These 20+ Items Can NOT Be Donated to Idaho Deseret Industries Stores

We’ve all been there before, right? With the clock ticking down to the time you absolutely have to leave for work, you find yourself standing in front of your closet full of clothes thinking “I have nothing to wear!” 

It happens to me more often than I’d like to admit. My closet is full of pieces that just aren’t practical anymore. There are shirts that came in Stitch Fix boxes that I’ve only worn once. My size really hasn’t changed, but some of my dresses aren’t as flattering as they were when I bought them in my twenties. I’ve hung onto sweaters that no longer match my style.  

READ MORE: 9 Items You Should Never Buy or Sell at Idaho Garage Sales

On one hand, I feel bad letting that pile of clothes go because it all still fits. On the other hand, I’m starting to feel overwhelmed by the clutter monopolizing my closet. 

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Whether you’ve found yourself in a similar situation or just need to purge to make room for your recent Amazon shopping spree, there are plenty of places in Idaho that will take your gently used items so that they don’t end up in a landfill. Many of them will take the money they make selling your old clothes and other “junk” to do amazing charity work. 

How Idaho Thrift Stores Help the Community

Idaho Goodwill stores are part of Easterseals-Goodwill Northern Rocky Mountain network. Their thrift stores help fund programs that help Idahoans with disabilities and disadvantages gain work experience and job training in their stores. They also use their funds to offer behavioral health services and therapy for adults, teens and families dealing with mental health issues or addiction. 

St. Vincent de Paul uses the resources to offer a hand up to Idahoans who need some help to stay on their feet. Sometimes that means helping with rent and utilities. Other times that means stepping in to help with furniture, clothes or transportation. They also offer support for people transitioning back into society after a prison stay. 

Idaho Youth Ranch turns the money they make at their stores into a lifeline for Idaho’s youth. That could mean providing things like residential care for kids experiencing trauma, resources for families going through the adoption process and helping kids navigate some pretty heavy stuff like major depression, anxiety disorders and other challenges where they felt lost with nowhere to turn. 

What Makes Idaho's Deseret Industries Stores Unique?

And of course, there’s Deseret Industries which is pretty unique. Founded by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1938, Deseret Industries doesn’t just operate thrift stores. More than 70 years ago, they got their hands on a woolen mill. They used that facility to teach people how to make rugs and blankets. 

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Flash forward to 2025, Deseret Industries still gives people the opportunity to make things like beds, mattresses, chairs, bedroom furniture, pillows and mattress pads. If you see these in their stores, they’re brand new and never used before. 

The organization also makes sure that goods, new or used, that aren’t selling in their stores find their way to humanitarian causes around the globe. If the items aren’t beneficial to those causes, they’ll put them through a recycling process or send them to one of their other stores. 

Items You Can't Donate to DI

If you’re thinking about donating your stuff to DI, know that there are items that they can’t accept due to safety and other concerns. This list on their website isn’t exhaustive, but it does cover some common “no-go” items.