Do you have any old clothes laying around? If so, your first thought may have just been to throw them away. And if that’s the case, you may want to think again.
If you’re someone who highly values self-sufficiency and making unordinary uses out of ordinary items, old clothes should be the last thing that you just want to carelessly toss away. You’re about to find out why.
Here are fifteen survival uses for old clothes:
Cleaning Rags
This is arguably the simplest way to reuse old clothes, and especially for old T-shirts.
Simply cut up the shirts and other clothing items into smaller pieces, and you can use them to wipe down surfaces in your kitchen, bathrooms, or other rooms of your home.
It would certainly save you money versus having to go buy new towels.
Cordage
Cut strips of fabric from old clothes to make improvised cordage for tying shelters, securing gear, or fashioning traps.
During a crisis, old clothes can be repurposed into essential cordage for shelter building.
⇒ The Only 3 Shelters You’ll Need to Survive in the Wild
By tearing strips of fabric from worn-out garments, you can create sturdy cords to tie together branches, construct shelters, and secure tarps or other materials for protection against the elements
Blanket (or Quilt)
If you’re short on blankets, old clothes might be the next best alternative.
It’s possible to stitch pieces of clothes together to make a makeshift quilt or blanket, or alternatively, you can just use the clothes individually.
Larger coats would be better for this use.
Patch Old Clothes
Do you have any clothes that have become ripped or torn? If so, you can use pieces of old clothing to patch them up with nothing else more other than a needle and thread.
For example, you can repair a rip in a pair of jeans with the piece of another old pair of jeans. They may not look quite as nice, but they’ll still function just as well.
Makeshift Bandage or Tourniquet
One of the more critical survival use cases for old clothes is to use them as a makeshift bandage or tourniquet for open wounds. Just make sure that the clothes are washed and clean before wrapping them up over the site of an open wound to prevent the risk of infection.
Learn more here about the 10 medical supplies you need to stockpile before it’s too late. With the right supplies and knowledge, you will increase your chances of survival in emergency situations.
Makeshift Sling or Splint
On that same note, you can also use old clothes as a makeshift sling or to help fashion a splint.
You can tie old shirts or a pair of pants together, sling it around your shoulder, and then place your affected arm through the resulting sling.
To make a makeshift splint, you can attach sticks or wooden poles to the sides of your affected limb to act as a splint, and then wrap an old shirt or pieces of clothes around the sticks to hold them securely in place.
Build a Stretcher
If you find two large wooden poles, you can tie a pair of old pants, jackets, or shirts in between the two poles to create a makeshift stretcher.
Make a Bandana
Either tie an old shirt or a large enough piece of old clothing around your neck, and you can turn it into a makeshift bandana. Bandanas serve an abundance of survival uses, so this isn’t something you’ll want to overlook. A bandana can be used to protect your neck from the sun, cover your nose and mouth from smoke, or be used as a cool compress.
Fire Starter
Old clothes can be excellent for getting a fire going.
This is because most clothes are made out of natural fibers (such as linen, cotton, or wool), which are very flammable.
Use a knife or a pair of scissors to shred up your clothes into smaller strips, and then place these strips into the middle of a pile of dry kindling materials with the ends of the strips sticking out.
Ignite the strips, and the fire should spread into the kindling to heat it up before igniting. You can gradually add more fuel from there.
Makeshift Water Filter
In a survival situation, access to clean water is crucial for maintaining health and hydration. By stretching fabric over containers, they effectively filter out debris from collected water. However, it’s crucial to note that filtration alone isn’t sufficient; water should also be purified through boiling, chemical treatment, or filtration devices to remove pathogens.
You can learn here a cheap and easy way to create an ingenious rainwater harvesting and purification system capable of storing 165 gallons of water.
Shelter Building
You can also use old clothes to aid you in building survival shelters. For example, you can use strips of old pants or T-shirts to secure a tarp to trees to make a lean-to survival shelter.
Alternatively, you can use old clothes as makeshift bedding, pillows, or to use as blankets to help keep you warm.
Building Makeshift Survival Weapons
You can also use old clothes to help you make makeshift survival weapons. For example, you can use strips of old clothes to lash a knife to the end of a wooden pole to make a survival spear.
Slingshot
If you remove the elastic part of the waistband of a pair of underwear, you can affix it to a forked stick to create a slingshot. It’s actually more effective than you may think.
Related: 7 Homemade Weapons That a Prepper Should Have
Sun Protection
You can use old clothes to protect your skin from the sun. One idea is to wrap an old shirt or pair of pants around the top of your head to act as a makeshift sunhat and protect your forehead, face, and neck from the sun’s UV rays. It may look a little goofy, but it will get the job done.
Mittens
You should always include an extra pair of socks in your survival kit. Not only can they be used as spares in case the socks on your feet get wet, but you can also place them over your hands to use as makeshift mittens for keeping your hands warm
Your clothes are more versatile than just their intended use. When you have old clothes that you’re considering throwing away, don’t. Either give them away to someone else in need, or repurpose them for your survival like we’ve gone over in the above use cases.
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this is an informative article but i would like to point out that you should never tie your knife to a pole for a spear. if you have to use it on an animal and the animal isn’t killed but runs off you just lost your knife. if you have a knife sharpen the stick and use that keeping your knife with you. once on a hike my wife fell off a small waterfall into a pflume and fractured her arm. we used our belts to make a sling so we could walk out of the woods which was a good mile. its good to improvise when you need to. denim jeans cut into pieces make good pot holders and white t-shirts make good gun cleaning rags. i’m too cheap to buy them. when my dog ran under a barb wire fence and sliced both ears open the vet told me to take a sock, cut the toe out and slip it over the dogs head. this made a pressure bandage and stopped the bleeding. who knew?
Barter.
Being from a depression family and parents that lived the event and taught us to appreciate what we have and a military family that seen 4 wars and loyal to the usa , not taitors like the current politicians
NOTHING is wasted , everything is recycled for a second purpose
Rags, bandages, wraps , hardening of existing cloths , nothing is wasted
use , think thru what you use, what you do , how to reuse everything
in a society that is being trained to have nothing , never think about tomorrow or the consequence of thier actions
and a stupid generation of anything is ok , NOW , Get what you want today , no morals, no restraints, no consequence for action s
This is why the Invasion , all countries , Total anarky , koas, failure to communicate and use or have common sense
Easily controled, easily subdued, easily conquered
Everything Free, Fast , and NOW
that is what has been raised today
Well , Hardship is coming, consequence is coming, judgement for anti God action is coming
most important , plan , prepare, train, educate while we can
owe no man anything except the debt of love , pay off your debt
I really bothers me to say this but it is true.
The only thing with less intelligence than Joe Biden is a supporter of Joe Biden.
Be ready for anything this coming year. Nowadays it’s not if something stupid will happen, it’s when. People are oblivious to the danger. People. Be wise. Sincerely be wise.
How does this have to do with the subject being discussed? Are you a Trump supporter? If you are, your name says “Chaplin” so you must concider your self a Christian. If you do concider yourself a Christian, how can you possibly support a man like Trump, a criminal and a rapist. Don’t be a hypocrite. Pray on that… I’ll pray for you.
When Jesus was active, he went into places where the sinners were. He cavorted with those that needed saving. He was there to save!
Criminal – rapist – where is your proof? Judge thee not, for thee will be judged!
From your post you need to pray for yourself! Your soul is blackened with hate based upon rumors and not facts of which are indisputable.
Any sane person can see he is being persecuted far more than any other person. Not saying he is Christ, but he is standing in the sandles of Christ by false accusations and hate from others.
I don’t support Biden but our elected officals MUST be held to a higher standard than Trump can obtain. Where is my proof? I didn’t do the judging like MikMikekee claims. The trial judge did. And I’m saure when our Lord judges Mr. Trump it will be na doosie.
Judge not lest you be judged; MikMikekee; you are judging ME!
I do pray for myself daily. I have no hate for anyone. Facts are facts; veritas MikMikekee, punishment is what he deserves. and trhe only one that questions my sanity is my wife!
Sandles of Christ? Trump wears the flip-flops of lucifer.
If he is re-elected, all hell will break loose. I’m a Republican/NRA member who pays attention to the happenings in this world; not the spoutings of the head-in-the-sand right-wing Trumpster zombies.
And again I ask, “What does this have to do with the subject being discussed?”
It really bothers me to say this…
Christians aren’t Christian if they support baby killers like the democrats.
Christians believe God is the creator. People involved with abortions try to override God’s desire.
Richard Nixon resigned Aug. 9th 1974. Wasn’t he the President on Jan. 22, 1973 when Roe v Wade was put into law? (One of my favorite Presidents by the way), Oleo Ranch Ranch; look it up. He was a lifelong Republican and was in office when Roe V Wade was passed, not a Democrat! I am a right-to-life, (but not for rape, insest, or mothers life). Using abortion as a form of birth control just pisses me off. I’m a REGAN Republican, what would he or Nixon say about Trump. They were from WWII and it wouldn’t be pretty!
Let me bring this discussion back to what to do with old ratty clothing. We could save the clothing and give it to all the pregnant women and girls and their babies on welfare that have been saved by your type the Republicans, Oleo.
Heresay does not constitute proof. Try sticking to the original subject.
The discussion is about repurposing old clothes.
Old clothes (in generally good condition) are valuable when the supply chain is disrupted.
Old clothes in need of repair are still clothes.
Old clothes that can not be effectively repaired are (as one person pointed out) can be used to repurpose items such as zippers and buttons.
The fabrics can also be used for a multitude of different purposes.
The same is true for threads. Repair of fabric requires threads, (to say nothing of knowing how to repair them which is paramount in this situation)
All fabric is made from thread. Reclaimed thread will assist with repurposing clothes that cannot be repaired.
It’s also a good idea to get some good scissors and know how to sharpen them. Repairing clothes also requires needles.
I haven’t seen anyone talk about those items here. The ladies will understand what you need.
As a side note, I’ve been collecting treadle sewing machines. They don’t require electricity and make the work easier.
Put your time and energy into good advice and guidance and leave the politics to others who might not be ready for what we expect. YMMV
YES, Tevye. This is what I’ve been saying all along since Chaplin brought this up.
I guess I just can’t leave BS. lay in the path without shoveling it up.
Thumbs up. Chaplin Dan
How about “Char Cloth”
1. Metal tin (altoids type).
2. Punch a small hole.
3. Cut up natural fiber cloth.
4. Lay the small pieces of cloth in the tin.
5. Cook on a heat source, red hot coals is best until it smoke stops
6. Flip it over and cook the other side until the smoke stops
7. Let cool, and set aside for at least 30 min.
8. Open and check contents. Should look like charcoal all through.
9. If not coal appearing, cook again. Should be somewhat flexable.
10. If all ashes, it’s overcooked, toss it and try again.
11. Store char cloth in the tin you cook it in.
Take a piece out and lay down on the on a dry bit of tinder with some light tinder on top, hit it with a spar, here comes fire!
Check out You tube for how to vids. Stickin’ on subject!
Lights out.
One thing you omitted in the use of old clothes is for women when they run out of disposable materials for their monthly periods. Indian women used moss. Old rags are a better idea.
I had already thought of that and saved up some spongey material I came across that I think I can make use of in this way if/when it ever comes to it and it’s washable. I’m not even sure what it is called because it’s not a sponge just feels like it lol… But I think it will work, if in a pinch!
You can make reusable menstrual pads. It would make sense to make them now and try them out now so you can see how they work for you or what adjustments you need to make. Then if everything hits the fan, at least you’d have that sorted.
In a similar vein, cotton clothing can be repurposed as diapers.
If you can afford it you can buy reusable menstrual pads and diapers online. The cheapest place that I have found is TEMU. Yes it comes from China, but everything else does too. I bought a set just to see how they are constructed. Now I can make them myself using old clothes.
I say, No Commit…
If the clothes are in good shape but the wrong size they become good trading material, especially children’s clothes.
insulation, bedding, water filter, water wick, candle wick, soaked in sap for a torch, bolo sling, sunshade, the list is endless
Wool is actually fairly fire resistant
One thing not mentioned is that if you’re cutting up the old clothes to keep the buttons and zippers. They can come in handy.
I remember a neighborhood girl’s mom making her a purse from her favorite pair of jeans that had worn out. She used the top part of the jeans as the bag part and used the legs to make cordage that served as a shoulder strap.
Old pairs of pants that have seen better days can be converted to shirts or skirts.
Another thing the article didn’t mention was that old clothes may also help improve one’s ability to remain a gray man. If everyone around you is dressed in worn out clothing, wearing old clothes over newer ones will preserve your newer clothes and not draw attention.
With all the BS in these comments it is good to remember that old clothes are good for cleaning up the keister.
Left out is the use I hang on to old garments for. Barter, my bride made me retire the perfectly serviceable blue jeans I wore because they had a 32″ Inseam and she thinks having the pants drag on the back of ones heel looks more stylish, hence I replaced them with 34″. I figure they are worth keeping as a barter item if things go bad.