Donations - Cleaning 4 October 2020 at 1:29PM in Charities 2 replies 151 views

saker75

HI all
I've got about ten good quality three piece suits in good condition that I'd like to donate. However, having lost my job, I can't afford to get them all dry cleaned. Do charity shops clean goods before sale or should I try to dispose of them elsewhere? I'm embarrassed not to be able to clean them myself.
Any advice?

Savvy_Sue

I don't know that charity shops would dry clean, unless they have an arrangement with a local company? but they often have a steam cleaner available: would be worth phoning and asking, and would also depend how not clean they are. 

You can also get a dry cleaning kit to use in the tumble drier - google it - I suspect this would freshen more than clean but the adverts say otherwise. I'm sure you wouldn't be able to do ten suits on one kit. 

Savvy_Sue

Just an update: today I was in my local hospice shop, and they had a sign up to say that all donations were quarantined for 48 hours and then either steamed or wiped with sanitising spray (presumably the former for clothing, the latter for 'hard' items). I didn't notice that in all the shops I went in to, but definitely worth phoning around to ask.