4 Used Tools You Can't Always Donate To Thrift Stores

Thrift stores can be one of life's great pleasures. They funnel still-functional, lightly used products away from landfills and into the hands of consumers who can put them to good use. They can also be a fun way to spend a weekend, hunting for collectibles, bargains, and other thrift store treasures.

Most major thrift stores have a set of donation guidelines published online, and there are some common threads. Thrift stores usually don't want soiled clothing, they can't use incomplete products (think devices without their power cords), and they usually don't want baby safety gear like car seats, because using used baby safety gear is discouraged. Tools are usually welcome, but there are a few exceptions.

Donating your used possessions can be a nice way to give back to your community, and you never know if one of your neighbors could give your aging possessions a second life. If you've got some old tools you're not using anymore, donating them could be the right move, but there are certain types of tools thrift stores don't want.

Thrift store donations are often a few years old and well-used. No one is expecting tools that are mint in the package, but they should still be functional and safe; nobody wants your garbage even if it is deeply discounted.

Thrift stores can be a way for people to get their first basic tools or to replace broken or missing essentials on a budget. Some wear and tear is probably fine, but your donated tools shouldn't be rusty. If you find rust on your old tools, instead of sending them to the thrift store, send them packing.

Many thrift stores will not accept saw blades and other sharp tools. Donations often have to be processed quickly, and they can be a danger to both thrift store employees and consumers. Thrift stores also usually won't accept potentially dangerous chemicals like cleaning liquids, paints, stains, etc. A good rule of thumb is that if you wouldn't leave it out on the counter with an unsupervised toddler, you should reconsider before donating it to a thrift store.

This one probably makes intuitive sense. If you're getting rid of something because it's broken, there's a good chance other people don't want it either. At the same time, we also understand the instinct to donate, even if a tool isn't fully functional. In a world built on single-use straws and disposable water bottles, we applaud any effort to conserve and reuse aging goods.

Sometimes, however, the desire to keep things out of the trash can lead us astray. The general rule of thumb is that if you wouldn't give something to a friend or family member, then you probably shouldn't donate it. If you have broken or incomplete tools, instead of donating them, they should be repaired, recycled, or disposed of according to your municipality's guidelines. If somebody were to buy your broken tools from a thrift store only to get home and realize they don't work, then you haven't given them a gift, you've given them a chore.

Thrift stores can be magical wonderlands filled with forgotten treasures, but they're not typically associated with violence. For reasons that we hope are obvious, most thrift stores won't accept weapons or anything that can be used as a weapon.

Yes, we know that anything can be used as a weapon, but some things have more obvious potential for danger than others. Use your best judgment. If you show up with a truck bed full of box cutters, axes, and hedge clippers, you're likely to be turned away. You might even get pushback when donating things like nail guns and staplers.

If it's the sort of thing you could imagine a masked slasher carrying, you'll probably want to take it out of the donation bin, and if you're unsure whether a particular tool can be donated, a phone call to your local thrift store should be able to clear things up.

Spring can bring a lot of wonderful things along with it. You can imagine the snow melting as it starts getting warmer. You might hear the birds chirp more often as you start to make plans to gather friends for barbecues and ballgames. But it's not all fun and games; warm weather can also bring its own obligations, like lawn maintenance.

Maintaining your lawn can be a serious chore without the right tools. If you're replacing or upgrading your lawn equipment (maybe to a cool new electric mower) and need to get rid of your old gear, a donation could make someone else's summer. But many thrift stores won't accept lawn equipment like mowers and weed eaters if they're gas-powered. Some stores may accept those things if they've been completely drained of fuel and other fluids. Call your local thrift store for guidance before hauling your mower down to the donation drop-off.