What is a clothing bale?
A compressed, wrapped block of used clothing, typically 45 to 100 kilograms, sold by weight. Bales start as donations and discards in wealthy countries, are collected by charities and textile recyclers, sorted roughly by type, and compressed for export to sorting hubs such as Pakistan.
How are bales graded?
By the exporter, roughly: cream or premium grade for the cleanest, most saleable items; Grade A; Grade B; and lower grades for the rag trade. A 'vintage' bale is supposed to contain older, branded or collectible pieces, but the definition varies and the contents are not guaranteed.
What is actually inside a vintage bale?
A mix. A good 45 kg vintage workwear bale might contain a few dozen pieces across brands and conditions, of which a handful are Carhartt and fewer are Carhartt in good condition. The rest is other brands, damaged pieces and filler. That lottery is why bale buying is for sorters, not for resellers.
What does a bale cost?
It varies enormously with grade, origin and category, and quotes are per kilogram. The number itself matters less than the yield — how many saleable pieces come out — and yield is unknown until the bale is opened.
Why buy picked bundles instead?
Because every piece is one you have seen. A picked bundle of 20 Carhartt pieces costs more per piece than the Carhartt inside a bale might, but there is no filler, no damaged surprises, no sorting labour and no freight paid on rags. For a reseller the bundle is almost always cheaper per saleable piece.
Where do we fit in the chain?
We buy at the bale, open and sort it ourselves, pick out the Carhartt, grade the fabric and rework it. You buy the result as a bundle. The bale risk is ours; the saleable pieces are yours.
We grade 97 pieces by these rules
Everything written here comes from grading and reworking Carhartt every day. Browse what's in now, or message us and we'll send photos and measurements of anything.