Textile Recycling - Any Reputable Groups?

For towels and blankets, you can contact a local animal shelter. They use them to give a little comfy spot for the animal kennels. I have a pile of baby blankets I found in the basement ready to take over myself. You could ask if they would like the other stuff to use as rags as well but they may not. You could also offer they as rags on Freecycle.

I would call your local Goodwill. Most GoodWill donation centers have textile recycling in place because some people do give them clothing items that can't be sold. You might be able to send your stuff through them to be recycled.

Our schools all have bins outside from a company called Bay State Textiles. You bag up and drop off your textiles that aren't fit to be donated as-is, they recycle them, and our schools get a small percentage back. Honestly even if we didn't get money back, people would still want them as they're such a great place to get rid of old clothing, shoes, linens and other items that are waste but you don't want to send to a landfill. BST is local to Massachusetts and Connecticut but there is likely a similar company in your area. I'd check out GrowNYC...I think they have textile bins at some greenmarkets throughout the city.

If you don't want to cut things up into patches and turn old clothes into quilts then an animal shelter can put most of those things to good use.

I was told by the Salvation Army that they bundle such items and send them to Canada for recyclng.

The Goodwill location where I live collects worn out and stained fabric items for textile recycling. I label a kitchen trash bag 'textile recycling' then when it is full I tie it off and drop it off like any other donation.

You can even include old shoes! But anything that is ruined with a hazardous substances like motor oil, gasoline, etc. should not be included.

Goodwill sells this scrap fabric to the companies who process it to make new clothing, blankets, industrial rags, filling for furniture, insulation, etc.

Adding an additional statement just in case: I know a few people who are anti-Goodwill because they saw an image posted online about horrible groups to avoid. These graphics contain few, if any, factual statements. Legal information about charitable groups is freely available to the public, so it's always a good idea to independently verify.

Odd I responded to this question yesterday but it's not showing.

I have donated old towels etc. to animal shelters etc. in the past (vets need them too), and a consignment shop I know says that the clothes that won't sell go to a place that turns them into rags that are then used by not for profit organizations and schools.

Maybe just google or inquire at a donation bin kind of place, because they usually take them - it's just a different bin.

I take whatever I can to various animal shelters in my area. They love towels, sheets, blankets, etc.

Our Senior Girl Scouts have done periodic collections though a company called Bags2School. They schedule pick-ups every 6-8 weeks at a town location (the high school, a company parking lot, etc.), and the Scouts help unload cars from residents who bring things in trash bags or cartons. They get paid by the pound and use the funds for an end-of-year trip to someplace related to their Scouting plan for the year.

However, my friend who helps coordinate it says the whole thing has to be reviewed now, since China has stopped taking many of our recyclables. Your best bet is to find an organization doing this - you will not find individual companies who want to deal with individual consumers.

I agree about animal shelters - call first though. You may also find a Scout troop or other group that wants a project like creating dog/cat beds out of old flannel shirts and sweaters, using other items for the stuffing. That won't help you with shoes and backpacks and so on, but it will take care of a lot of clothing.

Good luck!

H&M takes old clothing to recycle and gives you a 15% off coupon for each bag, maximum of 2 coupons.

Old towels go to the humane society. Old clothes if just stained can be tiedyed and donated.

Updated

Old towels go to the humane society. Old clothes if just stained can be tiedyed and donated.