Mixed Rags play an important part of creating sustainability in the textile industry.
Because of the second hand clothing industry, each year approximately four billion pounds of used clothing is kept from the landfill. This is especially important because nearly 100% of all textiles are recyclable in some way. Used clothing items that are unsuitable for wearing can be cut and used as wiping rags or shredded and used as upholstery stuffing, carpet padding, and home insulation, or used in the production of new products such as blankets, tablet and phone cases, rugs, clothing items, and more.
Mixed Rags
The term 'mixed rags' refers to a category of used clothing that either didn't sell in a resale setting, or was unsuitable for resale due to imperfections such as stains, tears, broken zippers, missing buttons, etc. Mixed Rags are sometimes referred to as 'institutional mixed rags' or simply 'institutional clothing'. This category of used clothing is baled and sold in bulk. Baled mixed rags are sold by weight.
After clothing is donated to a thrift store or charity, it is sorted. Items that are clean and in good condition are sent to the storefront for resale. Some used clothing items, however, are not suitable for resale due to imperfections (stains, tears, broken zippers, missing buttons, etc). These items are sent to a warehouse where they are compressed into bales of used clothing and stored until they can be sold to used clothing wholesalers. Similarly, if donated items do not sell, they are removed from the storefront, sent to a warehouse, compressed into bales of used clothing and stored until they, too, can be sold. It is not uncommon to find thrift store price tags still attached to clothing items in mixed rag bales.
MIXED RAGS ARE IMPORTANT WORLDWIDE. 45% of mixed rags are sold to other markets (either domestically or overseas) as secondhand clothing. 30% are cut into wiping rags and sold for use in industrial markets (automotive, home improvement, manufacturing, etc), and 20% are shredded and processed into fiber to be used as upholstery stuffing, carpet padding, home insulation, and more. Only 5% of mixed rags are unusable due to chemical contamination or water damage.
We provide quality at affordable prices worldwide
of the nearly 5 billion pounds of used clothing donated each year, only 10-20% is sold in a resale setting.
that means approximately 4 billion pounds of used clothing is available for other markets in the mixed rags industry. we provide shipments of mixed rags both domestically and overseas.
