You find a great jacket at The Salvation Army, check the price, and decide it’s coming home with you. But somewhere between putting it in your cart and trying it on, you may wonder: Was this actually washed after someone donated it?
It’s a fair question, especially considering how much secondhand clothing moves through thrift stores every day. The answer may also change how you handle your next thrift-store haul.
So, does The Salvation Army wash donated clothes?
Generally, you should not assume clothing from The Salvation Army has been washed before it reaches the sales floor. The Salvation Army itself asks donors to provide clean clothing, and in an official article explaining thrift-store donations, the organization notes that some people receiving clothing may need to use it immediately without having an opportunity to wash it first.
A historical account from the Christian Science Monitor also notes that a Salvation Army administrator confirmed donated clothing was not washed before being displayed for sale.
That means I would treat anything I buy there the same way I treat clothing from practically any thrift store: wash it before wearing it.
Related: 10 Things I Would Never Buy Used at Goodwill
Why wouldn’t they wash everything?
Think about the sheer amount of clothing that comes through a large thrift operation. The Salvation Army describes dealing with a high volume of materials that need to be sorted and priced, which is one reason it specifically asks donors to inspect items and provide clothing that is already clean and usable.
Washing every shirt, pair of jeans, dress, coat, and sweater would add another major step to that process. Different fabrics also require different care, so something that can go straight into a washing machine may be sitting beside wool, silk, leather, embellished clothing, or something requiring dry cleaning.
Rather than thinking of a thrift store as a laundry service, it makes more sense to think of it as the middleman between the person donating an item and the person buying it.
Related: Can You Get Bed Bugs From Thrift Store Clothes? The Truth Every Shopper Should Know
Donors are expected to do some of the work
This is the part I think many shoppers don’t realize. The Salvation Army’s guidance specifically asks people to donate clean clothing with working buttons, zippers, and snaps.
In other words, the condition of the shirt you pull from the rack can depend heavily on the person who owned it before you. Some donors probably wash, fold, and carefully bag everything before dropping it off, while others may be cleaning out an entire house and putting clothing straight into donation bags.
That difference is one reason two pieces hanging side by side can feel completely different when you’re shopping.
What happens after clothes are donated?
The exact process can vary by location, but donated merchandise must be sorted and evaluated before suitable items can be sold. The Salvation Army’s own guidance references the large volume of donations its stores must sort and price, and it asks donors not to bring items the organization can’t accept.
The organization also describes clothing donations as “gently used” on its donation site.
That doesn’t mean every piece that makes it onto a rack will look pristine. Anyone who thrifts regularly has probably encountered stains, missing buttons, odors, pet hair, or other things that somehow made it through.
This doesn’t make thrifted clothes “dirty”
The bigger takeaway is simply that cleaning your finds should be part of the thrifting process.
After years of thrifting, I already assume anything I bring home needs to be washed regardless of how clean it looks. The same goes for plenty of brand-new clothing I’ve bought from regular retailers, considering I don’t know who handled or tried those pieces on before me either.
