My dad got in touch with me recently with an interesting question. How should he dispose of his ratty, old T-shirts? Now, by the time my dad decides his shirts are ratty, they are pretty embarrassing by typical standards, so donation to Goodwill or similar is not an option. I had thought before about this issue, but hadn't had sufficient motivation to do the research. So it was with a lot of curiosity that I started looking into the world of textile recycling.
It turns out that there are two main options for reusing old, raglike clothing. The first is to donate the old clothes to a local animal shelter. Apparently dogs really like snuggling in a pile of tattered garments, and to that end, the majority of shelters will accept worn out clothes. Just call in advance to confirm.
The second option is to get in touch with your local charity donation center and find out if they accept "textile scraps" for recycling. Apparently textile recycling is a pretty big business, but the major recyclers only do commercial business. In fact, the thrift store rejects are their biggest source of recyclable textiles, and many donation centers will accept your old garments to be bundled in with their recyclable textiles. Again, just call to confirm and don't be afraid to call around if the first call is a strike out.
So what are all of these ratty shirts being recycled into? The most common end product isn't new shirts, or even new socks. It's rug pads.
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