I’m bringing this up because it’s time to pull out some of my fall/winter clothes and donate some of my older clothes, or clothes that I don’t wear as often.

Here are my Five categories for giving clothes the boot:

Stains: You know that one shirt in your closet that you love, but it has a stain that won’t come out. It’s time for it to go.  Clothing can be donated to be recycled. To find your closest clothing recycling location, click here.

It doesn’t fit: Too small, big, long, or short- it has to go. Time to throw those in the donation pile.  This goes for shoes too!

Needs repair and you lack the time or skills to mend/fix. The pants hanging in your closet are so cute but they are 1/4 inch too short and you can’t sew? One Caveat- Undergarments that are holely or stretched out go directly to the trash. No one is darning mass-produced socks. I mend and repair my clothes as needed weekly. If you are looking to learn about mending clothes, check out my post here. 

Out Of Style: Low-rise jeans? Powder Blue Tuxedo? Your Prom Dress from 1997? Time to throw those in the donation pile.

Cheap Crap:  This encapsulates several categories- Knock off’s (They are mass-produced in horrible conditions), poorly produced “fast fashion” that offers no quality and doesn’t add anything of substance to your wardrobe, and anything you bought and wore once, and it was damaged or you swore you’d never wear again. In my opinion, cheap shoes are the worst and are usually tossed into this pile.

Once you have your donate pile, if you are looking to donate straight away, check for your local non-profits needs. I also like donating my unwanted good clothes to local clothing swaps. For more info about clothing swaps, click here.