All The Ways To Recycle Old Underwear In The UK

Wondering what to do with your old pants, bras and tights? Here’s the full lowdown on how to recycle your old underwear in the UK.

We all (I hope!) wear underwear every day. Yet all that wearing and washing soon takes its toll.

Whether your once tighty-whities have turned an ugly shade of grey, your knicker elastic has taken its final stretch, or the underwire of your much-loved bra is poking out, many of us dump our old underwear straight into the bin. After all, charities don’t want your old undies, so what else is there to do with them?

The odd bit of underwear in the bin doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. Yet, in the UK alone, we collectively buy 30 million items of underwear a year. That’s a lot of underwear.

When you consider that around 87% of discarded textiles end up in landfill, of which more than 90% are reusable and recyclable, it makes you stop and think that there must be ways to recycle your underwear.

How To Recycle Your Old Underwear In The UK

The good news is that there are heaps of ways to recycle your undies – no matter how holey they might be – and help keep them out of landfill. Here are some of the best ways I’ve found to help you avoid landfill:

Repair Them

If your old underwear is ripped or torn, then before you even try to recycle it, first of all, consider whether it can be repaired.

Not even the most sustainable knickers and bras or ethical boxer shorts are truly safe from normal wear and tear. Many of us bin our underwear when it develops a rip or a tear. However, fixing your favourite bra, pair of knickers or boxer shorts doesn’t have to be tricky.

Most tears can quickly and easily be patched up with a tiny bit of sewing know-how. A stitch here and a stitch there can bring your favourite undies back from the brink.

If the idea of threading a needle brings you out in a cold sweat, worry not. A little iron-on mending tape can help fix a tear without so much as having to look at a sewing kit. Okay, maybe you have to take the tape and scissors out of the kit, but that’s all there is to it.

Alternatively, a well-placed blob of fabric glue can help mend a tear the no-sew way.

And if your underwear has developed a hole that can’t easily be fused together, you can use another old item of underwear. Simply cut out a little bit of lace or fabric from your old underwear, and use fabric glue to affix the two ripped sides together. Another easy no-sew remedy to the rescue!

---

Upcycle Them Into New Items

Upcycling old undies might not be top of your priority list. Yet as long as your underwear is clean and you avoid any ripped or stained parts (and perhaps the crotch or gusset), then there are lots of clever and creative ways to reuse the old fabric. Here are a few to get you started:

• Lace or fabric from old pants could be cut up into small squares that you can keep to repair other underwear. Alternatively, keep these scraps to use in visible mending projects.
• You could use the fabric to make a pin cushion, like the one pictured above from Make and Takes.
• Another idea is to cut up clean boxer shorts, cotton knickers, etc. and use them as stuffing for homemade draught excluders. It’s a great way to recycle your underwear, whilst giving it a new lease of life.
• Cut up old tights to make hair ties – or try these other uses for old tights.
• Bra pads can be stitched onto hangers to help keep clothes from sliding off.
• Another idea for bra pads is to stitch them into the knee of a pair of gardening trousers or add a pocket that you can slip the pads into. This will give you some padding for your knees as you kneel to do gardening jobs, such as weeding.

The possibilities are almost endless – you’ll never look at an old pair of pants in the same light!

Looking for ways to reuse your socks? I’ve got heaps of ideas on what to do with your old socks right this way.

---

Sell Good Quality Underwear Online

In the hierarchy of waste, reselling is always better than recycling. Let’s face it, though, no one is going to want to buy a pair of used knickers or pants. However, gently used bras are a whole other picture.

Whether it’s a designer bra, a nursing bra, or a specialist bra, bras certainly don’t come cheap. Yet if you’ve recently changed size, changed your mind about the style, or are no longer nursing, you can be left with a pricey bra that you’ve worn a handful of times.

If this applies to you, and you’re looking to recoup some of the cost, then you can sell your unwanted bras online.

For some sites, selling used undies goes against their terms and conditions. Meanwhile, some sites do allow you to sell underwear, with some strict reselling rules. The following sites do allow for resale:

eBay

eBay’s terms of service say that used knickers and men’s underwear cannot be sold on the site. However, they do allow you to sell bras as they are not considered underwear. Your bra must be properly cleaned, and the listing must include a statement that it has been adequately washed.

Depop

Provided that you apply common sense, you can sell any type of underwear on Depop. This is on the proviso that it is clean and washed and that you don’t upload a photo of yourself in your underwear.

Vinted

Vinted doesn’t allow you to sell used knickers, but bras can be sold. Again, make sure they are clean and just take a photo of the bra itself.

Check out my guide to selling second-hand clothes online for more recommendations.

---

Donate Your Old Undies

If your underwear is beyond the point of reselling, or if you can’t be bothered trying to resell, then you can donate your old underwear. While it’s true that charity shops don’t sell used underwear, there are various ways to donate your underwear to help benefit charities and schools:

Charity Shops

While charity shops don’t sell used underwear, they can sell rags to rag merchants, earning money by the weight that they sell. This allows them to make money from donations that aren’t good enough to sell.

The rag merchants then sort and group these textiles into bales, which are then shipped abroad for resale or recycling. It’s one way to recycle your old underwear, whilst putting money into your favourite charity.

Do check with your local charity shop first to see if they accept rags for donations, as not all do. If they do, simply pop your pre-loved underwear into a bag and clearly mark it as rags. This means staff and volunteers don’t have to waste time sorting through your things and can pop them directly into the rag area.

It’s important to bear in mind that due to the scale of our fast fashion problem, there are no guarantees that clothing sent for recycling abroad won’t end up as waste – either clogging up rivers or dumped in overflowing landfills. It’s certainly a tricky one.

Smalls For All

Smalls For All is a Scottish bra recycling charity. It collects men’s and women’s unworn pants and knickers, and gently worn bras, for redistribution to people in Africa and the UK who can’t afford any new underwear.

It’s a great way to pass on new pants or knickers that you’ve bought but aren’t going to wear, and for any bras that you’ve barely worn but no longer fit or suit you.

Simply wrap or box up your donation and send it to Smalls for All, Five Sisters Business Park, Westwood, West Calder EH55 8PN. If you’re able to, do include a small donation of £3 to help support Smalls For All with its work. Please only send good quality used bras, and don’t send any used knickers their way.

Against Breast Cancer

Against Breast Cancer also runs a bra collection scheme. This cancer charity collects unwanted and unloved bras whilst raising vital funds for pioneering breast cancer research.

Together with its recycling partners, Against Breast Cancer’s textile recovery project prevents bras from going into landfill. Any bras that are beyond saving are dismantled and recycled. And for bras that are still good enough to wear, these are sent to Togo, Ghana and Kenya, where bras remain expensive to produce locally.

For more ideas, try my guide on where to donate bras to charity in the UK.

Nursery Schools/Primary Schools

If your kids have grown out of their underwear, then you may be able to pass it on to your local nursery or primary school. Nursery and primary schools like to keep a supply of underwear, socks and tights in case of accidents. As such, they are often grateful for your donation.

I’ve passed on lots of pairs of kids’ pants, socks and tights this way – all in good, clean and freshly laundered condition. Do check with the office staff first, before heading over with your donation.

---

Recycle Your Underwear

Another option is to recycle your old undies – either through textile banks or through retailer recycling schemes. Here are some of the best options available:

Textile Recycling Banks

Textile recycling banks – found at your local recycling centre or large supermarket – offer one way to recycle your old knickers and bras. Most accept all types of clothing – including ripped, holey, or torn clothing – but not all do, so check before you pop your bag in the bank.

In theory, all clothing and textiles – even old knickers- that aren’t suitable to be passed onto someone else can be recycled and made into new items. This includes padding for chairs and car seats, cleaning cloths and industrial blankets. As I noted before though, due to the volume of unwanted clothing that we produce, it is unlikely that every item you donate is recycled.

Y.O.U.

Another option is one offered by ethical underwear brand Y.O.U. This brand can recycle your old bras, knickers, pants, socks and tights from any brand. It doesn’t have to be Y.O.U. branded underwear.

Y.O.U. recycles these items through TerraCycle. TerraCycle collects hard-to-recycle clothing and then turns them into usable products for industry, rather than going to landfill. It sounds good, but TerraCycle does have its criticisms.

Find out more about the Y.O.U recycling scheme here. And send your old gear to: Y.O.U Underwear, 11 Bodley Place, Oxford, OX2 7TF

Do note thats as a small business, Y.O.U. is unable to cover the postage costs. It is, however, covering the recycling costss so you don’t have to pay TerraCycle yourself to recycle your old underwear.

Swedish Stockings

Ethical tights brand Swedish Stockings offers a handy tights recycling service to help reduce textile waste in the hosiery industry. Here, it collects your old synthetic tights and then grinds them down. The fibre is then used as filler material in industrial fibreglass tanks or to make stylish tables.

Simply collect three or more pairs of synthetic tights from any brand, and send them to Swedish Stockings – making sure to include your email address. When they arrive at Swedish Stockings, you’ll then be emailed a 10% discount code off your next purchase by way of thanks.

Frustratingly, its headquarters are in Sweden, and there’s no UK mailing address. This means you have to post your tights to Sweden at your own expense.

Bravissimo

Bra retailer Bravissimo runs a handy bra recycling scheme. Simply head to one of its 25 UK shops, where you can pop your old bras, regardless of brand or condition, into Bravissimo’s bra recycling bins.

The bras are then passed on to Bravissimo’s recycling provider, A-TEX. This German-based company focuses on finding innovative ways to recycle textiles and prolong the life of textiles. 

Bras good enough to be worn again are passed on for re-wearing. Meanwhile, those not good enough to be worn are separated into different types of materials and components.

Some materials are recycled into padding for insulation or reworked to make car seats. Even the dust from these processes can be made into recycled cardboard.

---

Manufacturer Takeback Schemes

Finally, some brands offer takeback schemes to recycle your old knickers and bras:

Dunelm

Homeware brand Dunelm runs a handy in-store textile take-back scheme in conjunction with The Salvation Army. It accepts most home textiles – including clothing and clean underwear – for reuse or recycling. Although let’s face it – your old undies will be recycled rather than re-used!

Simply pop your unwanted textiles in a bag and place it in the collection point in-store. A collection point is available in all Dunelm stores across the UK, except at Carmarthen, Crawley, Horsham, Feltham, Jersey, Kidderminster, Llanelli, Loughborough, Scarborough, Trowbridge, and Yeovil.