Handing on clothes you no longer wear

Short answer: Wash everything before you hand it in, sort into usable and worn, and take each to the right place. Clean clothing is worth far more than soiled.

Wash first

Clothes handed in dirty often end up incinerated rather than reused. A wash costs nothing and decides whether anyone can wear the garment. It is the single most important step.

Sort into two

What is still usable as clothing, and what is worn out. The first goes to reuse, the second to recycling as fibre. Mark the bags so nothing has to be sorted twice. See bamboo clothing for women.

Underwear and socks

Used underwear can rarely be reused by anyone else, but it can go into recycling. Take it to textile collection rather than general waste. See bamboo underwear for men and bamboo socks for men.

Frequently asked questions

Where can you hand it in

Local authority textile collection and a range of collection points take both.

Should you repair before handing in

Not necessarily, but a missing button or a small hole reduces the chance of reuse.

What about very worn clothing

It still belongs in textile collection rather than general waste.