Quick answer
Sort outgrown kids' clothes into three groups: still wearable, still lovable but worn, and truly finished. Wearable pieces go to a friend, a kringloopwinkel, a children's clothing charity or a resale app. Everything else — including torn, stained and single socks — belongs in a textile container, not the residual waste bin, as long as it is clean, dry and bagged.
Children outgrow clothes faster than almost anything else we buy them. A jumper that fitted in October is a crop top by March. And then the pile appears: the one on the chair in the hallway that nobody quite knows what to do with.
In the Netherlands there is actually a well-organised system waiting for that pile. It just isn't obvious from the outside. Here is how to move a bag of outgrown kidswear through it without guessing.
Step one: make three piles, not one
Almost every mistake at this stage comes from treating the pile as a single thing. Ten minutes of sorting decides whether a garment gets another two years of life or gets shredded into insulation. Sort by condition, not by sentiment:
- Still wearable. No holes, no set-in stains, elastic still has spring. This is your highest-value pile — somebody else's child can wear it tomorrow.
- Nearly there. A blown knee, a missing button, a mark that might come out. Ten minutes of mending moves this into pile one.
- Finished. Threadbare, felted, permanently stained, or a lone sock. Still useful — just not as clothing.
Before you write off pile two, it's worth a try: many kid-clothing problems are a patch or a soak away from solved. Our guide to repairing kids' clothes covers the three repairs that actually matter.
Passing it on: the highest-value route
Reuse always beats recycling. A garment worn by a second child keeps its full value; a garment shredded into wiping cloths keeps a fraction of it. So start with the people closest to you.
Beyond friends and neighbours, the Netherlands has a dense network of options. Kringloopwinkels — second-hand shops found in most Dutch cities — accept donations of clean, wearable clothing, and some, like Kringloop West in Amsterdam, will collect larger donations by van or cargo bike. Stichting Babyspullen is worth knowing specifically for baby and toddler clothing: the foundation assembles starter packages for parents who can't afford new baby items, and accepts new and used clothing in sizes 50 to 92 through red collection containers around the country. They don't take bulky items like prams, cots or baby baths.
If you'd rather trade than give, a kinderkledingbeurs (children's clothing market) or a neighbourhood clothing swap turns the pile into the next size up, which is the whole point.
Reselling: worth it, selectively
Vinted and Marktplaats are the two platforms most Dutch households recognise for second-hand clothing, and both work well for kidswear. But be honest about the maths: photographing, listing and posting a €4 t-shirt costs more time than it returns. Resale earns its keep on outerwear, rainwear, shoes in good condition, and well-made basics from brands parents already search for.
Two things reliably improve a listing. First, shoot in daylight — warm indoor bulbs turn soft pastels a muddy yellow and make clean clothes look stained. Second, give the eye a sense of scale: small garments photographed alone on a plain background look like doll clothes, so lay them flat with a familiar object nearby or photograph them on a hanger. And selling a handful of your own children's clothes is a private sale, not a business — you're not expected to declare it as trading income.
| Route | Best for | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Friends & family | Anything still wearable | Lowest |
| Kringloopwinkel | Mixed bags of wearable clothing | Low |
| Children's clothing charity | Baby sizes 50–92, good condition | Low |
| Vinted / Marktplaats | Coats, rainwear, shoes, known brands | High |
| Textile container | Worn out, torn, odd socks | Lowest |
The textile container: more forgiving than you think
This is where most parents get it wrong, usually out of politeness. Worn-out clothing goes in the textile container too — you do not need to bin it. Dutch municipalities are explicit that torn and worn-out textiles belong in the textile container, where they're processed into new materials rather than burned.
The rules that do matter:
- Clean and dry. A wet bag can spoil an entire container of otherwise reusable clothing.
- Bagged and tied. Put textiles in a plastic bag and knot it before dropping it in.
- No oil or paint stains. These contaminate the sorting stream and belong elsewhere.
- Shoes tied in pairs, so they don't get separated in sorting.
What happens next is genuinely interesting. Collected textiles go to a sorting centre and are separated into more than thirty categories — coats, jeans, underwear, damaged clothing, shoes. The best pieces are resold in second-hand shops. Lower-grade material becomes cleaning cloths, insulation, or padding for things like car seats, and recycled fibres are increasingly being spun back into new fabric.
Why the system changed
Since 1 July 2023, Dutch clothing producers have been legally responsible for what happens to their products after they're discarded, under extended producer responsibility rules for textiles (UPV Textiel). In practice that means brands have to make it possible for you to hand in old textiles at any time, free of charge, and they are held to collection and reuse targets: from 2025, half of the textile placed on the market must be prepared for reuse or recycling, rising to 75% by 2030.
The reason for the rules is blunt. Dutch households still discard hundreds of millions of kilos of textiles each year, and a large share of it goes out with the residual waste and gets incinerated — clothing that could have been worn again. Sorting one bag properly is a small act, but it is the point where the system either works or doesn't.
It's also the reason we design our own pieces oversized and gender-neutral: a garment cut to fit for two years and to suit any child is a garment with a realistic second and third life. You can see what that looks like in our Twice Loved collection.
FAQ
Can I put ripped or stained kids' clothes in the textile container?
Yes. Torn and worn-out clothing is accepted and gets recycled into new materials. The exceptions are textiles with oil or paint stains, and anything wet or dirty — those should not go in.
Do I need to wash everything before donating?
Yes, clean and dry is the baseline requirement for both charity donations and textile containers. It doesn't need to be pressed or perfect — just washed.
Where can I donate baby clothes specifically?
Stichting Babyspullen accepts new and used baby clothing in sizes 50 to 92 via red collection containers, and uses it to make starter packages for families who need them. Local kringloopwinkels and neighbourhood initiatives also take baby clothing.
Is it worth selling kids' clothes on Vinted?
For coats, rainwear, shoes and well-made basics, usually yes. For low-value single items the time and postage rarely pay off — those are better donated in a bag with everything else.
What about single socks and underwear?
Textile container. Sorting centres have a category for damaged and low-grade textiles, which is where these end up — as cleaning cloths, insulation or padding rather than landfill or the incinerator.
How often should I do this?
Twice a year is enough for most families — once before autumn layering starts and once in spring. Anything more often and you're sorting clothes that still fit.