this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2026
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me_irl
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30y/o.
I have bought a grand total of 3 brand new pieces of clothing in my whole life(not including underwear/socks). Every single other piece was either given to me for xmas/birthday/random gifts or bought from thrift stores. Anything I can't wear anymore has either been donated back to thrift or cut into rags myself.
I've also directly worked in a thirft store, where anything unsellable get tossed into 'rag out' where it's donated to a company that turns it into cheap bags of shop rags: so even stuff that's falling apart is still worth donating.
In England they tell us not to donate anything that we wouldn't consider worthy of gifting to someone. They have to use volunteer time to soft/sort (and I guess clean) all items. If it's not something anyone will buy then best to take it directly to clothes recycling drop offs rather than charity shops.
May be a difference between regions, but thrift doesn't clean clothes around me. You're expected to donate clean clothes; But if it's visually in such rough shape that it needs to be washed first, it's 'rag out', otherwise it goes on the sales floor. Laundry is a huge expense for a nonprofit; instead, they expect you to wash it yourself before wearing it.
I'm not aware of any seprate clothes recycling facilities around me, and can't find one with a quick search. Just the typical thrifts.