I also have some empty raised garden beds. The two concrete block high beds measure approximately 4'X12'. I don't have a couple hundred bucks to fill the area with dirt, so I'm considering solving the second problem with the first.

Would I run into any problem if I layered used clothes about 8"-"10 thick in the bottom of the beds and topped them off with 6"-8" of garden soil?

I was thinking of culling out the obvious non- biodegradable stuff like polyester and rayon. Cotton, wool, and silk ought to be good. I'm wondering though, about blended stuff. Since it will be buried, would it be "out of sight, out of mind?" Most folks already think I'm "out of my mind," but I'm thinking what they can't see won't hurt them.

And thinking of all this, would cotton T-shirts and jeans be browns or greens in the composting world? Perhaps adding something in would accelerate the break-down. But I think I would be happy enough just to get the base filler.

I've never composted clothing so I don't know but I'd be interested if you do it and how it works.

Lloyd

It would be smart to soak the cloth in a good microbe-rich stew for a few days first, like some tea of fresh animal manure.

There really isn't a toxic problem with nylon and polyester that I know of, so I don't think it will hurt you (after all, you're wearing it, remember) but it will basically turn your garden into a trash dump, which is not so good.

I sure didn't mean toxic. Have done only once in sheet layering two years ago. Finding stuff like the overcast seams of jeans - cotton gone, polyester (probably) thread left behind.

Please let us know if you do this, k?

Rosie

Your idea of 8-10" of fabric with 6-8" of soil on top won't allow for proper root growth in some plants. If possible, lay down a single layer of nasty old garments which would act like newspaper or cardboard in weed suppression. Then shred the rest of the stuff. Tuck the biggest tatters into corners and along edges, and let the soil mix with the rest. Wool, cotton, & silk are easy to compost. Rayon and bamboo fibers are more processed plant fibers but they will compost after a while. They break down more readily in the sun. Polyester fibers are more photodegradable than biodegradable in the way we understand it. In my experience, it's a real bother to try to get it broken down, but it's not much different than weed barrier fabric.

You can also use a thick layer of wool as mulch to keep moisture in the soil bed. I've done this with nasty raw fiber fresh off the sheep. It keeps weeds down but weed seeds will settle in it after the mower passes and it will sprout grasses.

So far this has worked for me because I keep making more of the yard into garden! Once there's no more lawn to dig up I won't have those deep ditches. I'll still use the old clothes for weed suppression under the wood chips in the paths, though.

Now I'm wondering what to plant. I'm thinking either something that only needs the 8 inches of soil, or something with aggressive roots that will bore down into the clothes and aid in the breakdown.

Sorry, couldn't help myself! :-D

If you have a serious volume of this stuff you might consider looking for a recycler who would send it into the rag pipeline for reuse. We have a local charity that sends (sells, actually, by the bale) all their unusable stuff to a recyler who separates out the cotton for use in cotton rag paper, etc. I'm not sure what they do with the synthetics and blends, but it all goes somewhere. Did you know you can buy fluffy attic insulation made from denim fibers?