recycling old clothes/textiles
 

hey guys,
i have a LOAD of old sheets, clothes, etc. that wouldnt be jumble-able. does anyone know where these can be recycled? i was doing a bit of research and found they can be shredded for use as insulation and stuff, but cant find somewhere that takes them.
anyone any ideas??

I think that if you take them to your local recycling centre they may have a place where you can put non-wearable/usable stuff.

Reuse
 

You might not have any way of reusing them yourself, but I thought I'd share what I do, just in case I inspire someone.

I never throw away old worn sheets, but wash them in 90 degrees and cut them up for cleaning rags. Great for drying windows, mirrors and stuff. This only really works for 100% cotton though, easycare polycotton wouldn't do for that. (I do this with old socks too- they are great for cleaning shoes.)

*Use them as covers on pet beds.
*Use as protection around furniture in storage or in the back of the car if you are transporting something dirty.
*Cover furniture with them when you are painting.
*Old duvet covers are good for taking to the beach instead of blankets- they don't absorb as much sand as a fluffy blanket does.
Having a few old, clean sheets lying around for anything that needs protecting is always handy- I always find I need more than I have.
*If a duvet cover is in mostly good condition, but ripped or worn in some parts- sew pillowcases from it.

For old clothes- do you know anyone who likes to weave? Where i come from people weave mats from old cut-up clothes. Rustic and personal.

If the things are just to worn or manky for this, go for the previous posters suggestion- recycling centre.

Old bedclothes
 

A lot of primary schools have clothing collection days. For each filled bag they get as much as E4 for their school a very worthy cause. So enquire at your local schools.

Old Towels are excellent for polishing wall tiles.

old clothes
 

Hi there, there is a post in the wanted section from someone who runs kennels/rehoming facility for dogs, loooking for old bedclothes etc. Cheers Eibh.

love the ideas Merienne,
they are brilliant!
100% with you for keeping some for cleaning.
as most of you know we have been busy renovating/extending the house and i am keeping a lot of remnants for this purpose.
great for cleaning plaster, grout of tiles, dusting, cleaning kitchens and so on...
Merienne, for the glass i always found that newspaper was the best cleaner for them...
another idea Jazzie if you have young daughters and if you are handy with a needle is to turn some into barbie/syndy , dolls clothes, i am planning to do that for some of them, and make rag dolls as well, you could make rag dolls, and clothes and sell them for charity or something.
obviously you need time for all of this.
hope we are not "poluting "your thread with our crafty ideas...

all the best
cascais