Learn how to donate your clothing, shoes, boots, and other accessories to declutter the closet, maintain an organized wardrobe and help a charitable organization by donating clothing they need.
Learn When & How to Donate Clothing, Shoes & Accessories
Hands down, the best way to declutter any closet or shoe-and-boot collection is through donating clothes. In this guide to donating clothes, I will take you through the four phases of donation:
- Locating a donation center;
- Instructions on how to determine when it’s time to donate clothes;
- How to let go of clothes and shoes you like but don’t wear;
- How to declutter your clothes closet; and, finally,
- How to declutter your shoes and boots.
Where to donate your clothing
The best way to donate more clothes is to have a donation center in mind before you even begin decluttering. This makes the “letting go” process so much easier because you already know your clothes will go to a worthy cause.
How to choose where to donate? Choose a charitable organization that means something to you personally. My father is a veteran of the Vietnam war, so I designate the Vietnam Veterans of America as my charity of choice for the clothing, shoes, and household items I donate each year.
Bonus, you can call and schedule an appointment for them to come to pick up your donations. All you have to do is bag them and leave them on your front porch.
You can choose a donation center, or your could sell or consign your clothing.
When to donate clothes, shoes, shoes, and accessories
Knowing when to donate clothes can be frustrating because our brains switch into survival mode, and we cling to our stuff out of habit (more on this phenomenon in Reasons You Keep Clutter).
To counteract this basic human instinct, I’ve come up with a no-fail test, 5 questions long, and can be applied to everything shirt, skirt, and knee-high boot in your closet:
Tips on how to stop hoarding clothes
Chances are you are not a full-fledged pack rat, so put your dreams of appearing on “Hoarders” on hold for a few minutes while we talk about clutter. People love to clutter, and then people love to declutter.
Think about how awesome you feel when you’ve spent time decluttering and organizing a space in your home: you feel like you can conquer anything. However, sometimes you need a little extra motivation to get down and dirty, decluttering your closet before you can donate clothes, shoes, and accessories.
Learn to declutter your closet
Decluttering your closet is much more successfully done when it’s done often, as in weekly if possible, and seasonally at a minimum. I like to go through my own closet as soon as a season starts to turn into the next (which in Connecticut happens every 3-4 months) to store what I won’t wear for the short-term future and donate what I didn’t wear during the previous season.
It’s much easier to do this regularly than once a year because you will take a more utilitarian approach. For example: if spring is turning to summer and you know you didn’t wear your trench coat at all, it’s easier to donate that right away rather than wait until next spring when your memory of how much you wore the previous year will be foggy (London Fog, get it?).
Declutter your shoes and boots
Once again, decluttering and donating shoes is so much more easily done when it’s done seasonally. In addition to a fresh memory as described above, donating shoes as soon as you’ve determined they need to go relieves you of the burden of having to store them for another season or another year.
Where to Donate Clothes
The where to donate clothing guide is a list of recommendations on very worthy, reputable places to donate clothes, accessories, and even small furniture and appliances.
Locate a Clothing Donation Center
An important step to organizing a closet is deciding what to do with the clothes you are no longer going to keep. Before you begin organizing your closet, have a plan in place to donate your clothes. Bonus: many donation centers will come to you directly to you for a pick-up. Below are popular options for clothes donation.
Goodwill Clothing Donation Centers
Goodwill accepts gently used and worn items:
- Clothing
- Appliances
- Furniture
- Electronics
Salvation Army International
The Salvation Army accepts the following items for donation:
- Clothing
- Furniture
- Appliances
- Household Goods
- Electronics
Vietnam Veterans of America
The Vietnam Veterans of America accept the following donations:
- Clothing of all types & sizes (men’s, ladies, children’s, baby’s)
- Clothing accessories
- Shoes (all kinds)
- Baby items
- House and glassware
- Books, toys, bikes
- Stereos, radios, portable TVs
- All bedding, draperies, curtains
- Kitchenware
- Usable small furniture & rugs
- Small appliances
- Tools (all kinds)
- Jewelry and cosmetics
- Clothing of all types & sizes (men’s, ladies, children’s, baby’s)
- Clothing accessories
- Shoes (all kinds)
- Baby items
- House and glassware
- Books, toys, bikes
- Stereos, radios, portable TVs
- All bedding, draperies, curtains
- Kitchenware
- Usable small furniture & rugs
- Small appliances
- Tools (all kinds)
- Jewelry and cosmetics