We make clothes to last, but given the heavy use of lingerie, eventually its cycle will come to an end. If your briefs have lost their fit, its fabric has become way too thin from heavy use, if you rubbed them harshly and they broke, or you got them stained and cannot be fixed, then their cycle has come to an end and it’s important to know how to properly discard your garment to help our planet.

Ideally, there should be a textile recycling company or facility in every city in the world, and if you live in a city, where there are specialized companies or facilities that recycle both natural and synthetic fabrics, you can contact them for your clothes to be properly recycled.

As in Colombia and other countries there are none at the moment, here is what we recommend you should do:

If your garment is made of cotton, silk, modal, bamboo, or tencel/lyocell, we recommend that you remove the elastics and thread and set aside. Cut the natural fabric into little pieces and throw away with the organic waste or compost at home, for it to biodegrade in a short time. The elastics are usually made from polyester or other synthetic materials and our threads are made from recycled polyester. Given that in Colombia, and in other countries, there is not really any clear information on how to recycle these types of materials, our suggestion is (if you are based in Colombia) to put the elastics and thread in a “botellita de amor” to be recycled with other plastics. Or to put them in the recycling bin with other plastics, cans, and glass.

If your garment is made of polyester or nylon, we recommend that you first remove the cotton liner, cut it into small pieces and throw away with the organic waste, or home compost. Cut everything else (elastics, threads, and synthetic fabric) in small pieces and put it in the “botellita de amor” or in the recycling bin.

**Disclosure: K O K A N A does not have any type of affiliation with the charity foundation “botellas de amor.” We simply put it as an option, since it’s something that we do as individuals outside of K O K A N A. Nevertheless, we do not have any affiliations with that organization.