Rags - Charity shops

gem4

We get 30p per kilo for rag. As mentioned earlier it's best to keep them separate from quality textiles when donating, to help us with the sorting. Also we have to keep rag material/cloth separate from rag shoes/bags/belts.
Every little helps.

Heath84

Hi all sorry to bring up an old thread, but does anyone know if Charity shops still collect Rags?

PlutoinCapricorn

Many of these shops have notices up requesting people donate only good quality, saleable clothes.

I heard that many clothes are made from artificial fibres and are less acceptable to the rag buyers. I have also heard that the prices offered to the shops for rags have dropped, so many end up being thrown away.

Perhaps it is best to ask shops directly.... policies could depend on which charity owns the shop and whether it is in a good or bad area. Are you anywhere near a TRAID shop?

Heath84

No just looked and nowhere near a TRAID shop. Think I'll pop into the shops directly and ask whether they accept them. Thanks.

underlay_guru

Hi,

Yes: The charity shops sell rags to companies who reprocess it and turn it into fabric fibre known as Shoddy. This product is then usually either respun and dyed for use as a budget wool carpet yarn, or used in the manufacture of recycled felt carpet underlays!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_textile_manufacturing ...may interest!

bubblegumcola

Our local primary school has a large recycling textile bank at the local train station. The school gets £200 each time a certain amount collected. I think this is a very good way of our local school to earn money for extra things for the pupils and its in a busy car park, easily visable by everyone who uses the station. Hopefully it will earn a decent amount of cash for them.

rarrarrar

Oxfam and probably all the major charity shops have schemes for recycling unsaleable clothing etc.

But please mark your bags as rags or something appropriate when you take them in.

rigsby1967

I work in the BHF charity shop.

We rag all items that are not fit for sale and get the rag man to take them at a cost per kilo, so the charity benifits from the items and the rags go on to be re-cycled.

rigs

valk_scot

I asked about this exact thing at my local Oxfam shop a couple of months back. Manageress said yes but she much preferred when the rag textiles were handed in ready bagged and marked as rags.

Edinburghlass_2

Be aware that some of the recycling bins that are in carparks and recycling centres are emptied by the rag merchants rather than the charities so if you are putting in clothes that have a resale value they won't be going to the charity shops but the rag merchant which is a bit of a shame.