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Post by Little_Ninja on Jun 21, 2008 11:17:32 GMT -5
  !!!  I spent a couple of hours last night preparing my old 94" leather couch to be ready for donation. I wiped it clean with a damp cloth. I put duct tape on the one major area where the leather was cracked and worn. I fluffed up the cushions, and I added new velcro tape underneath the most worn seat cushion. But when the Salvation Army came to pick up my donation, the guy told me they couldn't accept it in its condition!!! He said the Salvation Army accepts only furniture that can be re-sold. I thought my couch would be good for a family who'd just suffered through a tornado, hurricane, or fire. But my couch wasn't good enough, because it was worn in some places and I put duct tape on the cracked leather areas. (The reason it was so worn was because it was such a comfortable "sleeping" couch!) I had neglected to condition the leather over the past 13 years, and that's why the worn areas were so dry and cracked. I will call the Red Cross and see if they can accept the couch, but I definitely do not want to give it away, only to find out it ended up in a landfill! I'll keep the couch if I have to. It was soooooo comfortable to sleep on!. Little_Stinker and I shared many nights on that couch, snoring head-to-head. My tastes aren't so hoity-toity as to think that the couch is totally worthless! I don't really have a "guest room" nor do I ever have any overnight guests other than my sister. I thought I'd buy a full-sized sofa sleeper for guests, but to hell with that! I'll just give up my bed in the master bedroom to my guest and I'll sleep on the "sleeping couch." Little_Ninja |
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Post by mouse on Jun 21, 2008 11:20:48 GMT -5
Holy cow, LN!
I didn't think the Salvation Army was that picky! Certainly they didn't bother looking through the bag of clothes I brought last week. Maybe they'll go through it later and just toss whatever they deem "unfit."
Sheesh.
Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth! I bet there are plenty of people who would have been happy to have your comfy couch.
Do you have Freecycle in your area? Maybe that's a better bet for you, if you don't want to keep it.
~Mouse
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Post by Script on Jun 21, 2008 11:42:23 GMT -5
!!! But my couch wasn't good enough, because it was worn in some places and I put duct tape on the cracked leather areas. dear LN and others: please accept my remarks in the spirit of respect with which I offer them. I have heard that some charities do not accept anything upholstered anymore, because of: *mould *bugs *contaminants (urine, blood) *mice and other rodent nests *other health concerns I am sure your couch is fine, and I am sure that there are people who would appreciate it. BUT, from the charity's point of view, they have to protect THEMSELVES, their premises and their workers from health problems that could come in from upholstery. My uncle once brought home some VERY GOOD furniture from his vacation home in florida. It sat in a warehouse for a while before he could move it. BAM! Mice nests in the upholstery......he had to pitch everything except for the solid wood items. On my street, people put out big upholstered furniture items: they are usually picked up by street scavengers in trucks who cruise around specifically looking for stuff. Perhaps this is not allowed by your association? good luck with this disposal issue. ps: I think that less than half of the items received by GoodWill can be sold. They have to trash the rest. Sad but true. |
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Post by metamorpha on Jun 21, 2008 11:45:52 GMT -5
 Seriously ... I would offer it on Craigslist or Freecycle. Some youngins would be happy to have a big leather couch ... even if it has worn places on it. |
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Post by mouse on Jun 21, 2008 12:40:38 GMT -5
Script,
I hadn't even thought of that! Good points, all of them. I guess I'm a little naive when it comes to that sort of thing: it would never occur to me that anyone would give away a sofa that had been contaminated by mice or blood or urine, but I guess there are all sorts of people that make up this world (and maybe in their minds the mice/blood/urine "aren't that bad" and they genuinely mean well), and it's up to the people who deal with this sort of thing every day to make enlightened decisions.
I know that couches go up on Freecycle all the time here in Montreal.
~Mouse
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Post by Script on Jun 21, 2008 14:58:11 GMT -5
it would never occur to me that anyone would give away a sofa that had been contaminated by mice or blood or urine FURTHERMORE, many people might not even KNOW about the contamination. I am totally serious about this. Just because you can't SEE the stains, it doesn't mean that the item is clean. We have discovered that a frequent guest to our home DROPS a huge amount of food (he has some form of parkinson's or other condition, and his hand shakes badly). Our OLD dining room chairs were multi-colour TWEED: never showed any dirt. Our NEW chairs are single-toned light-colour fabric: and on Dr. E's usual chair, there are now some stains!!!!! I forgot to mention INSURANCE ISSUES. I would NOT want to be the underwriters for GoodWill, Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul: or any place that deals with used items. |
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Post by Little_Ninja on Jun 21, 2008 16:59:56 GMT -5
Well, nope...there was no blood or urine on my couch. Just years of wear and dog jumping and sleeping. I checked out freecycle.org and found there's a group in my town. I didn't post the couch though. I thought about it and decided to WAIT and check out a leather sofa company that sells the same style as mine. I'll ask them if they do re-upholstering on leather couches. If they do, I'd spend the money to have the couch re-upholstered. It is sooo, sooo comfortable. I thought that by giving the couch away, I'd have room to buy a sofa sleeper, but I used to have one that ended up being too big to put in my spare bedroom (the room that was going to be my guest room), so it had to live in my living room. It took up so much space, didn't match my leather furniture pieces, and it was rarely used except by me, 'cos I let my guests sleep in my master bedroom. So I gave it away back in 2006. (The Salvation Army accepted it!) But now I want to put a moratorium on buying any new furniture for my house. There just simply isn't any room. So I'll check it out about getting the sofa re-upholstered first, then see where I'll go from there. ETA: I found this link, and the people are located in my D/FW area! www.protouchrestorations.com/gallery.htmLittle_Ninja |
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Post by MsHavisham on Jun 21, 2008 20:57:18 GMT -5
I don't want to rain on your parade, Little_Ninja, but before you reupholster, please think about how many good years you think you can get out of the frame, springs, etc. I have been burned trying that one before..  |
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Post by reesa on Jun 22, 2008 2:39:33 GMT -5
I worked at a thrift store for a while. We would rag-bag all the clothing that could not be sold, it would get shredded for paper or sent for ragging (thye make cleaning rags out of it by the ton)...all towels and blankets we got that we couldn't sell went to the aspca, they came in a truck once a month and took them to distribute. They also recycled paper, glass...metal. We had a junk-guy who would come and fill up his truck with furniture and the like, he made his living by disassembling it for the wood and metal.
Just because they can't sell it doesn't mean they will waste it if you drop it off.
However for picking up big stuff they often refuse because of the cost it takes for them to get it back to the store only to hand it to someone else immediatly.
freecycle works really well or just post to craigslist that you're putting them on the curb.
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Post by reesa on Jun 22, 2008 2:42:56 GMT -5
note: I did not work for salvation army. They often refuse things that other thrift stores will take.
I remember a lady bringing a bunch of books once, really good literature- they would not take any of them. They were in good condition but many were philosophy books, and the sal is known for its "twee christian" book fetish.
Also they would not take a lot of clothing and many items of furniture, that the store I was at WOULD take. We had people on staff to repair many things or restore them to working order.
you could call other thrift stores in your area, too.
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Post by merrymaid on Jun 22, 2008 5:57:33 GMT -5
Goodwill refused to take our old dresser and dressing table (both 50-60 years old, scratched, and needed to be refinished.)
It made me feel sad...like what I'd had for years was not good enough to give away! We took them to the local charity shop and they took them gladly. Now we always go there as everything is used locally.
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Post by Little_Ninja on Jun 22, 2008 7:00:46 GMT -5
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Post by Alexandra on Jun 22, 2008 16:17:44 GMT -5
Around here, people go trash-hunting. Set something out on the curb that might be useful (night before pick-up), and within an hour it's gone. You see people going up and down the street in pick-up trucks looking.
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Post by messysue on Jun 22, 2008 16:23:02 GMT -5
How is a leather couch conditioned?
How often?
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Post by syzygy on Jun 22, 2008 17:39:52 GMT -5
You're not alone, Little Ninja. A couple of years ago I tried to donate a couch to SA. I got it a few years earlier from my grandmother, but wasn't able to keep it. The sofa was in good shape, in a 50's style; I am almost certain it was made in the 50s.
I'm not sure whether it was that they saw the design and decided they didn't want anything that old or whether it was the wear. It wasn't mice- that one I'm sure about!
Regardless, I ended up putting it on the street after putting out a Freecycle "come and get it" call. It vanished before the garbage truck arrived.
As green as I try to be, I've taken "recycling vacations" and I've put things on the sidewalk that strictly speaking were usable. I agonized over it, but I decided that I had to do it or I'd end up (again) with a room/apartment full of junk.
One other comment: I couple of years ago I read about the lifecycle of donated clothing. Basically, the ripped/stained stuff gets turned into rags. The rest of the clothing goes from one place to the next as the best stuff is picked to sell and the rest is sent to a place that accepts "lower quality" stuff. Eventually, a lot of it ends up overseas where it is sold for pennies. If you've ever seen a documentary on dirt-poor countries and saw people wearing "American" clothing, it's because they can buy it for pennies which is much cheaper than making "traditional" clothing.
Not all donated clothing takes that route, but there is a huge network of places like this. So the next time you donate a piece of clothing, remember that you are part of a global network- and that your shirt may end up on the other side of the world.
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