The glories of thrift store shopping aside, is Goodwill really a charity? Legally, yes, it is a tax-exempt nonprofit that does perform work for the public good. In the United States and Canada, the thrift store giant runs over 164 regional Goodwill organizations and 3,200 individual stores.

Goodwill was founded in 1902 in Boston by Rev. Edgar J. Helms, a Methodist minister and early social innovator. Helms collected used household goods and clothing in wealthier areas of the city, then trained and hired those who were poor to mend and repair the used goods.

110 years

Most thrift stores don’t wash the clothes before selling them. It is the donors’ responsibility to clean them before donating. However, thrift stores usually sort through the merchandise before displaying it and throw out anything that’s stained, has a bad odor, or damaged.

Usually, vintage clothing has that “old lady smell.” It seems to be a combination of a musty smell and too much fabric softener. That thrift store smell can also come from moth balls or perfume, too. Usually the laundry products they use on their clothing is full of synthetic chemicals.

To answer the question: yes, thrift shopping is sanitary. I know there’s the icky factor of wearing someone else’s clothing but think of it this way: When you go thrift shopping, you always wash the clothing before wearing them {here are my tips for cleaning thrift store clothes}.

The DI encourages donations of “gently used” clothing, but clothing that does come in with stains or tears is used. It’s cleaned then shredded and used to stuff blankets and pillows at the LDS church’s humanitarian center. That is not to say that absolutely everything that is donated to the DI finds a new use.

Shop the first day after your store marks items down. And every week on Wednesday they discount a specific color tag by 50%. Savers marks down their tags on Monday.