What to Do With Used Underwear and Bras – Practical Tips
This post was first created in Jan 2023 and last updated in 2024
Hello there my eco-conscious warriors 😊
If there is one item that had me stumped when it comes to responsible dispoal, it was used underwear and bras. I didn’t think donating was a resaonable option, it’s not something I can sell or give away on Facebook Marketplace without attracting unwanted attention and throwing them into landfill seemed like such a waste.
If you want to get rid of used underwear, recycle them through Underwear for Humanity. With lightly used bras, donate these to Support the Girls. All other used bras can be sent to a textile sorting facility for recycling. Repurposing and composting are also options worth considering.
For more information on this and to learn more about the full range of options, refer to the relevant section below:
What to do with old underwear
If you are in Australia and you have used unwanted underwear, don’t donate it to charity or throw it into landfill. Send them to Underwear for Humanity for recycling. H&M also accepts used underwear through their textile recycling program however, there is no guarantee these items are recycled.
But there are other options:
- repurposing – check out What to Do With Clothes that CANNOT be Donated and the “DIY/upcycle” option for some ideas
- composting if your underwear is made from natural materials – check out What to Do With Clothes that CANNOT be Donated and the “composting” option for further details
These may not be appealing options (totally understandable if you’re squeamish about repursposing old underwear I think!).
And donating is not a great option, for the reasons covered in the next section.
So I do recommend recycling.
From my review of textile recyclers in Australia, it was clear that none of the major collectors of textile waste would accept underwear for recycling. After was one collection service that does accept underwear for recycling, but they are a small operation limited to Melbourne.
But the Underwear for Humanity recycling program came up as one option that all Australians could take advantage of.
Underwear for Humanity is an underwear retailer focused on using sustainable materials and adopting sustainable practices.
They have a underwear recycling program where they collect, wash, sort and sanitise items before they are sent to a textile recycling plant to be turned into insulation or carpet underlay.
Because the cost of sorting, sanitising and sending the items is covered by the company, they can not afford to offer this service to the general public. So you do need to purchase an item from their store to be able to take advantage of this option.
You can find more details here: https://underwearforhumanity.com.au/pages/recycling
I have purchased a couple of pairs of underwear from their site to take advantage of their recycling product and I’m glad I did it. Thier underwear is so comfotable, so I don’t regret the purchase. And the getting my used underwear across to them for recycling was easy – I reached out to them via email with details of the purchase I had made and they replied back with the address I could send my old underwear to for recycling.
To date they have recycled over 7,000 items. For a small business taking on the cost of doing this themselves, they have done well.
Donating underwear to charities
In general, Australian charities will take underwear donations, except for Save the Children who specifically state on their website that they do not accept underwear or swimwear in any of their stores. However, you should only donate brand-new underwear if you truly intend them to be used by someone in need.
The Red Cross, Salvation Army, Vinnies and Lifeline do not list underwear or swimwear as items that they do not accept in their stores, leading me to assume that they accept these items.
But I gave my location charity shops a call to check that assumption. All said that you can donate underwear but it has to be brand new.
There are two good reasons for this.
Firstly, donations are sorted by hand by staff and volunteers working for these charities. I imagine they would not be wanting to sort through used underwear by hand.
Secondly, we have to remember that underwear is a very intimate item of clothing. Expecting someone who shops second-hand to buy someone else’s used underwear just doesn’t work.
So if you are wondering can you donate underwear? I would say not. Even if your used underwear seem perfectly fine to you and still has a lot of wear left in them, keep them out of your donation pile and consider underwear recycling instead.
What to do with old bras
If you have old bras that are in very good condition, donate them to Support the Girls. Support the Girls is an Australian charity focused on empowering women and girls by supplying them with items they desperately need. However if the bras are in poor condition consider repurposing or recycling.
Support the Girls provides women across Australia with bras, underwear and feminine hygiene products. It has a wide reach and is a charity worth supporting.
If you want to donate your bras to Support the Girls, it needs to meet the following checklist:
- Bras are washed
- The shoulder straps are in good working order
- The sides of the bras are not stretched or damaged
- There are no stains or perspiration marks
- The hooks and eyes are in good working condition and there is no rust on any fasteners
- The wires are intact. Push the wire to see if it pokes out
To get them to Support the Girls, you can send items by post or you can drop them off at one of their many partner locations: https://supportthegirls.com.au/drop-off-locations/
If this does not work for you, consider donating to a local women’s shelter, crisis accommodation or social housing projects in your community. You can search for these online.
You could donate them to charity. For more information on this, refer to the next section.
If your bras are not in a condition to be donated consider
- repairing your bra – if minor repairs are needed to make it usable again
- repurposing – check out What to Do With Clothes that CANNOT be Donated and the “DIY/upcycle” option for some ideas
- composting if your bra is made from natural materials – check out What to Do With Clothes that CANNOT be Donated and the “composting” option for further details
- recycling through a textile recycling facility – further details on this can be found below.
Donating bras to charities
In general, the major charities in Australia like The Salvation Army, Red Cross, Vinnies, Save the Children, Lifeline and Good Sammy do accept used bras as donations. However because this is such a personal and intimate item and one that is generally subject to a lot of wear and tear, it would have to be in near-new condition for it to be suitable for donation.
These charities have a list of items they do not accept as donations and bras do not appear on that list. You can see this yourself via the following links:
However, bras are an intimate item, often tied to a person’s dignity. If your bra is worn out or stained, this is not going to be well received.
So please ensure that if you want to donate bras, they are in near-new condition. Bras should be okay to donate if they are still in the same shape, wires, straps and hooks are intact and there are no stains, perspiration marks or anything that shows signs of wear. They need to be lightly worn to be good enough to donate.
Recycling old bras
Most of the textile recycling companies in Australia will accept bras for recycling. However, they do state they will not accept underwire bras. However, Upparel and Underwear for Humanity will accept wired bras if the wires are removed, making them a good option for recycling any bras you have.
For a full list of textile recycling options check out Recycling Clothes in Australia – All Your Options Covered.
Upparel is a good option if your bras are not good enough to donate. As mentioned, on their website they not they do not accept underwire bras however, when I contacted them through Instagram, they confirmed they would accept wired bras if the wire was removed.
Since Upparel is a textile recycling option available to everyone in Australia and they accept a wide variety of clothes for recycling, this is a good option to consider.
Further details on how to send items of clothing to Upparel can be found here: https://upparel.com.au/
Another option to consider is Underwear for Humanity. As noted previously, they are an Australian underwear retailer focused on sustainable materials and practices.
They offer an underwear recycling program to their customers and they accept bras as part of that program. To take advantage of the program, you need to purchase items from their retail store.
And it’s not a bad store to purchase from, for various reasons. One related upside to purchasing their bras is that you can return used Underwear for Humanity bras back to them and they will give you a $10 voucher in return. The bra will then be resold through a new “preloved” bras sales section that has just started. Circular fashion at its best.
And they do take bras – from any brand – for recycling. It just needs to be free of any metal trims or trinkets. Also you will need to remove the wire in underwire bras before sending them in for recycling.
If this interests you, find more information on this page: https://underwearforhumanity.com.au/pages/recycling
About recycling services offered by H& and Zara…
A word of advice – don’t be tempted to use the textile collection points in H&M and Zara stores. While they will accept any item of clothing, inlcuding used underwear and bras, don’t be fooled into thinking that all clothing donated to them is taken in for reuse or recycling.
You can read more about this here: Recycling Clothes in Australia – All Your Options Covered!
There are so many options available when it comes to keeping clothing out of landfill – even for intimate items like bras and underwear.
And it requires very little effort to follow through with these options. Ensure your items are washed, have a box set aside to collect items for donation or recycling and once the box is full, send them in and let the organisations mentioned do their thing.
This is a process I go through periodically since underwear is such a high-use item!
Hope this information has helped and you now know what you need to dispose of used underwear and bras responsibly. It doesn’t take much effort and I believe through these conscious actions, we can collectively work towards a more sustainable future 🌎
xxx Tahsin
A Heads Up: This post contains affiliate links that may earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. Also as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I only recommend products and services that will help you take steps towards a more sustainable life and will not recommend anything that does not align, in some way, with these values.
