How can I reuse or recycle price tags from clothes?

Last week Junk Jewelry‘s Jane linked to a picture from this month’s Vogue in which hang tags – price tags – are deliberately kept on items as part of the overall look. Ok, it’s maybe a just-in-photo-shoots look rather than something you’d wear on the street but it still made me think about price tags.

Price tags on clothes from highstreet shops seem to be multiplying – one piece of card for the brand/sub-brand, one for the price, one for care instructions… True, most are card so widely recyclable but increasingly I’ve spotted fabric ones on brands attempting to make themselves look more upmarket – held on with a piece of string or ribbon, instead of those little plastic things. A lot of waste that’s just usually pulled off and thrown in the bin straight away.

Anyone got any suggestions for reuses – rather than just recycling – of the card ones? And what about the fabric ones?

(There is, of course, a reduce case here – stop buying excessively tagged highstreet clothes but even the charity shops I go to usually have a couple of big card tags on their garments now.)

(And speaking of highstreet shops and their wasteful antics, this story came to light last week but in case you’ve not seen it – H&M have admitted deliberately destroying brand new clothes rather than giving them to charity. Another attempt by big chains to discourage freegans/scavengers and resulting in more senseless waste. Sigh.)

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11 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle price tags from clothes?”


  1. Lupa says:

    I write small, so the tags that are blank on the bag make for nice scratch paper for notes or shot shopping lists.

  2. Robert says:

    Sometimes you see individual items with 3 or more tags. It’s just so unnecessary!!

    By the way, that story about H&M is just scandalous. Shame on whoever decided to slash those clothes

  3. – The thick, attractive ones can be reused as bookmarks.
    – Those with a blank side can be reused as memos/note paper.
    – When crushing pills, e.g. vitamin pills to be put in pet food, I wrap the pills in paper clothes tags and smash the pills with a spoon. This keeps mess to a minimum. Once the pill dust has been brushed off, the paper tag can still be reused (as kitty litter) or recycled.
    – Thermal paper, glossy catalogues, price tags, sticky notes, crosscut shredded paper and any other paper that is not usually accepted for recycling — I put it all through the shredder and use it for cat litter. (Put 4 layers of old newspaper in the bottom of the tray to absorb liquid. Top it up with shredded paper. If you use covered litter trays, there’s minimal mess and smell. You may think it’s a waste of newspaper, but imported litter, with all the associated environmental costs of fuel, packaging, mining and manufacturing, is more damaging)

    • caroline says:

      And you can buy recycled paper cat litter so what you are doing is just cutting out the middle man (and a whole load of energy use) – it’s a very good idea.

  4. Taylor says:

    I used to collect pretty clothes tags (god knows why lol) and they look alright if you make a collage of them in a frame. It’s a kind of wacky piece of art. And it looks better if you have alot of them of similar colours.
    I think that’s a great idea to use them as bookmarks too.

  5. Sandra says:

    Use the tags in scrapbooking, they sell little tags that are similar in size, just stamp it, cover it in paper or put a photo on it.

  6. HuntingWabbits says:

    I agree with all these ideas, and I think that H&M should be ashamed. It would’ve gotten them good publicity if they had donated those clothes to the Salvation Army or other charities, they would’ve been thrown out anyway…

  7. Medeea says:

    I used a couple sturdy ones (they were very very thick) as luggage tag. Best part is that they can be reused.

    Another idea I got from the last moth repellent I bought: impregnate them with some essential oil and hang them in the closet. How about lavender and you don’t have to buy the moth repellent at all?

  8. Uluska says:

    You can photograph yourself in that clothes, glue picture on, leaving price-side visible. Soon enough you’ll have a gallery of or history of your wardrobe. Then you can analyze and compare outfits and see which clothes look best on you, and if spending more money on clothes really works.

  9. Valeria says:

    Hand the tags onto clothes hangers in accordance with clothing. May be occasional reminder how much you spent will call for extra respect for some clothes and you’ll be willing to wear them more often to justify the splerge.

  10. Valeria says:

    Hang tags onto clothes hangers where you hang particular piece of clothes, so someday, when you are ready to bring clothes to Goodwill, you’ll know what price to use for your tax deductions.



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