I just found out that some of my clothes have been eaten/damaged by termites. I'm not that bothered because these clothes are really old and do not fit me anymore. It's just sad because they could have been donated or given away to other people. Do you think that I can still save or repurpose these clothes? Any suggestions?
It depends whether it is available where you are, but goodwill and charity shops give away clothing they cannot resell to be recycled so you could do that, by asking around. I would not donate them to be worn, other than that you could use them as rags around the house to clean the floors and windows.
I'm not sure I would want to donate termite damaged clothing for others to wear. You could always repurpose them into dusting rags or rags to clean with. You could ask around to see if anybody would like them, though, before you done away with them.
It would depend entirely on the extent of the damage done. I suppose they 'perforated' the clothes in random places. That would make patching impossible and since they are unwearable your best bet is to make them cleaning rags it has been suggested. p.s You need to take steps to ensure that nothing of that sort happens in future. Find ways of getting rid of the termites permanently.
I guess your only option would be to try to sell it off really cheap. You can't do anything else with those clothes as they are of not much use to be honest. What are you planning to do with those? I am sure you can't donate them.
I've never had clothes get damaged by any kind of pest. I'd just throw them away. I don't donate ripped clothing. I definitely wouldn't donate eaten clothing. I guess I just feel like clothing is generally so cheap anyway, that it probably wouldn't bother me. The termites themselves would be my biggest worry. I agree that getting to the root of that issue is a bigger deal than figuring out what to do with the clothes.
You could could use the scraps of the clothes to make a rag rug, after washing them, sanitizing them and cutting off the chewed parts.
Usually we turn our unusable clothes into rags and if you have a seeing machine you could even patch them together to make them look more intact. You could also use them to make pot holders but of course you'd have to be more picky with the material when it comes to this. Generally thicker cloths would work better for this purpose.
If you have a pet, then you can just use it as their "bed" to lie on when they sleep. My cat loves to sit or sleep on the rags or newspapers in here. Don't bother donating them if the damage is worse and noticeable.
I use all old clothes that are not wearable anymore for all sorts of things. Rags, arts and crafts, even sealing things. I used to make pillows and purses out of old jeans. T-shirts make excellent rags. Any heavy material clothes like wool are great in the winter to put around the windows to help lower the drafts. There are all kinds of things you can do with them. My boyfriend uses my old hose as a stocking cap sometimes. You can even keep the clothes to fix up for Halloween.
You can add a patch or use a blind hemming to repair the damaged area. Of course, it would all depend on how big the damage is and whether or not it's plausible to sew it without any noticeable outcome. If there are holes big enough to deem the clothes unwearable, then I'll just use them as rugs.
If that happened, I wouldn't actually bother to wear them. I would just more likely to turn them into functional rags, because I think that the termites would just get back and get back even if I repeatedly make ways to eradicate them. And also, I have that feeling that once that have been lingered by termites and alike they are already contaminated and that wearing them would only turn the things into worse, some sort of skin infection.
The damaged clothing could be used as cleaning rags and cut up to make a blanket, the wholes can be cut around. Some people would even use soft clothing as a stuffing for dog toys or dolls.
aren't orphanage houses accepting donations like this? We often give away oir old things to places like these especially the church nearby where they are providing shelter for these kids. I'm sure they can find ways to make those clothes presentable in a way. by they way shoukd you call termite control?
