Composting old teeshirts?

I know you can compost cotton tee shirts but does anybody have any idea how long that might take in say, a dalek bin? I've got a pile of old ones I need to dispose of!
Thanks in advance.

 

I don't know, but probably faster if you cut or tear them up into pieces, and mix with green stuff. The thread that they're stitched with probably won't compost at all - it's normally polyester even if the garment is labelled 100% cotton - so you might want at least to cut off the seams and hems.

 

Cotton fabrics can be recycled @lizzie27 so no need to compost them.

However, I have to tell you that some French farmers do bury cotton underpants in their fields, with a marker, then go back 3 months later to see how well they have rotted down. It's an indicator of soil health if there are enough microbes to break down the undies...............

 

Thanks. It seems our local Council will only accept, clean, reusable clothes, not what I would describe as old 'gardening wear' hence my enquiry.
Interesting point @Obelix-Vendée about the polyester stitching - I hadn't thought of that.

 

A lot of the charity shops can accept rags, as they can sell them in bulk.
Or rip them up and use as rags yourself. I always(sometimes) have old bits of rag hanging out of my pockets when in the garden...you just never know what you'll put your hands in(cats, foxes, euphorbia, brambles)

 

I've put quite a lot of denim offcuts in the wormery, seams and all. It composts beautifully. The polyester threads I just pull out when harvesting but that's perhaps more easily done with a wormery.

 

I use them as rags for wiping things, but the Red Cross will take clothes that can't be worne again because they can get money for them.