How to recycle clothes and textiles
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Wearable clothing — donate first
If a piece of clothing is clean, intact, and seasonally relevant, donation is the highest-value path. National charities accept clothing in any condition that a reasonable person would wear: Goodwill, Salvation Army, ARC's Value Village, St. Vincent de Paul. Most have attended drop-off bins; some offer free home pickup with a few days' notice (Salvation Army's satruck.org schedules pickups in most metros).
Tip: sort donations into two clear bags before drop-off — "wearable" and "for textile recycling" — and label them. Charities sort everything regardless, but a pre-sorted donation saves their staff time and makes it more likely the recyclable fraction actually gets recycled instead of pulled out as trash.
Worn-out textiles — textile recycler drop-off
Stained, torn, faded, or out-of-date clothing — including underwear, socks, ripped jeans, and threadbare towels — has a separate recycling path that almost no resident knows about. Drop them at:
- H&M — in-store textile collection at every U.S. store; accepts any brand, any condition. Often gives a small discount voucher.
- Madewell — denim take-back at every store, any brand. Denim is shredded into housing insulation by Blue Jeans Go Green.
- Levi's — take-back program at most stores for any brand of denim or apparel.
- USAgain — branded green-and-white drop-off bins in 16 states; accepts clothes, shoes, and linens in any condition.
- Ridwell — subscription pickup service that includes textiles as a rotating monthly category.
Bedding, towels, and linens
Local animal shelters constantly need old towels, blankets, and sheets for kennels and bedding. Call first because accept-lists vary by season. Anything they decline (and anything in worse condition than a shelter would use) goes to a textile recycler. Mattress pads, pillows, and comforters often have to go through a textile recycler rather than a thrift because of hygiene rules.
Minnesota options (Ridwell + Choose to Reuse)
Ridwell expanded into the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro and now offers monthly textile pickups as part of its subscription service. Hennepin County also runs a Choose to Reuse program (a directory of reuse stores and donation pickups across the county). Both are summarized for residents at the MPCA's "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" hub. Use /check with your ZIP to see the verified nearest textile drop-off for your county.
Step-by-step: sort + drop off
- 1. Empty pockets and check labels. Loose change, receipts, and pens become contamination at every stage.
- 2. Sort into two bags. "Wearable" (clean + intact) and "for textile recycling" (worn / stained / torn). Bag separately and label.
- 3. Bag everything dry. Wet textiles mold and can ruin a whole donation load. If anything is damp from a wash, let it air-dry first.
- 4. Drop off at the nearest option. Try /check with your ZIP. We show the verified nearest charity, the nearest textile recycler, and any pickup services in your area.
Frequently asked
Will Goodwill take stained or torn clothes?
Yes — most Goodwill locations accept clothing in any condition because they bundle the unwearable fraction and sell it to textile recyclers. But pre-sorting helps. Put wearable items in one bag labeled 'wearable' and worn-out items in another labeled 'for textile recycling'. Their staff will route each correctly.
Can I put old clothes in my curbside recycling bin?
No. Textiles wrap around the rotating disks at sorting facilities and shut down the line. They are also a known fire risk. Every U.S. curbside program excludes textiles, even where they accept other 'flexible' materials.
Where can I drop off worn-out clothes?
H&M and Madewell take textiles in any condition at every store. USAgain runs branded drop-off bins in 16 states. Ridwell offers monthly pickups in the Twin Cities and several other metros. Salvation Army and Goodwill also accept worn-out items as long as they are clean and dry.
What does H&M actually do with collected textiles?
H&M's program partners with Remondis (formerly I:Collect) to sort donated clothing into three streams: rewearable (resold in second-hand markets), reusable (turned into cleaning rags or industrial materials), and recyclable (shredded into fiber for new textiles or insulation). The unrecoverable fraction goes to energy recovery.
Are clothing donation bins legitimate?
Some are, some are not. Branded bins from real charities (Salvation Army, ARC, USAgain) are legitimate. Unbranded or vaguely-worded bins are often for-profit operators who export bulk-bale textiles overseas — sometimes with charitable claims they cannot back up. When in doubt, drop off at a staffed location instead of an unattended bin.
Can I recycle clothes with holes, stains, or missing zippers?
Yes. Worn-out textiles still have value as industrial rags, mattress padding fiber, or housing insulation. Drop them at H&M, Madewell, a USAgain bin, or in a clearly-labeled bag at any thrift store. Almost nothing has to go in the trash.
How much textile waste actually goes to landfill?
The EPA's most recent Sustainable Materials Management report estimates the U.S. landfills about 11.3 million tons of textiles per year — that includes clothing, footwear, towels, and household linens. The exact figure varies by year. The point is the size: textiles are one of the largest avoidable landfill streams in U.S. households.
What about underwear and socks?
Underwear and socks (clean, dry, even with holes) go to a textile recycler, not a thrift. H&M, Madewell, and USAgain all accept them. Trashing them is genuinely unnecessary — they shred into rags or fiber like everything else.
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