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Beyond Clothes: 8 Unexpected Items You Can Donate to Goodwill and Why it Matters

November 7, 2025

The Ultimate Guide to Donating to Palmetto Goodwill

When you think about donating to Palmetto Goodwill, clothes probably come to mind first, and then maybe household items like kitchen tools and decorations. While these are wonderful contributions, your act of giving is part of something much bigger. Our motto is simple, yet powerful: when you donate, when you shop, you change lives.

Every item you drop off, from an old T-shirt to an out-of-use computer, directly funds our mission: to provide equitable access to training, education, and employment across the 18 counties we serve in South Carolina. In fact, 0.91 cents of every dollar donated goes directly back into local programs like reentry services, healthcare training, and career development.

Ready to declutter your home while making a tangible impact on your community? Don’t think too hard—just Goodwill it!

African American father and daughter placing donating material goods into Goodwill boxes to be donated

Here are 8 common-but-unexpected donation categories to clear out:

 

1. Unwearable Clothing & Textiles (Yes, Even the Stained Ones!)

Ever pull something out of your closet that you question donating? Maybe it has a stain, a hole, or has shrunk or stretched out over time. While we love receiving new and gently used clothing and linens for our store shelves, even items that can’t be resold still help! Even if we aren’t able to sell these items in our stores, we have means of recycling them that still helps us generate revenue to support our mission. So bag it up and drop it off—your unusable textiles keep millions of pounds of waste out of landfills.

Palmetto Goodwill employees tidying up clothing racks in store.

2. Old Linens and Towels

Towels, bedding, and other household textiles that are no longer usable can be recycled. We gladly accept household textiles like rugs, as well as other household goods like dishes, glassware, and kitchen utensils. Locate the nearest donation center here.

3. Computers and Electronics

We’ll take a wide range of technology! We accept computers, computer accessories, electronic gaming systems, cables, printers, and other electronics. A lot of the technology we receive is repurposed and sold in our Computer Works Store. Anything we can’t use is responsibly recycled through the Dell Reconnect program, making your donation a critical part of the electronics recycling movement.

Update: To ensure responsible recycling, we can now accept Flat screen TV’s but we are unable to accept tube or box televisions (CRTs).

Dell Reconnect partners with Goodwill to recycle electronics.

4. Furniture and Home Goods for the DIY Trend

We sell a massive amount of furniture in our stores. If you haven’t seen any while shopping, it’s probably because it sells fast! Furniture in good condition is always in high demand, but with the rise of the DIY trend, people are snapping up everything from bar stools to dressers to refinish, paint, and reuse in a new way.

 

5. Small Household Appliances and Tools

We sell small appliances like toasters, blenders, and coffee makers in our stores, which helps furnish homes on a budget. Need to clear out the garage? We also accept hand tools and small power tools.

Note: We are unable to accept built in/large appliances like full-size refrigerators or dishwashers.

 

6. Bicycles, Toys, and Sporting Goods

Don’t let that old set of golf clubs or your child’s outgrown bike gather dust. We accept bicycles, toys, games, and sporting goods. Give your lightly used athletic gear and media (like books, textbooks, CD’s, videos, and DVD’s) a second life.

A Palmetto Goodwill employee is cheerfully collecting boxes of donations from a donor's car at the drive-up center.

7. Vehicles (Cars, Boats, and More)

We accept donations of cars, trucks, motorcycles, SUVs, campers, RVs, boats, and more. It doesn’t even need to be running, and we will pick it up or tow it for free—how easy is that? This type of vehicle donation is one of the biggest ways you can support our mission.

 

8. Your Old Media (Books, CDs, and Movies)

Clear out your entertainment center! We gladly accept books, textbooks, CD’s, videos, DVD’s, and computer software.

Palmetto Goodwill employee taking photos of a donated guitar.

What We Cannot Accept: Palmetto Goodwill’s Not Accepted List

To save on costly disposable fees and ensure the safety of our customers and staff, Palmetto Goodwill is unable to accept certain items. Knowing what not to donate to Goodwill is just as important as knowing what to give!

Please help us out by avoiding the following items:

  • Large Appliances (Built-in/large appliances like refrigerators, washers, dryers).
  • Mattresses & Bedding (Mattresses and box springs, water beds, air beds, wall to wall carpeting, and bed pillows).
  • Specific Furniture (Tube or box televisions, pull out sofa – sofa sleeper, futons, bunk beds, executive desks, conference tables, and large metal filing cabinets).
  • Baby Equipment (Baby items – cribs, pack n play, strollers, car seats).
  • Hazardous/Toxic Materials (Chemicals of any kind including paint, gasoline, antifreeze, pesticides, and oil; tires and car batteries; weapons or ammunition; fireworks).
  • Other Items (Magazines and encyclopedias, personal care items unless unopened, and exercise equipment).

 

Your Donation is Local: The Power of the Palmetto Goodwill Mission

When you donate to Palmetto Goodwill, you are supporting your neighbors. All proceeds from our stores and recycling programs stay local to the 18 counties across South Carolina that we serve. Your generosity funds programs that provide job training, education, and employment services, helping people better their lives.

Remember: when you donate, when you shop, you change lives. Thank you for being a part of our mission!