Clothes: Reuse, Upcycle, Recycle, or Dispose
The best path for unwanted clothing is to keep it in use as long as possible. Wear, repair, share, sell, donate, upcycle, and textile-recycle before sending textiles to the trash.
This matters because discarded clothing, shoes, towels, bedding, and other textiles are a significant waste stream. EPA estimates that 11.3 million tons of textiles went to U.S. landfills in 2018, while the recycling rate for textiles was 14.7 percent.
Choose the right option
Condition | Best option | What to do |
Clean and wearable | Donate, sell, swap, or give away | Wash items, check pockets, pair shoes, and confirm what the receiving organization accepts |
Needs a small repair | Repair or upcycle | Sew a button, repair a seam, patch a hole, replace a zipper, or alter the item |
Clean but too worn to wear | Textile recycling or creative reuse | Use a textile collection program, or turn it into rags, patches, stuffing, fabric yarn, or a project material |
Wet, moldy, contaminated, or unsafe | Dispose according to local rules | Do not donate moldy, heavily soiled, chemical-contaminated, or pest-infested textiles |
Do not put clothing, shoes, towels, or fabric scraps in your curbside recycling cart unless your local program explicitly accepts them. Textile materials can tangle recycling equipment and contaminate regular paper, plastic, metal, and glass recycling streams.
Reuse and donation
Donate only items that are clean, dry, and usable, unless the organization specifically says it accepts worn textiles for recycling. Call first, because acceptance rules vary by location.
Potential reuse options include:
Thrift stores and nonprofit donation centers
Local shelters, mutual-aid groups, school clothing closets, and community organizations
Clothing swaps with friends, schools, libraries, or neighborhood groups
Consignment shops and resale apps
Brand take-back programs
Repair cafés, tailoring services, or mending events
Many Goodwill organizations sort donations for resale and route some unsold or nonwearable textiles to recycling markets, such as wiping-rag or insulation manufacturing. However, policies differ among local Goodwill organizations, so verify accepted items before donating.
Upcycling ideas
Upcycling keeps fabric useful without requiring industrial processing. Good options include:
Turn worn T-shirts into cleaning cloths, reusable produce bags, tote bags, or fabric yarn.
Convert jeans into patches, aprons, tool rolls, pencil cases, or durable tote bags.
Use old towels for pet bedding, cleaning rags, reusable mop pads, or packing material.
Turn sweaters into mittens, hats, pillow covers, or draft blockers.
Use fabric scraps for quilting, patchwork, stuffed toys, gift wrapping, or craft projects.
Save buttons, zippers, elastic, and sturdy fabric panels for future repairs.
Cook County specifically recommends making cleaning rags, fabric yarn, reusable market bags, and sewing projects from unwanted textiles, as well as participating in clothing swaps. 1803
Textile recycling
Clothing that is stained, torn, mismatched, faded, or too worn for resale may still be useful to textile recyclers. Depending on material quality, textiles may be sorted for reuse, made into industrial wiping cloths, processed into fiber fill or insulation, or used in other manufactured products.
Before using a textile recycler:
Confirm it accepts worn or damaged textiles.
Keep materials clean and dry unless instructed otherwise.
Tie shoes together in pairs.
Bag textiles securely for transport.
Keep wet, moldy, chemically contaminated, or heavily soiled textiles separate.
Ask whether the program accepts socks, underwear, bras, towels, linens, shoes, belts, bags, and fabric scraps.
Some collection programs accept textiles in nearly any condition, but requirements vary. Alameda County, for example, reports that clothing, shoes, linens, towels, bags, and fabric scraps may be recoverable even when damaged, with materials potentially made into rags, insulation, stuffing, or padding.
What to avoid
Do not place clothes or shoes in curbside recycling unless specifically accepted.
Do not donate wet, moldy, heavily soiled, pest-infested, or hazardous-material-contaminated textiles.
Do not use donation bins without checking that they are legitimate and currently active.
Do not assume every donation center has a textile-recycling outlet for unusable items.
Do not discard wearable clothing without first considering repair, resale, donation, or a clothing swap.
Simple sorting method
Create four piles when cleaning out a closet:
Keep or repair: Items you wear, love, or can easily mend.
Sell, swap, or donate: Clean, dry, wearable clothing and shoes.
Textile recycle or upcycle: Clean items that are too worn, stained, torn, or incomplete for resale.
Dispose: Wet, moldy, contaminated, or unsafe textiles that no local recovery program accepts.
Safety and Legal Notice
This guide is for educational purposes only. Donation and textile-recycling requirements vary by organization and location. Confirm accepted items and preparation instructions directly with the receiving organization. Do not donate or recycle items that are wet, moldy, contaminated, or unsafe unless a program specifically accepts them.