Specifications for bag collections from UK charities

These are generally known as "charity rags".

The textiles picked up from shops should be donated from UK sources, not from imported clothing brought into UK by the charity, nor from landfill sites or rummage sales.

These should be lots of mixed UK donated clothing: household textiles and wearable paired shoes left over after retail sales from the charity shops.

All should be clean and dry, and should exclude pillows, duvets, carpets, balls and cones of wool, off-cuts from manufacturing process and unfinished garments, hard toys, books and bric-a-brac, coat hangers, sharp objects and single (odd) shoes.

The mix should reflect all the categories sold e.g. shirts, dresses, jackets etc. The usual composition should not be changed due to bulk sales of particular items (e.g. cotton clothing sold as cleaning rags) unless specifically agreed with the merchant.

Packing:  water-resistant sacks (e.g. polythene) at a weight convenient for shop handling, storage and collection, usually 8 to 10 kg unless specifically agreed that an alternative packing method is more suitable e.g. hessian sacks for shoes.

Used textiles, shoes and handbags should all be packed separately.

Specifications for purchase of rags for conversion into wiping cloths

The grades reflect those recovered on a regular basis by British merchants.

General requirements

• Moisture content and tensile strength
  All rags supplied to manufacturers must be dry and be of strong texture.
• Used wipers
  No rag which has been reclaimed from use as an industrial wiper shall be included in any grade.
• Cleanliness
  All material must be commercially clean.
• Size
  All material must be of a size to produce a wiper of not less than 23cm x 30cm.

Specifications by grade

• White wipers No 1
  Light weight cotton rich woven material, commercially clean. No silk, wool nylon or other synthetics.
• White wipers No 2
  Medium weight cotton rich woven material, commercially clean. No silk, wool nylon.
• Light and dark print
  Light weight cotton rich material, commercially clean. No silk, wool or knitted synthetics.
• Coloured wiper
  Medium weight material, commercially clean. No silk, wool or knitted synthetics.
• Hosiery
  Light and medium weight knitted cotton material, commercially clean. No silk, wool or knitted synthetics.
• Candlewick
  Mixed white and coloured tufted all cotton material made in the form of bedspreads or bathrobes. Must be free of bath mats or heavy material.
• Towels: white or coloured
  100% cotton towels or bathrobes, commercially clean. No synthetic material.
• Blue or white polycotton workwear
  Must be commercially clean. Must not contain heavily soiled/stained material such as paint or solder. No jackets.
• Blue or white cotton workwear
  Must be commercially clean and must not cotnain heavily soiled/stained material. No jackets.