All items · Bedding & textiles
Wet, soiled or mouldy textiles
Also covers: dirty clothes, mouldy, damp clothes
They say no
Refused by all 5 charities that directly name or broadly cover it (5 direct).
Why shops refuse it
Damp or soiled textiles can ruin a whole donation bag — shops have to bin them at their own cost.
What to do instead
Dry, clean-but-worn clothing is still valuable as 'rag' — bag it separately and label it, or use a textile bank.
Charity by charity
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Can't accept
Cornwall Hospice Care
Their wording
“Hand knitted or heavily soiled clothing”
-
Can't accept
Overgate Hospice
Applies to textile recycling donations.
Their wording
“heavily soiled (e.g. covered in paint)”
-
Can't accept
Samaritans
Their wording
“Dirty clothing, bedding or towels”
-
Can't accept
Traid
Includes scrap textiles and rags.
Their wording
“items that are damaged or soiled including scrap textiles and rags”
-
Can't accept
Trinity Hospice (Blackpool)
Their wording
“Soiled or heavily stained items”
Not mentioned in 39 charities' guidance
Absence from a charity's list doesn't mean they accept it — it just isn't singled out. Ask your local shop.
- Not mentioned Acorns Children's Hospice
- Not mentioned Age UK
- Not mentioned Barnardo's
- Not mentioned British Heart Foundation
- Not mentioned British Red Cross
- Not mentioned Cancer Research UK
- Not mentioned Claire House Children's Hospice
- Not mentioned Crisis
- Not mentioned DEBRA
- Not mentioned Dogs Trust
- Not mentioned Dorothy House
- Not mentioned Emmaus
- Not mentioned FARA Charity Shops
- Not mentioned Great Western Air Ambulance Charity
- Not mentioned Keech Hospice Care
- Not mentioned LOROS Hospice
- Not mentioned Marie Curie
- Not mentioned Octavia Foundation
- Not mentioned Oxfam
- Not mentioned PDSA
- Not mentioned Phyllis Tuckwell
- Not mentioned Princess Alice Hospice
- Not mentioned Salvation Army (SATCoL)
- Not mentioned Save the Children
- Not mentioned Scope
- Not mentioned Sense Scotland
- Not mentioned Shaw Trust
- Not mentioned Shelter
- Not mentioned St Barnabas Hospice (Lincolnshire)
- Not mentioned St Christopher's Hospice
- Not mentioned St Giles Hospice
- Not mentioned St Peter's Hospice
- Not mentioned St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP)
- Not mentioned Sue Ryder
- Not mentioned The Children's Trust
- Not mentioned Wales Air Ambulance
- Not mentioned Willen Hospice
- Not mentioned Woodgreen Pets Charity
- Not mentioned YMCA (England & Wales)