Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What are you supposed to do with old clothes?

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 181 posts

Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?

#51

Post by geraldyo »

trgn wrote: post #46
ziddoap wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I'm not allowed to walk around naked, so I am forced to purchase clothes at some point. And at some later point, I have to dispose of them. Your comment doesn't seem to address that, and it's pretty fundamental to the question, I think.

> And at some later point, I have to dispose of them. I somewhat disagree. You do have to get your clothes, but what is about the disposing of perfectly fine clothes that's necessary? It's only because we have too many of them. Wear the clothes until they're worn. Use the rags.

getting taller, getting fatter, skinnier, needing special clothing due to injury or pregnancy, etc...

Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?

#52

Post by thomasahle »

racl101 wrote: post #16

As a guy who has always worn hand-me-downs in child hood and teenage years I wear my clothes out until they are no longer wearable. So I just convert them into rags or toss them in the trash once they have too many tears.

Along those lines, I also like to have my clothes repaired when they get the first tear or two. That usually adds a couple of years to their lives, and it costs way less money and effort than buying new clothes. (Perhaps depending on how much you usually pay for your clothes.)

Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?

#53

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

zerocrates wrote: post #21
superchroma wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my country, those boxes go to discount stores operated by these charities which really aren't that cheap. A lot gets discarded, I've heard, because it's not presentable for purchasing. It's a bit sad, hopefully yours are better.

The article here describes Goodwill's operation in the US, where better-quality items are sold in the stores, lesser at outlet, and eventually things are bundled up and sold in bulk, as scraps, and for other uses like that. The idea is to just maximize the monetary value of the donations and then turn around and spend that money on their actual charitable mission. It removes some of the "romance" of donating items, b…

> It removes some of the "romance" of donating items

I mean, what did you expect? Honest question: what romantic views did you have about donating used clothes (or anything) to Goodwill? Did you think they handed them out for free at the local soup kitchen for the homeless?

Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?

#55

Post by flappyeagle »

viburnum wrote: post #33
WillAdams wrote: post #5

I wear old clothes when doing yard work or woodworking or metalworking --- by the time I'm done, they're only suited to be cut up for rags, and I have a jar which I clip the buttons into --- if a zipper is YKK and still in good condition I'll cut around it in case I need to replace a zipper on something. I've tried to convince my wife to take up quilting, but she has zero interest, and I don't have the time.

Clothes are generally difficult to quilt with because the fabric stretches too much.

Woven fabrics like those on dress shirts should be ok

Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?

#56

Post by jjulius »

geraldyo wrote: post #51
trgn wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And at some later point, I have to dispose of them. I somewhat disagree. You do have to get your clothes, but what is about the disposing of perfectly fine clothes that's necessary? It's only because we have too many of them. Wear the clothes until they're worn. Use the rags.

getting taller, getting fatter, skinnier, needing special clothing due to injury or pregnancy, etc...

Clothes ripping by accident, food or drink spilling on them and staining them, and so on...

Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?

#57

Post by jjulius »

trgn wrote: post #46
ziddoap wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I'm not allowed to walk around naked, so I am forced to purchase clothes at some point. And at some later point, I have to dispose of them. Your comment doesn't seem to address that, and it's pretty fundamental to the question, I think.

> And at some later point, I have to dispose of them. I somewhat disagree. You do have to get your clothes, but what is about the disposing of perfectly fine clothes that's necessary? It's only because we have too many of them. Wear the clothes until they're worn. Use the rags.

I don't disagree with the general concept of reducing/reusing, but...

>Use the rags.

... OP said your comment doesn't seem to address the inevitability of disposal. You only responded with another method of reuse, but let's be honest here - rags need to be disposed of at some point, too.

Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?

#58

Post by 1970-01-01 »

Scoundreller wrote: post #25

I never really understand these articles and many of their points. The claim gets made that exporting the clothes to developing nations is bad, but it’s usually products made for developing nations that can be low quality from the factory gate. Claims are often made that 2nd hand clothing disrupts a local clothing industry, but in reality, it’s going to be difficult to compete with global manufacturing. Clothing isn’…

>I never really understand these articles and many of their points.

I also find theatlantic.com long-winded and pointless.

Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?

#59

Post by nico »

a1pulley wrote: post #54

I'm willing to spend, say, 5 or 10x what one would at Uniqlo or Old Navy to buy quality garments that will last a long time and be socially acceptable in upper middle class west coast cliques—i.e., I don't need tailored suits in my world. Where do I go?

Patagonia is not 5-10x those brands, but they do promise to repair your clothes if you bring them in. So even if the quality is not necessarily much better, at least they’ll help you make your clothes last.

Re: What are you supposed to do with old clothes?

#60

Post by ziddoap »

trgn wrote: post #46
ziddoap wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I'm not allowed to walk around naked, so I am forced to purchase clothes at some point. And at some later point, I have to dispose of them. Your comment doesn't seem to address that, and it's pretty fundamental to the question, I think.

> And at some later point, I have to dispose of them. I somewhat disagree. You do have to get your clothes, but what is about the disposing of perfectly fine clothes that's necessary? It's only because we have too many of them. Wear the clothes until they're worn. Use the rags.

>perfectly fine clothes that's necessary

I didn't mean dispose of perfectly fine ones.

>It's only because we have too many of them.

In my case, it's actually because I'm becoming rather sphere-shaped with age, and some things no longer fit. I try to donate what I can, make others into rags (of which now I just have a giant garbage bag full of rags from the last 15 years of cutting up clothing that is too worn-out to donate -- I guess my children can deal with those when I pass).

For what it's worth, I agree with you that a focus on reducing how much we buy is super important. And, in a bit of a tongue-in-cheek way, I just wanted to highlight that there are plenty of legitimate scenarios where someone has clothes that are in decent shape but are no longer usable. And as the article highlights, I have no idea if the clothes that I drop off for donation actually make it anywhere other than a dump.

Post reply on HN