Clothes Recycling for Cash
March 10, 2025The best way to do clothes recycling for cash is probably to sell them individually online. For the pedants – in this case, we’re not talking about textile recycling actually but reusing your clothes, or someone else reusing them, anyway. Selling your clothes for money helps your wallet and the environment at the same time. It’s a total win. Clean out your closet of your unwanted clothes and fly in the face of fast fashion, by allowing someone else the pleasure of your gently used clothes.
Clothing Recycling History
There is a very long history of clothing recycling. Long before recycling programs and even thrift stores came along, people treasured clothes and made them last many years. Children’s clothes were handed down between siblings, cousins, nephews and nieces and the neighbours. Christening gowns are treasured for their fine lace, and passed down though many generations. But of course they are, because who could bear to see something like that go to waste? Even kings and queens wore christening gowns that had been made for royal ancestors.
Reusing Royal Christening Gowns
Clothes Recycling for Cash – or probably not in this case. A baby in the Honiton Christening Gown.
Alexander Bassano, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In fact, there is an Official British Royal Family Christening Gown – it’s called the Honiton Gown. It was made in 1841 for Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Victoria, and is actually made from silk and Honiton lace. The design was created to look like Queen Victoria’s own wedding gown. She dressed all her children in it, and many of her grandchildren too. Since then, it has been worn by 63 babies in all. Five kings, four queens, an empress and a crown princess were christened in it. King Charles was christened in it.
This original gown was last used in 2004 for the christening of Lady Louise Windsor and then retired after 163 years. It’s amazing that silk, which is fragile, would last that long after being used and handled so often. This was probably due to the strict rules for its storage. It had to be washed in spring water, and kept in a dark room. Still, after “only” 34 years, the day of Princess Marie’s christening on 15 December 1875, Queen Victoria was writing in her diary that “The Baby was dressed in the old Christening robe, which will hardly hold together!” A replica was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II and used in 2008 for James, Earl of Wessex’s christening, and has been used ever since.
Clothes Recycling for Cash till Friday
Royal christening gowns are not quite the same as your old clothes that you get rid of in a garage sale in the united states, but there are definite parallels. Many families have similar traditions.
It’s not exactly a tradition but maybe call it a custom. In times gone by there was a thriving trade in second hand clothes. But if you were short on cash you could borrow money against your own clothes.Even working people’s Sunday best was worth something. You could take your best clothes to the pawn shop on Monday, have some money for the week, and then, when you got paid on Friday, buy them back in time to wear them for the weekend. After that, if you didn’t have any money, you could do it all over again.
The pawn shop would hold your clothes or whatever other items you wanted to sell but weren’t committed to doing so for a certain amount of time, like a week or a month. After that if you didn’t come back to collect them they would sell them to someone else. But you had to buy them back for a slightly higher price as a kind of interest on the loan. This practice was still in place not so long ago. Some of us will remember grandfathers or even dads doing this. Even now people pawn jewellery and electronics but it wasn’t very long ago that it was clothes too.
Clothes Recycling for Cash – Sell Easily Online
It’s probably better to just decide that you don’t want to item in question and just sell it outright though. Now clothes are cheaper and even more expensive brands don’t hold their value to be sold again and again.
If you do not want to reuse your clothes within your family, you can return them to many stores to clothes the loop. Some shops like North Face will take clothes in good condition in return for store credit or gift cards. Post consumer waste that is not in good condition can still be used for housing insulation.
Set up an Account
It’s really easy to set up an account to do clothes recycling for cash. Lots of websites now have apps for it – in fact, most do. This means that you can photograph the clothes you want to sell, and upload them easily from your phone. It’s still important to take good photos in clear light. Show any holes, rips and stains. Describe your clothes well and make them look and sound attractive to the buyer. Make sure you include all the size info including measurements, especially if it’s a vintage item because the sizing can be very different to modern sizing. You can model it yourself or take a photo flat. Most importantly, please make sure it is clean.
Then, please make sure you pack it well and send it quickly. There was a trend to send things with pretty envelopes, ribbons, extra stickers and gift bags, to make them stand out. However, all these things get discarded very quickly. It honestly seems like a bit of a waste. Just sending it quickly is the main thing. I have often bought an item that the seller probably listed a long time ago, and couldn’t be bothered to dig out. Please bother. It is annoying to spend time deciding on something and then never receiving it! This can be a fun side hustle, just make sure to do it right and you’ll have a good reputation.
