How to Recycle Old Clothes: Trashie vs Retold Recycling

Last updated on December 29th, 2025 at 09:06 am

Over the years, I’ve gotten slightly better at using more clothing until their “end of life”. Holes that I can’t patch, stains that are fossilized, etc. I used to turn some of these into rags, especially t-shirts, but even then, I’ve accumulated more rags that I need!

In an effort to avoid sending this clothing right to landfill, I went in search of textile recycling options. There are two online providers: Trashie (fka For Days Take Back Bag) and Retold Recycling. I decided to try both — with my thoughts below.

Overview

Both Retold & Trashie have similar business models. As a donator, you pay a fee (about $15 – $25) for the shipping label and bag, which they will send to you to fill and return.

For clothing that is still in good-to-excellent condition, they will try to extend the life by passing them to charity and thrift stores. For clothing that is too worn out, they will either send to textile recycling facilities or lastly, places that will use scraps to make insulation, etc. as not all materials can be recycled.

Note: As a sewist, I was hoping to be able to send my scrap fabric pieces as well. At the time I was testing, neither accepted fabric scraps – but now both do! More details below.

It’s not free?

Admittedly, I was initially taken aback by the fee – after all, donating to our local Goodwill is free. However, not every location will do textile recycling – which means, otherwise worn out clothing that could be recycled ends up in landfill.

After reading more about what goes into the textile recycling process, the fee makes more sense to me. While recyclers can make some money from either charing for processing, and/or for the final materials to suppliers, it’s still a resource intensive process.

Comparison

Retold charges a lower fee of $15.85 for a single solo bag that fits approx. 5 lbs of clothing. Getting a one-time multi-pack can save you up to 10%, and signing up for a subscription service will save 5% and allow you to redeem discounts from Retold Partners.

Note: Retold now offers a 3-in-a-box set for $15; however, this set does not include a return shipping label, which you (or your giftee) must purchase separately. Retold offers a label printing service for $11 per label.

Trashie charges a fee of $24.85 for a single solo bag that fits approx. 15 lbs of clothing. Subscribing (every 1, 3 or 6 months) can save you up to 5%. Every returned Trashie bag will get you $30 in Trashie Cash, which can be redeemed with their partners for shopping discounts and gift cards.

As you can see above, while Trashie is more expensive, the larger bag fits slightly more volume per dollar, compared to Retold. So if you have a lot of items, it may be worthwhile to pay more for the larger bag.

The Trashie Scraps bag is slightly smaller than their clothing bag, which brings it to a similar cost as Retold’s Scraps.

Retold

• Pros: At $15.50, it is technically less expensive than For Days
• The scraps bag is more usable for me personally, as they accept a greater variety of fabrics. While I do have a lot of quilting cotton scraps, I also have plenty of viscose, rayon, and some yarn too.
• Cons: I wish the bag size were somewhat larger, though I understand that the compostable materials they use may not hold up well with too much weight.
• Their partner rewards program is newer, and smaller than Trashie’s. It’s not as compelling to me to spend more on a subscription to access this, vs saving on a one-time 10-pack.

Trashie

• Pros: Great if you have a high volume of clothing, as their bags fit more.
• Cons: Pricier, if you’re just trying things out for the first time.
• Scraps bag is perfect for quilters, but might be limiting for other types of sewists and crafters.
• Most of the partner rewards are Z% off purchase, or $X off purchase greater than $Y. While I get it, I don’t love the fact that it requires me to spend more (and thus, accumulate more stuff), to use it.

The Verdict

All in all, I’d honestly say these two are similar. However, for clothing, Trashie wins with its larger bag (as I recycle for two) and for scraps, Retold wins with its more versatile bag. Ultimately, I see their rewards programs as a bonus perk. If there is something I was already going to buy from a partner, I will use the rewards cash. But I try not to buy something just for the sake of it!

Note: If you’re looking to redeem Trashie points, here are my favorite deals:

• $20 off Allbirds
• $20 off $40 at For Days
  • $48 Harvest & Mill Tee it’s lightweight, but full US supply chain & production
  • Various home goods less than $40 – love the Guppy laundry bag and these colorful hand towels
• $80 off $160 at For Days
  • Trashie has a sliding scale selection for the discount at For Days – you can select the amount in increments of $10, and it will always be at 50% off
  • With a higher discount amount, this means you could get 50% higher priced brands. Recently, I did this for a Knotty Ones sweater and Alohas sneakers!
• (no points) 30% off your first order at Thrive Market
• (no points) Up to 50% off AMC movie tickets

Let me know if you’ve tried either, and what you think!

Partnership Disclosure: This blog post was not sponsored by any of the brands listed above. As always, all opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links, in which I earn a commission on purchases.