MetaChat - Ask MeCha.

MetaChat is an informal place for MeFites to touch base and post, discuss and chatter about topics that may not belong on MetaFilter. Questions? Check the FAQ. Please note: This is important.

21 February 2006

Ask MeCha. How do I learn to dispose of clothes? I have more than I can fit in my tiny student room, sending them across the ocean to my parents is really out of the question.→[More:]Some of this stuff I almost never wear, or it even has holes in it but I keep it in case I run out of clean holeless laundry (which does happen). I have some sort of fear of throwing out anything that isn't made of paper or plastic.

post by: grouse at: 16:29 | 17 comments

I suggest you re-evaluate your definition of "clean clothes."

posted by pieisexactlythree 21 February | 16:32

I looooove cleaning out my closet. Donating it, throwing it away, love it! I'll be sitting in a public place, and suddenly my mind will fly to a sweater I haven't worn gathering dust in my closet. "Off with its head!" I yell, and it goes out as soon as I get home.

So yea, you just have to get rid of stuff. Think of how good you'll feel once you have a wardrobe full of things you love, that fit, and make you feel good. Spend an evening trying on everything you own, and make piles of stuff to donate and throw away. Or do it in small steps- right now, find 10 things with holes and throw them away. Right now! We'll wait!

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 21 February | 16:41

Goodwill/Salvation Army/SPCA/ALF/Developmentally Disabled/xxx Diabetes/Weathermen/Big Brother/Big Sister/ELF/anyone-who-runs thrift-stores?

As for my hole-y clothes, if they're not synthetic (ie., mostly cotton or something else) I'll cut them up and use as rags. I always find it hard to throw away a good towel just because it has soaked up a puddle of blood. Rags are handy.

posted by porpoise 21 February | 16:42

If you haven't worn it in a year, donate it. Even if you rather like it. Trust me, you'll never miss it.

Things with holes? Cut into rags or throw out. (Unless the hole is small, in which case, donate.)

If you have any Carhart overalls, please send them to me.

posted by Specklet 21 February | 16:43

OK, I'm trying. I've already managed to dispose of a few items.

Can I ever hang up shirts with elastic collars or am I just asking for them to be stretched out? That's a dumb question that answers itself, isn't it?

posted by grouse 21 February | 16:50

I did a big closet clean-out recently. I thought it would be painful, but it was actually ultimately really satisfying to donate all those perfectly good clothes that had been languishing away in my closet. It was also quite a walk down memory lane (why on earth did I ever buy that man's XL flannel in high school, and good lord I had completely forgotten about that Screw 32 t-shirt).

On preview: what's an elastic collar?

posted by amro 21 February | 16:55

There's a bunch of really great threads over at AskMetafilter about getting rid of stuff. Look for tags like "clutter" and take it from there.

posted by matildaben 21 February | 16:57

amro: just regular cotton T-shirts. Anything that doesn't button all the way up.

matildaben: thanks, I searched on packrat, should have searched on clutter too.

posted by grouse 21 February | 16:58

I designate my older clothes to be "camping clothes," pack them into a big trash bag and put them in the attic of my brother's house. Must be, what, about 8 or 10 bags up there by now.

Another good thing is to carefully cut the fabric into square rags. I love my cashmere and suede lens cleaning rags.

posted by StickyCarpet 21 February | 17:03

Hogwarts makes me waste even more space by requiring me to keep around strange forms of dress like academic gowns and black tie. Fun, I guess, but it takes up so much space! I think I wore that gown four times one week though, which is more than I can say for some of these shirts...

posted by grouse 21 February | 17:06

Don't hang up anything stretchy, grouse.

But you already knew that.

posted by Specklet 21 February | 17:10

I was in denial. It's just so much easier to pick things to wear when they're hung up!

Sorry I'm ranting so much. Please accept this picture of a famous bunny as penance:

≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by grouse 21 February | 17:13

You can do it with your hands, but you might not want to look. Maybe put it in a bag. You have to twist a lot further than you think, though, if you're twisting. A knife works, but you have to watch (you don't want to slice off your thumb. You can also just do it underfoot, and just kick or stomp, and it probably doesn't hurt, but you'll feel awful the first few times. Really, you feel awful the first few times no matter how you do it, but depending on your volume, you'll probably end up stomping. Less personal, fewer timy little scratches on your wrists.

posted by Hugh Janus 21 February | 17:33

I seem to have forgotten something)

posted by Hugh Janus 21 February | 17:34

Uh... Hugh Janus? (If that is your real name.)

posted by grouse 21 February | 17:37

Don't hang up anything stretchy, grouse.

Get the kind of hangers with the little clips and hang your stretchy shirts upside down.

posted by drjimmy11 21 February | 19:25

If you are really into self loathing, you could dress a dummy in your old clothes and burn yourself in effigy. Oh, uh, just me that does that?

Of course some more pragmatic might just donate...

posted by King of Prontopia 21 February | 22:13

← I was hoping for || Also here's a buncha versions of →

HOME || REGISTER || LOGIN