If they 100 percent cotton you can put them in your compost bin or pile.

Donate them even if they are old. Folks buy them for rags.

I'm surprised the animal shelter didn't want them. But I'm not surprised about the car wash. Car wash people are a snooty bunch. :-)

Are you sure they're not good enough to donate? If there's any doubt you could always donate them and let the people who sort through the clothes decide.

make a rag rug!!

I was going to post similar to good36, one of our groups loves getting old towels, shirts, anything that is too worn to be used as clothing. The cut them into pieces for use in rag rugs or rag trivets.

Offer them in the free section on Craig's List, or your local Freecycle. You'll be surprised at the ideas people have for using things. We have a local woman who posts frequently under Wanted, for old T-shirts. She cuts them in pieces and makes quilts, and then donates the quilts.

Make a rag rug is my first thought too! I enjoy very much cuttng the strips, braiding and stitching a rag rug. It is a calming activity. I found the end products are most always very useful.

Lil

You could also donate them to mechanics who work in garages to help wipe off the oil and grease. My neighbour used to love it when I gave him old rags.

You could turn them into tee shirt totes.
{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: T-Shirt Tote Bag

You know, a spray bottle with a clorax solution and an old rag like that make GREAT cleaning rags. Cheap too.

:)

Sorry, no better ideas... other than cutting in to long continuous strips, and crocheting in to a rug.

Moni

you can cut them in strips and tie to a wire hanger that is shaped to form a wreath! tie on and have a great wall hanging... or tie onto a string, rope to make a garland

cut in squares, stretch on stretcher frame and prime with gesso or latex paint on both sides and have a "canvas" to paint on!

stitch them in to snowmen, stars, other shapes and prime with gesso or latex paint and paint them up.. cute!
can make them small for ornaments.

use as a protective wrapping when putting away breakables

put some in car trunks in case of emergency

Oh if ONLY you were closer! The candleshop where I work would be all over those (and give you candles to boot)! You wouldn't believe how many rags we go through..and t-shirts are the BEST!

Surely you can find someone to take them!

Oh I knew this was just the right place to ask. I can always be sure to get lots of ideas. I thought of the rag rug too- except I don't want to make it. When I take the better clothing to Goodwill I'll bring the T shirts and ask if they could use them. If they don't want them I'll try Craig's list or my auto shop/gas station.

lynn d -- I see that you're in PA - by any chance are you close to Philly? I'd drop those shirts off for your group if I could.

Thanks again everyone.

Someone on the knitting forum cut them into strips (across) and said when you pull on the ends the strips roll up. She laced the strips together into a ball and knit them into a rug. I'm thinking you could crochet it into a rug if you don't knit. (like me) I crochet but don't knit. I just don't have an endless supply of old T shirts.

McMann, I don't know if you are planning any yard sales with any of the "STUFF," But at my last YS I put out some boxes of free stuff. One was a box of shirts, etc. that would make great rags. I washed them all and put a sign on the box "Clean Rags" They went in a hurry.

HTH

Sue

I would make a throw out of them. :) Oh...the possibilities.

Sort through them to see if there are any with designs that may be collectible. Believe it or not some people will pay top dollar for vintage T-shirts with certain designs.

Goodwill will take them. Anything they don't put out on their rack goes to the recyclers. They get money for them. I read that ninety percent of clothing donated never makes it to the racks. It is sold by the pound to recyclers.

Or as someone already mentioned try the 'FREE' section on CL.

I have seen small quilts made from old T shirts, in fact my friend who does quilting, made one for her grandson using his old shirts. It really was cute, Not sure if a large one would work, this was just for a mini cover for his bed or wall hanging.

That is so kind of you, McMann, but I'm halfway between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. Thank you!

I agree with the quilts...I make a quilt for each of the grand kids when they graduate from high school, using their old shirts...It's something special for them to use on their bed when they go to college....

Thank you everyone for all of your ideas.

Gee Lynn- the next time we make one of our treks to visit the relatives in Pittsburgh I could toss them to you from one of the turnpike exits. We've made that trip a million times. Are you near Bedford? That's where we had our 3 day honeymoon 36 years ago- at the Bedford Springs Hotel. We're both originally from Pittsburgh but my husband was starting graduate school in Philly and I had been newly hired by the Free Library. Neither of us had any vacation time. So I tease our kids that we honeymooned on the PA turnpike- which isn't that far from the truth.

You need to figure out a way to market a wipe for muddy dog paws. I use old towels, but I think old T-shirts would work better!

One word to the guy who repairs your vehicle(s) will likely get them gone in the wink of a lamb's eye. Might even get a small repair that would have entailed a minor cost, earlier, done for free.

My ex- used to cut old woolen clothing into strips, then put nylons, pantyhose, etc. along the middle of a strip, pull the edges up together over it, turn the cut edges inside and sew along the join, then sew the tubes alongside one another to make a rug ... which got a bit complicated when one tried to go around the end of one that turned out to be an oval, as it was tough to keep them flat.

Quite likely one could use T-shirts as filler.

Don't expect to be around Philly in anywhere close to the near future ... or I might take some of them off of your hands.

My ex-'s brother (only sibling) and family (2 kids - one died of cancer as an adult) lived in/near Chester.

Sew the neck shut, add a couple of straps to the tail and belly side and use them to haul groceries home from the store. When one gets holey, drop a similarly deteriorated one a bit smaller inside of it ...

... if you're unlucky, the holes will line up!

In such an unlucky event ... find another similarly deteriorated mate for each.

Best wishes for a weekend that brings satisfaction for (at least) one of your longings (worthy ones, that is).

ole joyful

If you are the crafty type you could make purses out of them. My dd has a ton of designer tee shirts and when she tires of them I plan on making them into purses and selling them on ebay! (or at a craft show)

Here's a website that explains how to make them:
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_5646645_make-purses-out-old-shirts.html

But if you google "how to make handbangs from tee shirts" you will get many, many more sites and some very unique ideas.

Some use duct tape for the interior so they are semi-water proof. You can get some really awesome neon coloured duct tape now.

Old t-shirts and duct tape. Who knew?

BJ

Frankly if "they're not good enough to donate", they probably aren't good enough for most crafts either. From your post it seems you want to be rid of them, so why store them on the off chance that you might, maybe someday, make a craft item? You have to make room in your house for the items made, too.

Don't invent "chore clutter" for yourself.

Goodwill will take them and turn them into rags.

If a lot of them are for sports teams, etc., they might make need throw pillows for beds/sofas, etc. Pick out the ones that really mean something to your kids and make them some pillows.

Hi again McMann,

So far, 26 follow-ups ...

... which means that if 24 more come in, that'll make one for each.

I still say, "auto mechanic", but if you give directly,, there may be some free service, but no charitable receipt.

If you give through GoodWill, etc., they may offer a charitable receipt for gifts in kind.

Good wishes for finding a home where there'll be some use for them.

ole joyful

When I worked for the school district we used to buy rags from Goodwill for the repair shop. T-shirts and towels were preferred but sometimes if not specified they'd give us all sorts of clothes. All the secretaries would come running and go through the rag bags and grab clothes. You'd be surprised what they'd put in there. Perfectly good clothes - often like new and possibly new.

But I also have one more idea. Check with your local school's auto shop. Well, any of the shop classes. Wood shop would use them too, most likely. Often use rags for staining wood and as tack cloths for prep work. They may well want them for rags. Help out the schools too.

Even electronic repair shops, computer repair shops and the like would likely need them. When I had my shop we always washed down the computers before returning them. Would have really appreciated a bunch of t-shirts rather than using paper towels all the time.

Otherwise, I like the mechanic idea too. But I'm sure Goodwill would take them. Possibly Salvation Army. Frankly, don't count out the local Community Action programs. Maybe you don't think they're very good, but if a poor hard-working parent can't afford any clothes for their kids, what you might think is bad could be a joy for them. Don't be embarrassed to ask. I'm sure you'll advise them up-front as to condition and if they say no thank you, that's fine, but you wanted to offer, just in case.

Another thought - any small engine repair shops? Hardware store or something? Is there a neighbor who does shadetree mechanic repairs or the like? Your local city or county probably has a maintenance shop for repairing trucks and vehicles who would probably want them too. Save a few taxpayer dollars that way too.

No matter what or where they go, it's a nice time of year to think of a donation of any type to any worthwhile place.