I’ve written about clothing swaps before, and I wanted to alert my local San Diego readers to a couple upcoming clothing swaps!
The Skyline Clothing Swap is back! January 13th, 2018. Drop off in advance and receive credit for 5 extra items!
I love this swap- they always have TONS of great kids books in addition to clothes and household items.
It does cost $2 to enter, but the entry fee supports Skyline Church’s Youth Camps.
If Skyline isn’t your cup of tea, maybe you are looking for something a little smaller, Finders Keepers is hosting a swap the same day! January 13, 2018
Early drop off for 5 extra clothing items on Friday, January 12 6 pm – 7 pm.
$1 admission to swap. Location is The Shelter Church 8111 Orange Ave, La Mesa. They are looking for volunteers to help sort and put out clothes. You can contact them via their FB page if you want to help out.
Finders Keeps asks that you donate no event T-shirts, and no items with stains or holes. 50 item limit. You can purchase clothes too for $1 each.
If you are looking for a group that hosts clothing swaps more frequently, check it out the Thread Bumpin’ Meet up Group. They host a monthly swap in OB area.
And Finally, the Closet of 54th isn’t a clothing swap per se, but they do help those in need with new to them clothes. They are open once a few times each month. You can find them on Facebook. They are located at the Calvary Lutheran Church, 3060 54th Street, San Diego, CA. Contact The Closet at thecloseton54th@gmail.com.
Talk Back: I’d love to hear about other San Diego area clothing swaps that you know of! Favorite swaps and/or what your best score has been!
I love to tie dye! It’s a great way to give clothes that may have been stained a new life. Since I get most of our clothes from clothing swaps, I often find really cute light colored kids clothes with minor stains.
Well, and when you’ve got kids, a lot of stuff ends up with stains, and not just their clothes, I have several shirts that I had to tie dye to cover little people stains from dirty hands and faces rubbing on my during hugs.
There are a lot of tie dye kits available at your local craft store, but what they don’t tell you is that the dye in those kits doesn’t last. We used this kit last year and the remaining shirts we have have faded to very light pastels. So, if you want to do some awesome, vibrant tie dyes, I recommend using Procion Dyes like the ones Dharma Trading sells.
Time to start mixing up dye!Safety First! Cover all tables and work areas. Don’t forget to wear gloves.
I also have cultivated an Amazon Store with all the stuff you will need, including a kit that contains Procion Dyes- All you need is a bag of Urea and the kit is ready to dye! Procion dyes are best for Cotton, ramie, hemp, rayon- Natural plant based fibers (not linen- that stuff is a bear to dye). If you have blends with synthetic fibers (like polyester, acrylic, lycra), the color will not be as vibrant. Anything less than 50% natural fiber will end up being pastel.
Since Tie Dying can be a little intimidating, let’s break it down. In addition to your dyes and chemicals…
You will need:
A big open space (We use my parents backyard)
2-3 6 foot tables covered in protective plastic (tarps or trash bags work well)
1-2 Large Buckets (5 gallon buckets from Home Depot are great)
Access to warm water
Measuring cups and measuring spoons (I recommend plastic ones)
Plastic bags or plastic wrap (to cover up /wrap up garments after they have been dyed)
Here is my pinterest board with tons of great folding techniques and patterns. You are ready to fold and tie once you’ve selected your garments and laundered them without fabric softener. I love incorporating marbles, canning jar lids, clamps to make tie dying more interesting.
Folded, tied, and zip tied!
Once everything is folded/tied and secured (either with rubber bands, zip ties, or cotton string), it’s time to mix the washing soda and hot water. 1 cup of washing soda per gallon of water. Mix together in the buckets, and soak the tied garments for 15 minutes-1 hour. The washing soda raises the pH of the garments allowing the dye to be more readily absorbed.
Washing Soda is NOT BAKING SODA. Washing soda is caustic and will hurt you if you submerge your hands in it. Wear gloves when you handle it. Wring out the garments after soaking so they are damp, not dripping. You can keep using the same water for your entire session.
Our soaking bucket- it’s actually a plastic tote.
While your garments are soaking, mix up your dye. The most dye will come directions, but remember to mix your water with Urea. 1/4C of urea to 1 quart warm water. Urea helps the dye dissolve and remain mixed. It also helps the colors stay vibrant.
TIME TO DYE! Once your soaked garments are wrung out, it’s time to apply the dye. If you aren’t sure which colors will look good together, Get a color wheel. It will help you with color placement too. When you tie dye, colors will run together, so using complementary colors will help your garments look better when they are finished.
Remember to apply dye all sides, and if your garment is bunched up a lot, you may need to squirt dye between the folds to make sure the dye penetrates all of the layers.
Bags and bags of baby onsies!
After the garment is dyed, place it in a plastic bag, or wrap it up in plastic wrap. You want to lay the item flat. Let the garments sit for 24 hours (or over night), rinse the garments one at a time under cool water until most of the water coming from our garment is clear or a very pale. Then remove the binding (rubber bands, zip ties, string).
Wash completed garments with Synthrapol. It’s laundry soap that binds the color molecules to the fabric and sheds the dye that is not bonded. Once you wash the finished garments with Synthrapol, the clothing won’t shed dye or rub off on you, you can use your regular detergent from then on out. I also throw a couple Color Catchers in the wash too for good measure.
Once your garments are dry, the are ready to wear! I use the word “garments”, but you can also dye fabric, bed sheets, even pillow cases.
Here is a King Sized Pillow Case!
This piece of fabric had several different patterns combined!
Here is some of the most recent stuff I dyed:
Tie dye shirts make great gifts! You can also tie dye socks- That’s what Bitty Bird is getting in her Advent Calendar this year!
I have utilized Amazon links within this post, prices can change at any time, and I may receive a commission when you click the links to Amazon and purchase items linked. Commissions help cover the costs associated with blogging.
Got piles of clothes stashed in a closet that the family has outgrown or are no longer worn? Have you thought about participating in a clothing swap? For those who aren’t familiar with clothing swaps, it’s a pretty cool concept:
Gather friends, family, co-workers and everyone brings their unwanted clothes, shoes, and accessories. For each item you bring, you receive 1 ticket. Each ticket is exchangeable to another piece of clothing, accessory, or pair of shoes. You bring ten items, you get ten tickets, you leave with ten items.
You can do kids clothing, women’s, men’s, whatever your group of friends is interested in doing.
There are a bunch of already established clothing swaps in San Diego.
Kinders Keepers is a fun clothing swap group in San Diego that meets quarterly. You can learn more on their Facebook page here.
The Sonrise Church in Santee has a clothing swap too! One for kids clothes, and another for women’s clothing. Miss Charity’s Closet & Little Blessings Boutique 2nd Saturday of every month at 9:00 am
Contact Charity Murphy for more info clmurphy71@gmail.com
Not strictly clothing related, there is the San Diego Really, Really Free Market. They also meet about once a quarter in various areas around town.
Also not strictly Clothing Related, but one of my favorite give back orgs is the Buy Nothing Project. There are chapters all over the US, and we have a few here in San Diego. I’ve been able to share clothes, panty staples we no longer needed, Lil’ Man’s outgrown toys and clothes.
If you don’t want to wait for an upcoming swap, check out consignment or resale shops! Just last week, I took some items over to Conceptions Children’s Resale. It’s a nice resale shop in Santee, I take a lot of Lil’ Man’s outgrown clothes and toys. In exchange I get 50% of the price they will sell the items for when I chose to receive Store Credit. Since #2 is on the way, I’ll usually take store credit. You can keep credit on file too. I’m saving mine up! There are tons of kid’s resale shops across the US, I bet there is one close to you. There are consignment or resale shops for adults too!
And of course… don’t forget Freecycle. Do a quick google search for Clothing swap + the name of your city.
What are some of your favorite money saving strategies when it comes to keeping the family clothed?
I’ve written about clothing swaps before, and I wanted to alert my local San Diego readers to a couple upcoming clothing swaps!
I love to tie dye! It’s a great way to give clothes that may have been stained a new life. Since I get most of our clothes from clothing swaps, I often find really cute light colored kids clothes with minor stains.
Got piles of clothes stashed in a closet that the family has outgrown or are no longer worn? Have you thought about participating in a clothing swap? For those who aren’t familiar with clothing swaps, it’s a pretty cool concept:
