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It's absolutely impossible for me to throw anything away. I can give it to someone and they can throw it away, but if I see the slightest use for something, well, - I'm piled higher and deeper in "useful" stuff, which of course, I can't find when I need it.
One of the things most difficult for me to figure out what to do with is old clothes. The clothes are no longer good for what they were intended, but the fabric still has life, and somewhere, someone has got to want the buttons.
I've made rags for the next decade, which I also can't bring myself to toss if I can wash and reuse them, so that decade is extended another five years. I cut up soft fabrics (almost all we have are natural fibers) to make eyeglass cleaning cloths for DH, which he has no trouble tossing.
I've looked into making rag rugs, but that just adds to all the projects I'm interested in doing and that take up space. I can't get to most of these projects anyway, because my house, garage, storage tent, etc. are too full to work in.
Ideas? I live in a very rural area, so anything that involves other people is likely not so possible. I've thought about using fabric as weed blocker/mulch in the garden, just as I used the rugs I pulled out of the house and replaced with tile. I thought shredded fabric might make an ingredient in hyperufa, but haven't done enough of it yet to do "wild" experiments. Do you suppose natural fibers, such as cotton, rayon, and silk, could be composted?
Our Goodwill says that what clothing is not good enough to be sold to be worn because of stains and torn fabric are sent to a recycling company who can use the fabric again. If there is a Goodwill Store close to you, ask and see if this is also the case in your area. I always worried about giving things that really weren't usable and was glad to hear they don't take it to the landfill but it is used.
I have boxes, boxes, tubs and more tubs of clothing which
all fit into the following categories:
Nice, but don't wear it that often.
Raggy, but has good buttons.
Won't wear, but like the print. Save for crafts.
Too nice to throw away, give away.
I'm going to wear it one of these days.
I'll find a friend with small kids who can have the boys' clothing.
Silk, save for unknown reason.
And so on. And on. And on. LOL
An idea I had which never came to happen is to make
rag rugs. I can NOT find anyone who is patient enough to
sit down and show me how to crochet a rag rug. Nothing
fancy, just plain round rugs. But most of the women around
here are older and very impatient. Books don't help. I'm a
hands-on, show-me type. Yes, I have a library full of
"How to Crochet" "Dummies Guide to Crocheting" and
"Complete Idiot" type books.
Another idea I have and will likely never happen is to cut
the clothing up to make a zillion hair scrunchies to sell on
Ebay or at the flea market or something.
Sigh. Isn't it a pain having so many ideas and so little time?
Hey, now there's a thought, ButterflyChaser (and then I'd have less stuff in storage and could get to those extra dog clippers and trade with you for the Orange Beauty! funny how circles go!) Freecycle is in operation around Humboldt Co, but I'd make a pretty good bet that it's not close.
But WUVIE! You have got to be kidding -
This is giving me goosebumps.
Does the sunshine there in the winter? I'll get a camper for my truck and haul out all the stuff and we'll make rugs and scrunchies and sell them on ebay to raise money for gas for me to get there (lol) and a babysitter for the dogs I can't bring with me. I have all sorts of sites bookmarked. I can follow pictures - or figure out another way. Maybe if two of us were being taught by the same person, we'd learn (since we're incomplete on our own, anyway!)
(Actually, now that the sun is out again here, I am such a different person. It's pretty definate - I've got to blow this popstand in the wet, gloomy winter. Or build a greenhouse).
I've been pulling up old carpet from last year's garden. It did a good job stopping most weeds. Some did a good job of shredding carpet fibers.
I wonder if old buried clothes, mixed with green matter, would leach nasty stuff into the soil, even if "natural fibers."
Years ago I read to braid old panyhose into rugs. This should work with old clothes, shouldn't it? Cut the clothes into strips and braid. This tie or sew the pieces together. Then you coil the long strip and hand sew it together. I enough old clothes to have carpet my entire house in braid rugs.
