. . . Several were grungy and one of them stank of cigarette smoke.
Babybartfast got to keep the candy (which was wrapped, thank goodness) and one cheap-but-new-looking toy, and the rest are going straight back to Goodwill.
So they aren't good enough for you or your child, but they're good enough for Goodwill? Why do you think Goodwill would want them?
Agree.
I don't know. Things that are worn or ratty or smoky have no place being donated, but things that would be alright after a wash? I used to be time rich but cash poor and I would pick up slightly dirty but otherwise fine toys at garage sales or wherever and soak them in nappy sanitiser, wash them, hang them on the line in the sun and air to dry and they'd be good as new. Now I have the presence of money and absence of time and don't have the time to a) find and b) clean toys I wouldn't consider it and would pass on toys like that to the next person who may want them.
In other words, just because *I* don't want something, or don't have the time/inclination to return it to a usable state doesn't mean that noone would. I'm not familiar with Goodwill as such so I can't comment as to what they specifically would accept but I don't think that in general things should be trashed just because I, personally, don't have the time and energy to restore them to their former glory.
OTOH when MIL tried to give us some sheets that we didn't want on the basis that they were "too good to donate" - THEN I saw red.
If we take the attitude put forth by Luci and PaperRoses to its extreme end, then nobody would ever donate anything at all. "Not right for me" is not the same as "not right for anyone."
Pod.
If it isn't
good enough for me, it isn't good enough for anyone else. I did not say 'not right' and after rereading this all, I missed that statement.
I donate towels that I have been given and hate. Towels that are only half used but don't match my decore.
I donate scraps of fabric and yarn because many people know how to use small amounts. I won't donate the same stuff caught in a flood or sewer disaster.
I donate stuff from my cutlery drawer because it is still usable but I now have better.
I donated clothing the children had outgrown and there was no one else in the family in the immediate future that could use it. I donate my fat clothes that are still usable but I will never wear again.
I donate old curtains washed and labeled because I know that someone else can use them or know how to resew them for their own uses.
We donate lamps that we have replaced and are still usable as lamps - and know that parts may be used for someone else's project.
We only discard things totally filthy - flood mentioned above - mouse eaten, and otherwise totally contaminated.
I did a major purge last year, and by IRS had a $700 deduction. All stuff I would not mind having in my home but knew someone else might need or like. There was a lot of other stuff that I donated to specific charities that I didn't deduct.
Please don't criticize me for being selective about my donations and not wanting to burden others with my garbage.