)
If you can’t use any of your old clothing or sell it, recycle it. Many stores and recycling centers accept clothing so it can be recycled properly. It likely won’t cost you anything to recycle your old clothing, although you may have to drive to your local recycling center.
Overall, there are many things that you can do with your old clothing, even if it is old, stained, and has holes. Just because you can’t or don’t want to wear your old clothing doesn’t mean it is unusable in other ways.
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