Q: What if that thrifted thing belonged to a dead person? What if it's haunted*?
What if the new clothes you tried on in the fitting room of Macy's were previously tried out by a person with Scabies? What if many of the asteroids floating precariously around this pathetic rock we're on dooms us all?! I think you'll be fine with the dead-people clothes.
Q: But isn't it unsanitary, you don't know where it's been?
During the Q&A after I gave a speech on Thrift Core an audience member asked this about my dumpster diving experiment. I impatiently blurted, "You don't know where your burger from Burger King's been!!!" Point is, you don't know where anything's been. Mind Blown! Boof!!!
Q: Whenever I go I never find anything but trash!
Like my hero Morpheus says, you have to free your mind. Check out this post on How to Thrift for the Good Stuff and it's comments for details. In short, there's a "zen" in thrifting. You have to Make Thrift Love, you have to have to be an artist and see the treasure in the rubble.
Q: But how do you get the gross "Thrift Store Smell" Out?
The same way you get the "New Retail Smell" out, throw it in the wash before you wear it if it's clothes, wash it with soap and water if it's housewares. I promise it's reversible.
Q: But I don't have the time and it's too much work!
You don't have to thrift, more goodies for me! But seriously, it helps to stop frequently. Even short trips can yield a treasure. I used to do lunch break trips all the time.
* I have many more haunting stories coming for my favorite season/genre of anything. Stay tuned!
I know I sound smarmy here but many of the questions are positioned as attacks. I understand the importance of educating non-thrifters about the perks of this lifestyle. I've changed many thrift-haters into frequent-thrifters without much coercing. With a house full of awesome stuff, incredibly low personal and business overhead thrifting is easy to see thrifting is awesome and nothing to fear or be disgusted over.
These are the common 5 questions I get and my usual rebuttals. Are you ever met with thrifting haterade? What are the common questions/your responses?
These are funny. Thank you! I get the same things.
ReplyDeleteThanks! :D Loving some of the responses I'm getting via Twitter and Facebook, may have to update the post with those.
DeleteLOL I love your first answer.
ReplyDeleteAs a person living an unconventional life you get used to fielding the "What if?" questions. Life's too short to think about all the "calamity" that could happen from simple things like thrifting or working for yourself. The asteroid could kill us any second! I'll choose to live exactly how I like until then ;)
DeleteI may have to do a post about my "asteroid answers" it's a running gag with me in real life.
I don't know what to say about ghosts but the dirty/not new comments are, I think, a perfect platform to preach re-use over recycling. Dish soap, Barkeep's Friend, steel wool, borax for linens, mineral oil for wood... this stuff has worked for a long time so not only can I save other people's thrown-out stuff but I can keep my stuff looking good so I don't have to throw it out. Turn it around and question them about their consumer habits and all the stuff they must throw away if used it not good enough or maintenance is too troublesome!
ReplyDeleteGood response full of helpful info, too. I'll keep some of those details in mind :)
ReplyDeleteI love your rebuttals. I always found the peoples amazement that I had created a whole house based on thrift amazing. The last person in my apartment actually asked me if I was "handy" which I took as a compliment, considering he was sitting at my painted craigslist table and chairs next to my painted free to me china cabinet and couldn't tell they were weren't new. I would rather have thrifted pieces that have been worn and loved than any new modern "mass produced" piece any day!
ReplyDeletePeople used to ask me if my apartment came fully furnished or told me I should be an interior designer which I took as a compliment. Lots of interior designers I've met are constantly hunting thrifts for pieces at thrifts, actually. Wonder if their clients know the horror! ;D
DeleteSomeone told me yesterday she couldn't help that her pants weren't so great - they were thrifted. I showed her my shoes, my beautiful shoes, which were also thrifted. Mind blown.
ReplyDeleteHaha :D I've seen LOTS of name brand, brand-new clothing with tags attached for cheap at thrift stores, flea markets, estate sales, etc. A lot of people just don't know.
Deletemy smile for the day ...my daughters favourite remark was if she didnt own the right handbag she would never get on in life....lol she wants the right handbag? bet i can find it!!!
ReplyDeleteBet you can! Get it! :D
DeleteWell you can tell them about two experiences I've had in the last couple months where I found bodily fluids in jeans I was trying on at Macy's and Old Navy. I worked in a clothing store, we bought and sold used clothing. First thing I'd teach my staff was look in the crotch for what I like to fondly call, "party in the pants. Little habit I got in to, can't help myself. I find more gunk in new clothes than I ever do old clothes. About 95% of people who donate to thrift stores are nice enough to wash their items before sending them out (oh good! none of the awful chemicals used to get that "that lived in look" for me)! Thrift stores turn their merchandise rather quickly so chances are you are not buying pants that the greater metro area of your town has already tried on before you (without underwear evidently).
ReplyDeleteAnd here's been a thrifting break through for me recently.
I just moved, with some clothes and a couple (four) ferrets.......that was it. I thought I'd buy all new......yeah right. I just can't do it. Especially once I got here and realize I wanted this funky cosy lived in space....kinda how I see Portland. ANYWAY. The biggest issue people have always had is used bed clothing. I was kind of with them. I mean you've seen the black lights and heard about the bed bugs.
So there I sat in a extended stay hotel room pondering if I would buy used bed clothing.........Wait a fucking minute....
I'm. sitting on a bed that has more than likely seen what, hundreds maybe thousands of people in that year alone? And trust me it wasn't new. You KNOW they don't wash those top "bedspreads." So there we are hoping and praying the hotel is at least nice enough to change the sheets and all the proceeding people before you didn't poop in the bed.....
At least I could wash what I got! I even did the biggest sin of all I bought a comforter I couldn't wash BUT I've thrifted my whole life and I know new when I see it. Its a brand new Ralph Lauren goose down duvet (check out the prices on those bad boys). Never used (no not in the package but like I said I KNOW new at this point) for TWO DOLLARS. I lysoled it and left it in the sun for the day. I get my own duvet cover that I can wash and viola. Come on now I can handle the dust from someone's guest room or closet. Especially If I can handle a bed that has seen more people than a whore house in Vegas.
So there you go, you just tell them there is nothing in the world thats truly new. Its all been touched and used before you and some of the activities we do all the time (like sleeping in a hotel room) are far FAR worse than buying a pair of used jeans. This life of ours is a grimy nasty one and there isn't any way to escape it.
Excellent way to put it, wish I would have thought of that hotel room analogy for the post. I was thinking of the bathroom door handles we touch, office desk germ insanity, subway germs...like you said, everything is used. The world is not as clean as pristine as people want to believe, they're just bought up to believe that "new" means "safe".
DeleteAnd to think of what usually goes on in those hotel beds we sleep in...
If in doubt freeze it....kills most anything incluuding dust mites
DeleteOh yeah, I recall reading about that now. Thanks for the reminder!
DeleteSomeone who doesn't "thrift" that I know used to go to Barnes and Noble and spend a few hundred dollars a month on books. I asked them why they didn't just use the Library, to which they replied that's gross and you don't know who has been touching those books. To which I replied I am pretty sure I have been to lunch with you several times and seen your hands on all the plastic menus which everyone has touched, and then watched you eat without washing your hands.Some people! LOL
ReplyDeleteHaha, that's a good one too. That's crazy to me that people think the library is a cesspool and not a sanctuary of knowledge and massive savings. People flip through the books at Barnes and Nobles all the time, too.
DeleteOh and a ethical question. I have gone round and round about buying leather and goose down (I had no idea such a thing as goose down existed until I got home, oops!), silk and other products made on the backs of animals. As a vegan how do you feel about buying them used? One thought is, I didn't buy it and its better than going to a land fill. But then another part of me wonders if I'm not STILL perpetuating an issue even if I'm buying it used. I'm more than likely over thinking it. But this is a real issue for me since I sell clothes, shoe's, purses.
ReplyDeleteI'm not as militant here with my veganism, I don't see a problem with buying it used. The animal is already expired, it seems more wasteful not to use the item.
DeleteHaunted?? Very funny. I look at it as a way to find great stuff they don't make anymore. Can you walk into Kohl's and buy a book from 1920, a Peter Max tray? Don't think so. I will say I've had a heckuva time getting a "powdery/musty" smell out of a couple thrifted clothing items. Wound up giving them back. Most usually wash out.
ReplyDeleteI get the haunted/dead-people question a lot. From my own best friend more than once, actually. I'll confess I dumpster dived a very pretty blanket recently and had to put it back in the trash. Couldn't get a dog smell out, it was tossed for a reason :\ Kind of gross, but it's the first time I wasn't able to get a musty smell out of something.
DeleteI got this *awesome* tiny vintage suitcase, probably from the 20's-40's, one of those that is wooden covered in paper that looks tweedy... It's the only thing that I couldn't get the musty dusty smell out of, and I tried eeeevrything I could think of! Fabreeze, sunlight, baking soda, cedar, potpourri, I didn't want to give it up... I think we still have it, crammed in a corner of the garage somewhere with boring stuff stored in it. Sad! But yeah, as a lifetime thrifter, that's the ONE thing that I can recall not being able to get the smell out of. (But I don't buy a lot of vintage clothes.)
DeleteAlso, as a tip, I do a 'stripping wash' in thrifted linens, the same sort of thing that you would do if you were washing fabric diapers or trying to cleanse clothes for a kid with a mysterious contact rash. My version is one of my standard detergent packs (the All or Purex free & clear are my fave), a cup of white vinegar, and a TBSP of blue dawn. I like to leave the lid open to the machine and peek at the water before it drains for the rinse cycle-- it is AMAZING how much gunk will come out of fabric with the right combo of stuff! And then after this, I just wash regularly. Oh, and for washing giant things like second hand comforters, and pillows, go to the laundromat and put it in a machine for 3 loads-- plenty of room! Throw a tennis ball in the dryer with them to help the fluffing of the down.
Lord! I'll shut up now! (Maybe I should do my own blog post about this, eh?)
A smell/stain troubleshooting post would be awesome! I also have a gorgeous mid century modern party platter I can't get these insane old price stickers off of, I might have exhausted an entire bottle of goo gone on it, I've left it to soak overnight in the goo gone, soap and water, that crap won't budge! Still though, one or two duds for a lifetime of thrifting is a good track record I must say. I've had to return more new stuff in my life for sure.
DeleteThanks for the helpful washing tips, gotta use those!
Great answers! Do you remember when Pat Robertson addressed this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsNZpUhE130
ReplyDeleteNope! Holy hell I love this! :D Gotta share this. I did forget that these stories are very common in Asia especially I'm told by friend who live there/people I've interviewed/friend's moms.
DeleteI cannot wait to hear your rebuff re: haunted items! THANK YOU for this post. Your responses are spot on. I do not think you sound "smarmy" at all; and definitely not any more smarmy than the folks asking these questions. Just for the record, thrifting has yet to give me cooties, or any other illness *but* a highly-rated area restaurant had me sick as a dog for weeks after eating their bad chicken!
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to share the haunting stories, editing them to get it right. I have never found an enchanted object but I have encountered something seemingly supernatural. Love that comparison you've shared, that's a good point on perception. You'd never think the highly-rated place would make you sick!
DeleteOh man, this is good stuff! We have gotten some really weird attacks about our thrifting, especially since we resell stuff. People will be like, "you're screwing over the thrift stores and poor people who shop there [their words not mine!] by buying stuff you know is worth more at such cheap prices, and then you're screwing over the people who buy those things from you by selling them at higher prices!" I get really mad about that one... I mean, seriously? Everyone wins! The thrift stores sell more stuff, and their profits (not just their stuff... their stuff is for anyone to buy) go towards helping any number of good causes, and then the people who buy stuff from us are willing and usually happy to spend the money they do to get the cool things we find so they don't have to go to the trouble of finding it! We're not forcing anyone to do anything.
ReplyDeleteAlso, speaking of dead people things... I just HAVE to tell you a crazy landlord story (just the beginning of why we had to leave our last apartment... it got much worse). So we bought a bunch of beautiful plants at an estate sale (posted about it here and here), and we put an awesome one on our front porch to dress up that ugly area a little. When we were unpacking the plants from the car, our landlord comes over and is like, "wow, great plants, where did you get them?" and we unfortunately made the mistake of telling her we got them from an estate sale, and then explaining what an estate sale is. Turns out she is terrified of anything relating to death, and soon asks us to move the plant off our front porch to our private patio, since she is afraid of looking at it. She keeps asking us how the people died, and if the plants could be carrying viruses. She tells us not to plant any of them in the ground, just to keep them in pots out of her sight. Also, she tells us we should keep anything we buy at estate sales on our patio, not in the apartment or in our storage space... we decided not to tell her that just about everything we own is used, and a lot of it is from estate sales!
Sidenote: thanks for emailing us the interview questions! We're working on them, and getting together some pictures... since we're now in our third apartment of 2013, we might just send pictures of all three as we don't have many of our current space, is that ok?
I am so glad I haven't had that happen, that sounds like a nightmare! (It was such a cute apartment, too!) May have to share that story, that's insanity.
DeleteThanks for getting back to me with the questions! I don't mind photos of all three at all :)
I never thrifted till I moved in with my boyfriend (now husband) but since then have been addicted. Most of my favorite clothes have been thrifted. I used to be able to thrift my kids' clothes but now they're teens and picky. My 17 year old daughter especially refuses to wear thrifted clothes, though she will buy from consignment shops. I figure she'll grow out of it once she starts having to pay for it all herself.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite reason for thrifting, besides saving money, is that it's GREEN! Just think of all the resources that aren't being used to make a new whatever it is you're buying. Just think of all the stuff you're saving from landfills. Kind of makes it fashionable, when you think of it that way!
About the haunting. Ha ha ha!!! As an antiques shop owner, virtually everything we sell belonged to dead people. Recently we had an item returned to us because the customer said it was haunted and bad things began to happen after they bought it! I don't really believe that stuff but it's funny. After that, I put a new message on our sidewalk sign: "Caution: Items May Be Haunted."
I absolutely love the green aspect of it, too. :D And your "Caution: Items May Be Haunted." -- Love that, too!
DeleteYou are right about interior designers going to thrift stores. When I was an interior designer, I would go to the thrift store all the time to pick up display books and an occasional knick knack. People here in Florida have tons of plant shelves and high ceilings. They have tons of space they have the need to fill. Even when I would tell them that every space does not need to be filled and the eye needs a rest etc etc, they look at all those cheesy show homes and model homes and they want their house to look like that. I would try to convince them that a house should not be filled with props (fake greenery, candle holders, baskets with those stupid ball things etc typical prop crap) So I would hit the thrifts stores and try to add some interest to their environment. Bottom line its what my client would want, but after all was said and done, they would like the look I provided and understood that the stupid prop look lacked interest. Old books (thrifted)always looked better than those new barnes and noble "coffee table" books!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing the honest insider interior designer perspective, may have to mine your knowledge for a future post if you're game! :D I hate props with no purpose and/or with no emotional/aesthetic value, I try to talk people out of them all the time. My parents know I want to go through the house with a big "donate" box for anything like that, haha.
DeleteIm always game! Its hard to pull people away from props. just stuff with no purpose or no relation to their lives. What the hell is that basket with those ball things anyway? Who decided that was going to be a home accessory? Fake fruit irks me too....don't get me started. Fake décor=fake people.
DeleteE-mail me at info@thriftcore.com or reply here with your e-mail and we'll start collaborating. Thanks!
DeleteI messaged you through FB. Chat soon.
DeleteTara
Got it, thanks!
Deletegreat post! my friends used to be grossed out by the fact that I would buy cups and mugs from op shops until I pointed out the fact that it's just like drinking from a cup at a cafe (if not better)
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of that and the restaurant examples, will keep those in mind if people get freaked out by my cups again. The food biz in the USA required us to sanitize the mugs in this hideous blue chemical vat too, yuck.
DeleteYou wouldn't believe the dirty looks i've gotten when i tell people i buy my nieces mostly thrifted gifts for Christmas....
ReplyDeleteI have 5 neices and 1 god daughter and that's 6 (count em 6!) little girls who go through toys, clothes and interests like crazy. Kids change their minds every five seconds. Last years hot toy is this years forgetten antique. THey grow like weeds, so clothes are almost always being replaced. And well....my siblings keep reproducing so the number keeps growing!
In any case... I've thrifted clothes, toys and accessories for the last few christmases and do you think think the shrieks of glee have gotten any less jubilant because the items were previously loved?? HELL NO! I find a lot of stuff New in box, never played with all the time, and the girls are none the wiser
I also wear probably 90% thrifted clothes. A lot of my friends and co workers know this, but i still get a lot of "cheap bastard" jokes because i refuse to spend more than $15 on a single clothing item. But then there's those moments where they eat their own words..."Where did you get that gorgeous top!?!?!" "IT'S THRIFTED MOFO!!!" Game. Set. MAtch.
Let me count.. I have 2 nieces and 3 nephews and feel your gifting woes. I pray my older brothers spare us and produce no more! I thrift/make their presents as much as possible. I don't think my Sister-in-Laws like it but meh, the kids do. I get the same surprise over fun stuff I've fund too. The Thrifts are treasure troves, I tells you! This reminds me to hunt down some awesome toys for the kids this year :) Been filling the closet with gifts for the family all year.
DeleteSo with you on the gross 'new' smell!!!!! I am sensitive and have allergies and so many new products are just completely chemical soaked with stuff that is practically poison!!
ReplyDeleteUgh!!
Glad someone understood that. Once you're no longer climatized to new chemical laden things they reek. A lot of perfumes/lotions I doused myself with in high school make me gag now. Poison! Evil poison!
DeleteI've used a lot of the replies as defense, but I've got another one: "Do you know you're drinking dinosaur pee? Hey, the earth is a closed system as far as water is concerned--how do you know where the molecules of water in your expensive bottled water have been?"
ReplyDeleteIf they're REALLY snotty, I say: "Do you realize that some of the atoms and molecules in your body were once in animals or people that are now dead? Newton's law, sweetheart, matter(energy) is neither created nor destroyed, it simply changes form."
Kill them with Science! These are excellent.
DeleteAs a life-long thrift shopper, this post was great. By thrifting, you are revealing a part of your value system: reusing items and not wasting, saving money, seeing potential in the overlooked, relishing character that comes with age and patina, etc. Those that turn their nose up at thrifting just don't have some of those values. Changing people's mindsets to change their values is very difficult. Until they "see the light", more for me! LOL
ReplyDeleteI never try to convert, merely educate. At least I'm my friend's go-to for any thrift/money-saving/healthy eating related questions :D
DeleteI have to say, I don't get these type questions, even when I tell people I resell things I find at the thrift store or garage sales. But regarding the first question about things belonging to dead people - you can just burn some smudging sage or incense to clear the energy of the people who used to own that stuff. This was suggested to me by my hypnotherapist to help clear my home of other people's (negative/bad) energy since I bring home a lot of previously owned items.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the whole cleanliness thing - money is the dirtiest thing there is around (just ask bridge toll collectors). Also, a recent study showed that the supposedly new underwear you find in retail stores are not that clean. People buy them, then return them, and the store just turns around and places them back on the rack. They tested some "new" underwear and found traces of fecal material - major ewwww!
My favorite rebuttal to people who want to get into an argument with me on matters of personal taste is "You like what you like; I like what I like." End of discussion.
Sage burning is an old Hispanic mainstay, too. My mom does it from time to time when my dad's no around, he hates the smell! And thinks we're crazy, haha. Will keep the undies thing (aaaah eewww!!) and money arguments in mind, good ones!
ReplyDeletenot* around
DeleteGreat post. I think I've encountered every one of these arguments at some point. You're so right about frequent stops at the thrifts -- that's the key to snagging the good stuff, IMO. I'm definitely going to memorize your scabies and asteroid rebuttals -- classics.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of good ones in this post, like how hideously filthy cash/change is, hotel sheets, restaurant utensils... the world we occupy is not pristine in the least. Thrift germs won't hurt you.
DeleteI love this post (and the comments!). My mom has always been the person who doesn't understand why I'd want to set foot in a "smelly" thrift store (yeah, they can be smelly...so what?), but recently I've gotten her to the point where she'll drop in to look for stuff for me...I'll convert her one of these days!
ReplyDeleteLuckily my mom is the one who indoctrinated me, haha. She's worse than I am about stopping into every single thrift :) We're going to be in business together once she finally quits her day job next month, we're excited to go curbside hunting together.
Delete"Thrift germs won't hurt you" never have truer words been spoken!! One other point to mention - thrifting is F.U.N. !!! Also the thrill of the hunt, the deal of the century! You can't get that from a mall. Great post!
ReplyDeleteAgreed Francine, retail is so boring once you get used to thrifting. :D
DeleteHey Vanessa! Just happened to stumble upon this post. Funny--I wrote my own list of 10 Creative Come-Backs to Insults About Thrift Stores! HA!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thriftdiving.com/2013/08/10-creative-responses-to-insults-about-thrift-stores.html
On my way to check that out now. Great minds think alike ;)
Delete