Charity Shopping - New to You in '22!

Sayschezza

Yes sorry sloppy typing

Pollycat

I bought a Pomodoro cotton voile tunic in cream background with lovey big colourful flowers on it.
£2.00 Air Ambulance.
Google suggests it was probably between £59.00 and £69.00.

Brie

I'm avoiding the CSs until I get my new wardrobes sorted which I hope to do this week.  Then I can review the scarf situation and ignore the fact I have about 5 times what anyone would consider normal. 

Also trying to consider what to do about the dreadfully old but well loved tshirts.  I should throw them out or make them into cleaning rags but OH likes fancy cleaning paraphernalia.  I could take them to a 50p for 10 kilo type places of course.  I had thought that with WFH starting 2 years back that I would try to wear a small selection of older items so that they would die and go to clothes heaven and that would clear out my overstock. Unfortunately it hasn't worked - I guess I have bought decent enough stuff so that it will take another 10 years to get to really unusable. The jeans I have worn most days are at least 10 years old and while I wouldn't wear them to work there's really nothing at all wrong with them for any other situation.  I've also got a number of perfectly fine fairly new (i.e. under 5 years old) tops but the OH's misuse of laundry products has given them a mottled appearance.  Would a charity shop want them?  If I don't want to wear them why would anyone else?  (unless they had absolutely nothing else of course.) 

Rosa_Damascena

Brie said:

I'm avoiding the CSs until I get my new wardrobes sorted which I hope to do this week.  Then I can review the scarf situation and ignore the fact I have about 5 times what anyone would consider normal. 

Also trying to consider what to do about the dreadfully old but well loved tshirts.  I should throw them out or make them into cleaning rags but OH likes fancy cleaning paraphernalia.  I could take them to a 50p for 10 kilo type places of course.  I had thought that with WFH starting 2 years back that I would try to wear a small selection of older items so that they would die and go to clothes heaven and that would clear out my overstock. Unfortunately it hasn't worked - I guess I have bought decent enough stuff so that it will take another 10 years to get to really unusable. The jeans I have worn most days are at least 10 years old and while I wouldn't wear them to work there's really nothing at all wrong with them for any other situation.  I've also got a number of perfectly fine fairly new (i.e. under 5 years old) tops but the OH's misuse of laundry products has given them a mottled appearance.  Would a charity shop want them?  If I don't want to wear them why would anyone else?  (unless they had absolutely nothing else of course.) 

I would go ahead and let the chaser make that decision, if it's a no they can always make a bit from ragging the items. Jeans I get through after a while because I use them for walking. The constant rubbing in the thigh region wears them down eventually.

I bought a summer blouse I didn't need from the chazzer yesterday for £1, I didn't need it but it was something a bit different and I can see myself wearing int at work on the few days it is super hot.

Cherryfudge

Brie said:

 I had thought that with WFH starting 2 years back that I would try to wear a small selection of older items so that they would die and go to clothes heaven and that would clear out my overstock. Unfortunately it hasn't worked - I guess I have bought decent enough stuff so that it will take another 10 years to get to really unusable.

I feel for you - I've been trying to wear things out for years! It started when I realised I didn't need a whole drawer stuffed full of underwear and socks, so I decided not to buy any more until I'd worn some out. By the end of that year almost nothing had worn out, so it went into a second year. I've lost track of how long ago that was but I still have more than I actually need, even after Marie Kondoing ones I disliked. They are gradually decreasing in number though: the trick in this case was to use items from the front of the drawer and replace them at the front when they came back from the wash. This way some get worn more and eventually wear out, then it's the turn of the ones that had been lurking further back.

Tee shirts: I turned a lot of mine into tee shirt yarn (Google for tutorials) but then I like knitting and crochet so I'm hopeful they will one day turn into a rug or basket. I also keep shabby ones for winter wear under other layers. I think you're right that if you wouldn't wear them, probably other people wouldn't either, but it's not necessarily the case. Stained or holey ones might be best going to some form of recycling as you suggest - that's a difficult call as some of it apparently gets into other countries' landfill but I don't know how you ensure yours goes somewhere legitimate. I do know that textiles are a massive part of Britain's carbon footprint so I'm trying to get as much use out of mine as I can.

Are yours cotton or a cotton blend? You could throw them in the washer with a pack of dye! The mixed fibres give a sort of chambray look which can be nice, and the pure cotton ones may well get another season or two's life. (You can try the same trick with leather - there are paint-on leather dyes and my favourite bag gets a coat every year. It was second hand many years ago and it's still going strong).

Jeans: one of the major jeans manufacturers (possibly Levi?) has a section on its website about reusing jeans fabric. Again it's a good idea if you have the skills/interest but not everyone has. I can never get 10 years out of a pair of jeans, so I think you're doing well!

florianatwobob

@Cherryfudge….I’m trying to wear out some stuff too. I’m partially succeeding with socks.  However, I have a stockpile of Christmas socks which I’m going to have to wear all year round until they shuffle off to the rag bag! 

Cherryfudge

florianatwobob said:

@Cherryfudge….I’m trying to wear out some stuff too. I’m partially succeeding with socks.  However, I have a stockpile of Christmas socks which I’m going to have to wear all year round until they shuffle off to the rag bag! 

at a family get-together recently, someone actually asked whether they had missed a party theme as so many of us were wearing Christmas socks!

Floss

Cherryfudge said:

...Stained or holey ones might be best going to some form of recycling as you suggest - that's a difficult call as some of it apparently gets into other countries' landfill but I don't know how you ensure yours goes somewhere legitimate. I do know that textiles are a massive part of Britain's carbon footprint so I'm trying to get as much use out of mine as I can...

Some charities will take worn out items / fabric for rags as they will get some money for it - I put mine into a separate bag & mark them clearly as rags.

Brie

@Cherryfudge - Christmas socks given to me rarely get worn as they usually have an elastic top that would strangle my fat ankles so they go directly to the charity shop still with the tags.  Shame as some of them are quite jolly.  As for the tops - yes mostly pure cotton or with 5% lycra so possibles for dyeing.  I'll think if it's worth the effort once I get some piled up. Maybe just batik them with some bleach!! (flash back to the 60s!!!)

@Floss - thanks for the idea about marking the carpy tops as rags.  

Pollycat

Brie said:

@Cherryfudge - Christmas socks given to me rarely get worn as they usually have an elastic top that would strangle my fat ankles so they go directly to the charity shop still with the tags.  Shame as some of them are quite jolly.  As for the tops - yes mostly pure cotton or with 5% lycra so possibles for dyeing.  I'll think if it's worth the effort once I get some piled up. Maybe just batik them with some bleach!! (flash back to the 60s!!!)

@Floss - thanks for the idea about marking the carpy tops as rags.  

Tie-dye heaven.