Tearing a Garment That Has Already Been Torn

Is it permissible to keep a garment that has been torn in order to make another tear on it?

It is permissible to keep a garment that has been torn, and later, when it is necessary to tear again for other relatives (if they passed away after the seven days), it is sufficient to add something to the existing tear in the garment. However, for one's father and mother, one may tear on the same garment, but a new tear must be made and not added to an existing tear, as for one's father and mother, no addition is made.

The Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah, Siman 340, Se'if 23 states: "If someone has two deceased at once, or receives news of two at once, he makes one tear for both. If he tore and then another died (within seven days), he makes a separate tear, either adding another tefach to the existing tear or distancing three fingers and tearing a tefach. After seven days, he adds something to the first tear. If his father or mother and one of the other relatives died, he first tears for his father or mother to the heart, distances three fingers, and tears a tefach for the other deceased. If his father died, and he tore, and after seven days one of the relatives died, he adds to the first tear, and the lower part heals, but the upper part does not heal. If one of the relatives died, and he tore, and then his father or mother died, whether within seven days or after seven days, he distances three fingers and tears from the edge of the garment, as it needs to be separated from the edge, and tears until he reaches the heart. If his father and mother died at once, he makes one tear for both." The Shach there, Se'if Katan 35, writes that even if he made a tear for other relatives as for his father, he cannot continue the tear and must make another tear. Not like the opinion of the Bach, who is lenient in this.