S/O: Getting rid of used clothes

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seeker

Mon, May 28 2018, 12:30 pm

In the thread about downsizing wardrobe, there is some talk about giving away/donating clothes rather than trashing them. Who wants my outdated old-style clothes? Who wants the things that are still in good enough shape for me to wear them (if I would/if I were the right size/etc) but not good enough to be new-ish to someone else?

I think this may be part of the reason I have a hard time downsizing. When something is nice enough that I still like it even though for whatever reason I don't wear it anymore ("but I might") it feels egregiously wasteful to get rid of it when I highly doubt it will find a new useful home.

I mean, I have suits. Like the thing people used to wear as Shabbos outfits. No one under the age of 60 wears suits as Shabbos outfits anymore, I think, at least not where I circulate - it's dresses or non-suit outfits. But they're nice suits. Some are very nice suits. In medium to great condition. Still my size, more or less. What do I do with those?

Or other things that are not suits. Like things that I wore enough that if I gave them to you you would feel like you're wearing someone else's used clothing. For me to keep wearing them would be comfortable. But I don't keep wearing them - I don't know, maybe my taste changed, maybe I got tired of them, whatever, they don't feel like garbage but they're not suitable for resale.

What do you do with things like this that doesn't feel like bal tashchis?

SuperWify

Mon, May 28 2018, 12:37 pm

I purge my closets every season. That means the clothes I give away are not older than 1-2 seasons. I send them to my cousins in Israel who are thrilled to get American clothing.

rgr

Mon, May 28 2018, 12:43 pm

Sell oon eBay, mark it as used

southernbubby

Mon, May 28 2018, 12:47 pm

https://dressforsuccess.org/

There are organizations such as the one posted that uses suits for poor women who want to get good jobs.

Suits can sometimes be used as separates to give them more wear.

Gemachs for frum yidden may also have use for them.

mommyla

Mon, May 28 2018, 12:47 pm

There are organizations that send outdated clothes in good condition to Israel. I've given outdated stuff (mine and kids', whatever the gemach won't accept) to Goodwill - I also hate throwing clothing out unless it is really worn.

FranticFrummie

Mon, May 28 2018, 12:56 pm

LOL, I'm taking a break from purging my closet right now!

I have gorgeous suits that are too big for me now. I used to mix and match them, pairing the skirt with a nice sweater, or the jacket over a dress. You can still make them look trendy that way.

Here in Israel we have a lot of refugees coming in, especially from Argentina. I have a friend who picks up all my good condition clothes and delivers them to an absorption center.

I would never donate anything that I wouldn't want to be seen in, that's just not nice.

If you're on a tight budget, some types of fabric can be cut to make girl's clothing, or use as cleaning cloths. I remember growing up, my mom would dust with my dad's old t-shirts. He'd always yell "Hey, I love that shirt! I wasn't done with it yet!" LOL

seeker

Mon, May 28 2018, 1:14 pm

I'm not nearly crafty enough to make new things out of old suits.

For sure I dust with t-shirts. I'm talking about nicer clothes. T-shirts I never pass on, once I'm done with them they're done.

If anyone has specifics about organizations that would take my outdated clothes from NY and send them to communities in Israel where they are still in style, please share the details.

Southernbubby, thanks for the link.

And SuperWify, sounds like you are way too efficient for my league LOL

debsey

Mon, May 28 2018, 1:20 pm

I donate to Serendipity in Lakewood.

I try to donate relatively soon after I wear the clothes (let's say a year later). It's still in style, but not cutting edge. Anyway I don't really buy such "trendy" things.

Serendipity also has a bin for stuff that's not wearable. They sell it in bulk to companies that recycle fabric. Helps with their operating costs.

I'm sure there are similar places in NY.

Old t-shirts get recycled by my kids for all sorts of things (my daughter still sleeps in a t-shirt I have from a camp I worked in 20 years ago! It's a nightgown on her, but she loves it because it's been washed six zillion times so super soft)

Amarante

Mon, May 28 2018, 1:20 pm

I take good clothing to an organization that runs a shelter for abused women. It is extremely gratifying because the items are going to be used by women who ran away - often with nothing. There is also a small day care center they run for the children and I can see the children playing. It's located in a poor neighborhood and so they also do supply stuff to some of the local women - it's a small enough organization which has been located in the neighborhood for years so they know the people.

To me, it's the next best thing to giving stuff to friends and families with a need because I know that some of the larger organizations have volunteers who deliberately take all of the better stuff.

mommyla

Mon, May 28 2018, 1:27 pm

debsey wrote:

I'm pretty sure they don't take unwearable stuff anymore.

Teomima

Mon, May 28 2018, 1:35 pm

Organize a clothing swap! I participated in one after I lost a bunch of weight and I had all these really nice clothes but they just didn't fit anymore. They found a welcome home with other women, and I was able to walk away with nice clothes that I would actually wear. Leftovers were donated.

debsey

Mon, May 28 2018, 1:35 pm

mommyla wrote:

I'm pretty sure they don't take unwearable stuff anymore.

I'm talking about the two bins - the one that's for wearable and the one that's for not wearable. Pretty sure I still saw them outside my grocery store.

Ruchel

Mon, May 28 2018, 1:45 pm

There are Jewish and non Jewish charities that take anything not hole-y.

amother

Lemon

Mon, May 28 2018, 2:27 pm

debsey- you get rid of your clothing only after having them a year. If they aren't trendy why not still wear them?

ra_mom

Mon, May 28 2018, 2:31 pm

If the clothes are really outdated I drop them off in the dropboxes at random gas stations in the neighborhood, because otherwise I'll just end up trashing them. Stained items I discard.

thunderstorm

Mon, May 28 2018, 2:47 pm

In Monsey there is Kupat Ezra/Nearly New. They resell the clothes and wears at like a $1.00 a piece . Lots of their customers are non Jews. They use the funds to provide to yiddishe needy families.
There is also a Purple Van that takes clothes by the pound and does something with it. Not sure what it's called.
My mother used to have a second hand clothing organization where she sorted through the clothes and distributed it to families in need. I know she had a separate pile o not so perfect clothes that went to Eretz Yisroels poor .
There was also an organization called Domsey that picked up the really non usable clothes and paid a small amount of money per pound of clothes etc
They had a thrift store in Williamsburg and sent thousands of pounds of clothes to poor countries like Honduras etc. but I don't know if they still exist.
I never throw out clothes in the trash unless it's torn or very stained . Even then, I remove all buttons etc and recycle it for craft projects.

amother

Pink

Mon, May 28 2018, 2:57 pm

A local baalas chesed got one of those dumpsters installed in front of her house, you know, the ones from all sorts of different organizations that accept clothes and shoes. She gets money from the sale of the contents, and the organization does Idk what with - recycle, pass on to Purple Heart, whatever.

seeker

Mon, May 28 2018, 4:07 pm

I davka don't want to donate to the kinds of places that sell the fabric by the pound for recycling. That's what I do for things that are not wearable anymore. But I'm talking about clothes that are fine, not fine enough that anyone would buy in a secondhand store, but not ready for the trash.

Saying "there are organizations" isn't so helpful, if you have information about specific ones that would take donation then I would really appreciate that info.

amother

Beige

Mon, May 28 2018, 4:15 pm

Pick Purple - (Batya-girls' kiruv organization) but I don't know in which cities they pick up.

ra_mom

Mon, May 28 2018, 4:16 pm

amother wrote:

Pick Purple - (Batya-girls' kiruv organization) but I don't know in which cities they pick up.

They sell by the pound for pennies to second hand shops and the money they get from it goes to their organization.

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