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You are here: Home / Family Life / Homemaking / Five Things to Do with Unwanted or Outgrown Clothes

Five Things to Do with Unwanted or Outgrown Clothes

January 14, 2014 By Angie Kauffman · PRINTABLES TIP: Always go toward the end of a post to find the printable. · Disclosure: This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. {I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.}

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As seasons change, often so do styles and body sizes (at least for sure when you’re living with kids).  So, at our house, we are often shocked when suddenly people are able to grab a whole pile’s worth of clothes out of their closet of things that just don’t work for them anymore.

In fact, right before school started this fall, we found ourselves pulling almost all of Molly’s clothes out of her closet.  It was borderline ridiculous.  I went from one day of thinking that she had a bunch of clothes to the next day of noticing that none of the fall and winter things worked from last year.

Five Things to Do with Unwanted or Outgrown Clothes

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On the up side, while it does mean getting new clothes, you have options for what to do with unwanted or outgrown clothes.

Hand-me-downs

This doesn’t have to be limited to people in your own house.  While it’s perfect for us that we have two sons, Molly is our only girl.  But, since we have a niece that’s just a few years younger, we save all of Molly’s clothes for her.

Still, it’s doesn’t even have to be other family members.  We were thrilled one fall when someone from church asked if we happened to need a winter coat for Molly, since her daughter is older than Molly.  That was a great blessing, since coats are not cheap.

Hand-me-downs via Social Media

This probably could have been included in my last heading, but I gave it its own instead.  Places like Facebook are a great way to give hand-me-downs to people that you might normally never consider asking.  When we once had two large garbage bags full of Jack’s outgrown clothes, I asked if anyone local wanted two bags of boys clothes of those sizes.  A local friend was thrilled for them!

Now, it doesn’t only have to go that direction though.  I recently had a friend who posted on Facebook looking for a certain size boy’s winter coat.  She had gone to the store and was shocked at the price, so she thought she’d ask on Facebook instead first.  Within just a couple of hours, she had offers of at least six coats of the correct size that people had just laying around their houses.

Donate The Clothes

One of our favorite ways, especially since it’s quick, is to donate unwanted and outgrown clothes.  The options by you might vary, but most locations have things like Goodwill, church run missions, and more.  Pick your favorite and donate there.

Sell Them

There are a variety of ways to sell clothes.  I sold a lot on Ebay when my kids were small, but haven’t really tackled that in a long time.  I also did a few consignment sales when they were just a little older.  For now, I generally prefer to just do hand-me-downs or donating.

However, here are some ideas of ways to sell clothes:

  • Ebay
  • Garage Sale
  • Online Garage Sale-types of Sites/Groups
  • Limited Time Consignment Sales
  • Consignment Shops or Resale Shops
  • Posting Items to Friends on Facebook

Upcycle into Another Project

You probably can’t do this will all of the outgrown or unwanted clothing, but it might be fun to pick a few things to make into other things.  Just a bit of Googling or checking out Pinterest will leave you with tons of ideas.  For instance, a large old shirt might be turned into a girl’s dress.  Another favorite is to cut up favorite old shirts and make them into a quilt.  Or, like we did, a sweater can be turned into a stuffed monster.

Leo

What about you?  Are there other things that you do with unwanted or outgrown clothes?

—

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Filed Under: Homemaking, Organization Tagged With: clothing

About Angie Kauffman

Angie, mom to three very fun kids, is the founder of Real Life at Home.  With degrees in elementary education (B.A.) and special education (M.S.Ed.), as well as being a former homeschooler, she is passionate about supporting both parents and teachers by providing printables, crafts, and activities to help children learn and grow.

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Comments

  1. Valerie @ Momma in Progress says

    January 14, 2014 at 8:17 am

    I have some . . . okay, a lot . . . of baby clothes from all three Agents that I just can’t part with. I’ve thought about asking my MIL to turn them into a quilt . . . or three. Of course I’ve also considered just keeping a few to give to future grandchildren. (My mom saved some of my things that my girls wore.) Totally relate to the go-to-the-closet-and-suddenly-nothing-works. I have two girls and one boy, so a lot of hand-me-downs to the younger girl . . . waiting to see what happens first: will the younger one eventually resent only getting her sister’s clothes, or will the just merge into the same size? (They are close in age.) As far as the little boy, he gets lots of new stuff, mostly birthday/Christmas gifts from family.

    Reply
  2. Paula says

    January 14, 2014 at 12:12 pm

    I have two grandchildren that are now living with us and I have used all of these ways to dispose of clothes. Especially the girl’s. A good timely tip list!

    Reply

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Meet Angie

Angie, mom to three very fun kids, is the founder of Real Life at Home.  With degrees in elementary education (B.A.) and special education (M.S.Ed.), as well as being a former homeschooler, she is passionate about supporting both parents and teachers by providing printables, crafts, and activities to help children learn and grow. Read More…

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