apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

hmmm, these are all good ideas, but it would be even better to try to resist buying those new, cute, organic sheets until your old sheets are truly worn out. it's hardly green to buy something you don't need, no matter how sustainably it was made.

but if you're intent on redecorating or once they really are ready to retire, also check out local women and children's shelters, try making a rag rugs or rag dolls, local schools or children's programs (useful for messy art projects!), or save a few to use as drop cloths the next time you paint.

My old towels are "dog sheets". They sleep on old pillows, and the towels are changed weekly to keep their beds, and my house, less shrouded in dog hair.

They're also used for the dogs post-swimming and bath, and by the door for when it's muddy in the backyard and the dogs are coming in from playing.

I second the rag rug idea. Smaller "rag rugs" become coasters, place mats, and pot holders.

I also use old sheets (NOT flannel) as rags for cleaning glass surfaces. They don't leave lint like paper towels and terry cloth can.

While I like the dog toy idea, keep in mind that your pet can ingest the fibers and it can make them ill; keep an eye on your dog if he's prone to eating things like this and take the fabric away when you're not in the room.

we donated an old duvet and some towels to the local animal shelter a couple of years ago, they were very grateful for them :)

I used a beloved, but torn set of sheets to make pajama pants. Amy Butler has a great pattern and using sheets means that my PJs match my pillowcases!

Martha Stewart has a project where you cut old towels into strips, braid them together, and sew in a spiral to make a bath mat. It is a messy project (towels fray a LOT) but the finished product is wonderful.

I did an episode where I used my old bath towels to make a braided bathmat, as emmyjane mentioned. It turned out really well and we use it all the time.

Here is the tutorial: http://www.threadbanger.com/decor-it-yourself/episode/DEC_20080624

Please DON'T donate old sheets and towels to a homeless shelter. It's very important to restore dignity to folks who have lost it all, and without a sense of dignity it's that much harder to get out of the system. Please help by using your own sheets a little bit longer and instead by a new set for a shelter - after coming in out of the cold and chaos it feels unbelievably comforting to settle down onto a good bed. (And speaking as a shelter worker myself - the shelter will probably just toss out the old towels and sheets after you give it to them.)

Thanks for reading my rant about shelter donations :)

Cloth Diaper mamas often make diapers and (in my case) diaper doublers from old flannel and terry cloth. My friend makes her baby's bibs from old terry cloth (sometimes using old t-shirts to provide the backing). They're very cute, but then, she embelishes with great little aplique designs. If you're not the crafty type, you're likely to make some crafter's day by offering these things free on craigslist.

Also, I worked at a day care that used old towels to dry off playground eqp't the day after a rain so the kids could play outside without constant nagging of "Not there, it's wet!" So, that may be a good outlet for your old towels.

use old sheets as:

- drop cloth when you paint the house. you can even wash them after and re-use

- cover your vehicle seats when you go on a dusty road trip

- cover everything in the rented motor home that you take on vacation, it saves with clean up time

- make a back yard gypsy tent for kids' playtime (in stead of a tree house)

- shred them to 8"x8" squares, hem one side and thread them on a rope to make cool flag line for your next outdoor event or pick nick

Great Ideas! Love it! I will use these ideas in future projects.

I recently made face clothes, cleaning rags, hand towels, and fake Swiffer Wet Jet covers with an old towel (and a surger). The fake swiffer's are the best!! I just throw them in the wash and save tons of money, not to mention the waste of the swiffer pads and cardboard packaging. Without a surger, however, all this would have been a linty mess.

oh, and i actually use old sheets for waxing!
just cup / shred little strips of about 4 x 8 inches.
if used with the all natural honey way, you can just stick em in the washing machine and re-use them. they'll start fraying after a while so you might want to stick them in a laundrey bag while washing.

I've used old pillowcases to make cute summer skirts. Standard pillowcases are a perfect size medium. (It helps that I like patterned, vintage-y pillowcases, too.)

I've used old sheets (again, patterned) to make window shades, which I backed with blackout fabric. I've also used sheets and pillowcases to make drawstring laundry bags, which make great going-away gifts for travelers.

Sheeting is just handy to have around for sewing projects. You never know when you're going to need some odd bit of backing or lining.

We just covered pillows for our patio furniture with some old sheets and they're so nice. The fabric's already broken in so they don't have that "pretty but too scratchy to use" thing going on.

My mother grew up during the Great Depression and WWII. Even while I was growing up she still used the same use-it-up techniques to save money.

Old, worn sheets were cut down the center and the lesser-worn outside of the sheets would be sewn together. The result is that the worn sides get tucked under the mattress and you sleep on the "still good" portion.

Done correctly, you don't feel the seam down the center at all. Great for kids bedding so you can hand it down until it's in shreds!

all great ideas but none of these are actually 'recycling' but reuse...

The average american throws away nearly 68 pounds of textiles a year. Though people often donate their clothes, etc. to thrift stores, they often are not sold... ending up in a landfill or branding african children...

I have used old bed linens and tablecloths to make summer dresses. Many sheets and tablecloths have very interesting designs and patterns. And with sheets there is plenty of yardage.. so if there are stains it is easy to get around them.

Bikram Yoga anyone? My towels are always too short to cover my yoga mat and I always slip -- I sew old towels together to cover the entire mat.

Chop your old towels into squares, serge the edges and make your own washcloths? Sew together 4 smaller squares and add some fancy needlework edging to make your own potholders (My grandmother often made these)

Use old sheets as drapery/quilt linings?

lcatt -- I agree that the suggestions above are technically "reuse".

Ideally, an item should be reused in as many ways as possible before recycling.

Recycling usually requires some kind of transportation and processing using energy or chemicals in order to break down the components, such as turning cardboard into writing paper.

I consider reuse a form of PRE-cycling. Another way of pre-cycling, of course, it to buy only what you need after you use up what you already have.

If the towels are still usable (it was mentioned that some things simply don't make it into the rotation) It would be possible to make a nice terry cloth robe out of them.

I'm still in shock that anyone bothers to iron clothes anymore...but I use old sheets as drop cloths in my art studio, and as covers for tables in my art stall at outdoor shows.
Katy
http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com

Great ideas. I have a pile of towels and a set of sheets that are too worn out for normal use and we are up to our necks in rags made from old textiles (we can only store so many in our small condo and I bet we have 10 years worth). Anyway, someone suggested donating the towels to a local garage or other business where they can use them as rags.

Don't wash old towels that are frayed in your washing machine. Throw them out they disintergrate during washing and ruin your machine.. Dryer is a NoNo too!

old sheets, particularly the bigger ones, make great no-sew quilt backing.

I use old sheets to make my own washable menstrual pads. They are much more comfortable and reliable than disposable ones and there are lots of free online patters for them. If you think that this is gross, just think about all those disposable pads, hundreds and hundreds over your life time, sitting around in the landfill. That's gross!

I took the "donate to an animal shelter" idea one step further and made my old sheets into ferret hammocks and small animal cozies to give to rescues! You can easily line them with towels for extra thickness and snuggliness.

Please consider donating your old towels and sheets to the local SPCA, Humane Society or similar organization. We use dozens of these every day so our dogs don't have to sleep on bare concrete.

old single sheets can be sewen down the side to make sleeping bag sheets for camping, or used to make suit or dress covers to fit over coat hangers to protect clothing from the sun and dust..

i second the dog bed. i actually have the cover to a dog bed that my pups have used forever, and i just stuff it with old towels -- making it super easy to wash!

http://tearinguphouses.blogspot.com

I smile reading this posting as it brings back memories of all the things I ended up doing with inherited towels. These were fairly good towels, but after giving so many away, I ran out of people to give the rest to. So I took the best of them, got a pattern, and made many, many bath slippers out of them. They were great, when you are climbing out of the tub or shower..instant foot driers! I sewed about 1/5th of either end of some of my towels and created a one piece oven mitt. (I later found out it was better to insulate the "mitts" part with heat resistant material used on ironing boards...sigh) I made couch pillow covers from the best of these towels and cat pillows from the more worn out ones. I used towels to stuff the pillows as well. I had a cupboard full of extra towels!

I love these ideas, especially making pajama bottoms out of old sheets...add an old t-shirt with a cutaway neckline and its pure comfort!

Maybe that's what I should do with these sheets I've had 20 years now:

http/chicprovence.blogspot.com/2009/06/you-can-take-girl-out-of-south.html

I think these PJ's would make great Christmas presents this year! Make cute little matching laundry bags out of the pillow cases....love it!

Also I use old towels to cushion fragile/delicate stuff I am transporting...whether crystal or a mirror from a flea market, or a big birthday cake for a friends party, towels are flexible, stuffable, soft and pliable way to create vibration-free rides for delicate stuff....

I love the idea of braided rug from towel strips but doubt I have the patience....maybe this winter!

oops!!

http://chicprovence.blogspot.com/2009/06/you-can-take-girl-out-of-south.html

to see my old sheets soon to become PJ bottoms and laundry bags!

thanks!