Ideas for Reusing Old Clothes and Textiles in the Garden

Ideas for Reusing Old Clothes and Textiles in the Garden

Upcycling aged outfits and textiles in your yard can be a good way to obtain new lifestyle in outdated components, and maintain those people objects from waste streams. Producing use of these outdated resources can also support us minimize the points that we may perhaps require to get to retain our gardens and change them into the effective and eye-catching sites we want them to be. 

When pondering about how to use old outfits and other reclaimed fabrics in our gardens, the initially factor to contemplate is which materials we are conversing about. Both equally aged artificial fabrics and pure materials can have a selection of takes advantage of in a backyard garden. 

The works by using for synthetic fabrics can be very distinctive from the works by using for entirely normal materials, which will crack down and rot more than time. Some recommendations for upcycling both of these styles of cloth are outlined down below:

Upcycling Previous Artificial Textiles in a Back garden

Ahead of we get started chatting about the takes advantage of for outfits and textiles in a backyard, it is worthwhile getting the time to look at the caveats to this. 

The elephant in the area when it will come to artificial fabrics reuse and upcycling is the microplastic particles, which these resources shed through their lifetimes and will go on to lose over time. These particles are just one of the explanations that, wherever doable, we should aim to pick purely natural fabrics relatively than synthetics when picking out garments and comfortable furnishings for our homes. 

Of course, some materials will be worse than other individuals when it will come to shedding microplastics, and it is most effective to steer clear of using these worst offenders in your garden, to steer clear of even more contamination of the surroundings.


Sew cloth pockets or use an aged hanging shoe organizer for a vertical garden.

Jasemin Abazi / EyeEm / Getty Visuals


Upcycling Aged Normal Garments in a Backyard

Old pure clothes or other residence textiles designed from natural components like linen, cotton, wool, silk and so on. can also be really handy in a yard, although they will usually not continue being in spot for as very long as artificial materials as they will split down and decompose in a natural surroundings over time. 

Of system, old material scraps can normally just be additional to a composting technique. Though bear in mind that these can choose a large amount for a longer time than food items waste or typical garden waste to break down. But just before we compost them, they could arrive in handy to aid us to steer clear of shopping for new factors.

Upcycling Tips for Previous Garments and Textiles

Try to remember, synthetic fabrics can past a very long time and will not rot down rapidly. All-natural clothes can get a when to split down, but in moist ailments in get in touch with with soil, they will typically do so in somewhat quick order. 

To Make New Rising Areas


You could even upcycle a canvas shoe, should you come across your self with a lone one.
Elva Etienne / Getty Photographs

Aged materials could possibly be utilised to develop matters to enable us create new developing regions or containers, these as:

  • A fabric planting pocket vertical garden.
  • The membrane layer in a wicking bed (among the drinking water reservoir and the soil). 
  • Lining for selected upcycled planters. 
  • Quirky outfits planters. (These types of as a wacky hanging planter manufactured from underwear, or trousers planters, for example). 
  • Fabric expand bags for a extensive selection of crops. 

To Defend Vegetation

Outdated textiles can be used to increase the expanding disorders in a supplied place, this sort of as:

  • Cloches or row covers for plants. 
  • Wraps to preserve container crops from freezing in winter. 
  • A sunlight shade for individuals or plants in summer season. 

For Normal Assist

  • A scarecrow to keep birds off your crops (or maybe just for pleasurable). 
  • Ties to tie in vegetation to their supports (for vertical rising). 
  • Upcycled fabric tote luggage in which to acquire and have backyard deliver. 

For Furnishing and Fun


Just swap the lawn for a meadow, and voila.

Jonas Rannbro / Getty Visuals


Previous outfits and textiles could possibly perhaps also be used in means that assist us develop the far more pleasurable and leisure components of our gardens. They may well be utilised, for example, to produce:

  • Hammocks or other back garden seating.
  • Outside rag rugs or upholstery for out of doors living locations. 
  • A tent or den for little ones. 

If you use your creativeness, you can before long see that even when outfits, outdated bedding, or other elements are no extended fit for their primary goal, they could possibly obtain, at least temporarily, a new lease of existence in your garden.