Benjamin Franklin once said that “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” But with all due respect to Mr. Franklin, I think his list of life’s certainties could use one minor update in order to capture our modern times. Because nowadays, nothing is truly certain but death, taxes, and losing socks while doing laundry.
And in my opinion, a problem as universally vexing as lost socks demands a solution. Or better yet, several solutions, because it’s always good to have options! And that’s exactly what I’m offering in today’s blog post—three simple solutions that will help you stop losing socks in the wash for good. (I’ve also tossed in a little bonus tip about how to handle the socks that get left behind!)
Related: 5 Simple Solutions To Your Most Annoying Laundry Problems
We may not be able to do much about death or taxes, but we can learn to keep our sock collections intact. At least that much is certain! :-)
3 Easy Ways To Stop Losing Socks In The Wash
1. Homogenize Your Sock Collection
Consider replacing your current collection of socks with new, identical pairs. If you’re willing to sacrifice variety, making the switch to one style of sock can make your life a lot easier!
When all of your socks look the same, you never have to worry about pairing them up correctly. And because you’re not worrying about pairs, losing one isn’t as big of a deal.
2. Use A Mesh Laundry Bag
Zip all of your socks into a mesh laundry bag before doing laundry. Put your sock bag through both the washer and dryer, and the problem of lost socks is all but solved! (This can be especially helpful for tiny baby socks that are hard to keep track of.)
You can also use this system to make sure your socks make it into the wash in the first place. Just keep your mesh laundry bag in your hamper, and whenever you remove a pair of socks, zip them into the bag. That way you’ll be certain they’re all accounted for come laundry day!
3. Pin Socks Together
Pin pairs of socks together with a safety pin before putting them into the wash. (Or better yet, pin them together right after taking them off.) Keep them pinned through the wash, in the dryer, and even in your sock drawer.
Unpin the socks when you’re ready to put them on, and drop the safety pin into a small dish or bowl to reuse again and again!
More Ideas You'll Love
Bonus Tip: Set Up A Sock Orphanage
Due to those mysterious laundry room forces that I doubt we’ll ever truly understand, a sock may still manage to turn up without its mate. Designate a jar or box in your laundry room as your “sock orphanage” and store the lonely socks there.
Once a month or so, do a quick inventory of your orphaned socks. Occasionally, you’ll find that one or two of the missing socks have actually turned up, and you’ll be able to reunite that pair! And for socks you haven’t been able to reunite, you can always put them to good use!
Looking for ways to use your old socks? Use them to…
- Dust your house
- Polish leather
- Shine your car
- Make a microwavable rice heating pad
- Deodorize smelly shoes
Do you have a system for keeping socks together that I didn’t mention here?
I should probably start doing one of these…Most of my husband’s socks are white tube socks , but in the winter the problem is typically that one of my socks gets lost inside a sweater as I wash my wool socks in the delicate cycle. The first time this happened was when I lost a fleece glove from a pair I had actually intended to return to the store (which was allowed). It was almost a year before I discovered it inside one of my sweaters! Fortunately the store still took them back, and now the insides of sweaters are the first place I check when socks go missing.
One question…does pinning socks together not create holes/snags?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi Jillee, great article! Totally agree – lost socks are a nightmare!
I was really excited to see this post because my husband and I just launched an invention of ours which tackles this very issue. Check it out on Kickstarter here: https://bit.ly/2ZzCIok . This is our first product venture as a couple, and we hope it’s the start of something bigger for household improvement. We’ve actually tried every single idea you mentioned above and wanted to create something that tied them together into one high quality, elegant, and effortless solution.
Again, great article – and we’re glad to see there are others as passionate about their sock solemates as we are :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Or don’t be so concerned about socks matching. I am not very concerned about exactly matching socks, as long as they are the same type (tall crew socks together, ankle socks together).
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I found out that many individual socks… end up in the corners of my fitted sheets!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.And a funny anecdote i once read: a family where the ‘lost sock epidemic’ grew out of hand. Until they discovered that the lady of the house had a ‘lost sock orphanage drawer’. And so did her husband… elsewhere ;-)
Buying 2 same pairs was also my solution for kids’ gloves. Kid could lose two of them without any problem.
Such a good idea for gloves!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.When I take my socks off, I put a rubber band around them and put them in the laundry – safer than a safety pin, as it won’t come undone so there’s no chance of pricking yourself. For knee highs/pop socks, I tie them in a knot in the middle before putting them in the laundry. Everything comes out in the correct pairs so no wasted time trying to sort them out :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.two comments:
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Nylon mesh produce bags for citrus or smaller produce make great laundry bags for small items: baby laundry, socks, bras or lingerie with straps that tangle.Insert ‘item’ and make a slip knot with the open end. It pulls loose easily after the wash.
The bags are free with the produce, they go though the wash without tangling and they are easy to replace. [I found an extra-sized mesh bag on a frozen turkey that would hold (ladies) shoes in the washer. Otherwise mine tend to float to the top of the load]. Re-purposing the mesh bags makes me feel better than tossing the bag into the landfill.
Orphan socks without holes make great cat toys. Catnip or a LARGE bell in the toe with a knot to hold it. Fold the open leg part back over the toe and knot again (makes the ‘ball’ bounce funny) The remaining leg can be a handle for the cat to grab and toss. My cat chases, bats and tosses his catnip-enriched sock and then hides it under the sofa for another day.
Thanks for sharing this great tip! Repurposing and reusing items is so important for the environment! Great idea! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I recently bought a set of multiple sized mesh bags. I’ve been using them now for my socks and things do not get lost!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I used to hold monthly meetings for “Socks without Partners.” You either got matched up or thrown out.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love it, Linda! Instead of throwing out the unmatched socks, you can pair them up and donate them.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.…..tip #1 I use for “work” socks, especially good for when you get a hole in one…(nobody darns socks, ain’t nobody got time for that!)…#2 for all others…..and I’ve used mesh laundry bags for small items in the dishwasher…(top rack only)…also mesh laundry bags are great to add to baby shower gift baskets with a note to “Mom” to use for baby socks, bibs…anything really small…..
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a basket in a small laundry basket. All unmatched socks go in small basket. I generally keep these a long time to replace matching socks with holes in them. I too, basically buy the same socks for my guy. The second bottom basket holds extra paired socks. I try to limit how many pairs are actually in their drawers. My oldest son would change his socks after every activity. Ok I understand after work outs- they’re usually very damp. But, after work, after playing basketball, after puttering around the house, after washing up, before bed and when he got up. Why because he could, getting 3-5 pairs of socks a day from him was not nice. By only giving him so many he limits himself.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Have a great day.
I’ve been using this method since I have my baby(who is now 19mos) with his socks. We have a front load washer and his socks were always getting stuck in the drain area behind the rubber seal. I was tired of being frusterated and concerned about how much detergent, softener and dirt was still in his socks that were stuck and having to rewash them so I threw them in a lingerie bag and have not had a problem since.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Singleton Sox: If the mate doesn’t show up after awhile, I like to stuff it with catnip and tie a knot in it to make a cat toy. Nothing fancy and it’s always the cat’s favorite toy. Always.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Now we need something to do with all the mismatched socks we currently have.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great ideas! I wonder if a safety pin through the socks might create holes in the socks prematurely? I think I’ll go with the bag idea, I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before! That and I’m about to go sock shopping to replace some old very worn out socks, and I’m going to buy all the same socks!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Jillee….I’ve had some of these: https://www.sockclip.com/ since the early 90s and I love them! My initial set was of 8 and it was just recently one split (after oh-so-many years of washing!) and since I hadn’t seen them, I googled the name on the broken one. I was tickled when I found they are still around! I believe I got my first pack at walmart all those years ago.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.This year for Christmas there were 22 of us gathered at my mom’s. She filled all her (and my) mismatched socks as “stockings” for us to open. It was so funny to see everyone’s face when they came into the house and saw a row of mismatched socks filled to overflowing lined up so neatly under the tree! My mom insists on wrapping EVERY present that is placed under the tree (including what is in our stockings) so she used a tag on each one to identify the recipient of each one.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.BTW, my mom keeps her mismatched socks in her canning kettle as it is so large and is used so infrequently for most of the year it solves 2 problems – where to store the socks AND where to store the canning kettle. It sits on top of the dryer in her laundry room and every couple of months she matches up any socks that have made it in there.
Oh boy ….do I ever remember our “singles only” bag!!! Had two of our kids, hubby and me and two granddaughters all living together and always had those loners turn up. One time hubby decided to do laundry and was amazed when we introduced him to the “bag”. After several months he informed us that he had determined that all sock mates had run off to Walla Walla, Washington (never could figure out why he selected this place) but it became a family joke over the years. lol
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a laundry basket for all the odd socks. I keep this laundry basket in my closet. Every couple of months or so, I pull the basket out, put on a video and match socks. When my kids were younger, we would have a SOCK PARTY. I would assign a color to a child and all the socks of that color would be given to that child to match. It became a fun activity.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a pretty, shallow, square wicker basket on the dryer with a sign “looking for my soul mate” that single socks go into until their match shows up!!! =)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I trained my husband to use safety pins to pair his socks when he takes them off. Then he throws them in the laundry and when they come out they are automatically paired. It only took a few weeks to get him trained…. I just didn’t pair ANY socks… just threw all of his socks in a basket and said “have at it” and every morning he had to sort through socks and pair … a pair for work. Now while its not 100%.. and some types of socks – loosely knitted ones get tangled in the pin… for the most part it’s AWESOME!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My current system is sloppy but has worked for years: any unpaired socks sit on top of my dresser, so that when I find the mate it’s right there to pair up & put in the drawer. Also helps, like others have said, to simply stick to having all the same socks, with just a few variety pairs, i.e. some comfy fuzzies, dress socks, etc. Same for the hubby, but for his storage, instead of the dresser, we throw all his socks in a Rubbermaid tote, unmatched, & he simply finds 2 that look the same from the ankle down — if they’re the same colour, they are good enough for him! He learned this storage trick from his dad. I always pair mine; I don’t have the patience to sort through, as some of mine are anklet & others are crew.
Love the lingerie bag idea! I’ve been using one for years for my bras (waaay too lazy to hand wash each week). I had no idea that anything from the washer/dryer could slip through to where they don’t belong & wreak havoc on the machines!! Must invest in a couple new bags for the socks. That’ll fix my sloppy mismatch system as well!
Another little FYI: If you do decide to use a safety pin to keep the socks coralled in the washer/dryer, the pin will also act to eliminate static cling in the dryer!! I’ve been using a safety pin or 2 on my new homemade fabric softener sheets (another of your great inventions, Jillee!!) to get rid of static. I was shocked that this method actually works!!
Thanks again for all your nifty ideas, Jillee. I don’t comment often, but I read your blog every single day :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I always used to use a lingerie bag when I was still in a dorm with communal laundry—people would always move your stuff and take it out of the dryer, no matter how diligent you were, and socks would constantly fall behind the machines. The lingerie bag was a life saver for socks and underwear, so nothing got lost and you knew no one was actually touching your clean underwear, ick.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I fill orphaned socks with catnip for my kitty…. she loves the “toy” and I like to keep her happy! I’ve also used them for dusting rags (turned inside out)…
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I would like to know, what you can put in washing machine or dryer to,
Please log in or create a free account to comment.not have static cling? I live in Az. and boy is it DRY !!!!!
Thank You,
Sharon Evans
I read just recently (have not tried it, yet) to put a few safety pins in a old sock (how appropriate for this post!) and tie it shut. Just toss into the dryer with a load of wet clothes. Suppose to work great.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a wire basket that sets between my washer and dryer that holds all our LOST SOCKS. Love the idea of the mesh bags and not putting loose socks and/or girls undies in the washer (to avoid jamming the machine)…..I also avoid musty/mildewy odors in the washer by using small bungee cords to hold open the door by hooking one to the door latch and the other to the wire basket…….CARRY ON
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Haiku of lost socks…….
oh abyss of eternal socks
Please log in or create a free account to comment.return them to me, my husband cries….
I will be grateful forever…
I hate pairing socks, so my hubby has a box and my daughter has a box in their closets. I toss the clean socks in and they can pair them up
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I just wanted to let you know that I LOVE the rag curtain you have hanging in your laundry room window. It is super cute :o)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.When my brothers were teenagers, my mom insisted they pin their socks together. My dad did as well. He continued that practice long after my brothers were married with their own families. My dad is gone now so this post made me smile, remembering him.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We call it the sock box. I have one for white socks and one for dark socks. I also save the good sock when the match has a hole. Since I buy socks in packages, I know a match will come up eventually.
With three boys (one chews up socks as he runs track), I wash a lot of socks! This was a fun column, thanks!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.When my fiance and I moved in together we split up certain cleaning jobs – I hate doing dishes and he hates laundry, so he does the dishes and I do the laundry, it works out! Immediately, I realized his socks were all over the place. He’d collected various socks throughout the years, ones with holes had been tossed (sometimes) and he had “matching” pairs that weren’t actually matching… last Thanksgiving we visited my family in Washington, where they have a store called Fred Meyer that does a half-price sock sale on Black Friday. I replaced ALL of my fiance’s socks so I knew they were all matched up.
Since we don’t have an actual laundry room – our laundry is in a closet in the hallway – I sort and fold our laundry in our bedroom. My sock orphanage is currently a pile on the dresser. While I’m doing laundry I don’t hunt around for matching socks, I just throw all the clean ones in a pile on the bed and when I’m through folding and putting away the rest of the clothes, I go through the pile and match. Any that are missing their friends get added to the dresser pile to wait for the next load to come out.
I do need to come up with a better system for getting rid of the permanently-orphaned socks though. Some way of organizing those socks so I know which ones have been sitting in the pile for more than a month.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great suggestions! Yesterday I ended up playing “I know the pair for this sock is in this laundry somewhere, but where is it?”.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I live alone, you would think that I’d be able to keep my socks together. sigh It’s that washer gremlin.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Downtown Disney has a store that perhaps is the cause and solution. LittleMissMatched is its name.
At this house I stopped pairing them up when the boys were toddlers. If its clean its fair game. If any one was bugged by that-they had to match their own. No one ever cared enough.
Our reactions when people point it out:
Even DH (who wears a suit & tie everyday–yep even weekends) doesn’t care–he says, “if it was good enough for Einstein it is good enough for me”.
I am a middle school teacher and students that age can be brutal. I tell them “I have another pair just like them at home”. Then I say–“think it through”.
Our boys would act dumb & say, “they come in sets?”
TRUE STORY: When our oldest was a toddler his father had the task of dressing him one morning because I had to go out early. He searched high & low to find matching socks to avoid scrutiny by the family. Later that day we met back up at his parents’ house. He was dressed fine but I noticed his socks were on upside down. When I said that I got the strangest looks until I pointed out that the ice cream cone on his sock was upside down-therefore the sock was upside down. Actually the sock was an just inside out anklet (I know– on a boy–hey it was blue). So when an anklet is inside out and the top not folded down ,the sock design becomes upside down. Jillee-this may require a Tutorial for How to Put On Socks.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.haha! I think you are right CTY! too funny!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Exactly!!’ My livestock don’t care if my socks match, and I don’t care about anyone else’s opinion! Lol!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We solved the lonlely sock problem many years ago. When socks come off, they are turned inside out and rolled together as a ball and thrown in the laundry basket. When washing the pair is turned right side out. I wash a load of nothing but socks. Two go in – two come out. Never have lost socks. My kids moved out many years ago, but I do the same thing for mine and my hubs and it still works.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I stopped having the sock bin years ago. I hated going through and trying to match the socks and still not finding matches.
Instead, I started buying a different style for each person. This helped with the mismatched size issue as well as knowing whose socks they actually were.
Now when the clothes are sorted, for our family of 8, any lonely sock is put in the proper persons pile and put away in a separate part of the drawer. When they are putting their clothes away, they can match them then, or at least have all their socks in the drawer when needed.
We have not been afflicted with the mismatched sock trend, so I always put one sock totally inside the other when matching. This works great for no show socks all the way to long athletic socks. This has really helped with matches coming undone in the drawer, prevents stretched out elastic from folding the tops over, as well as the fact that it is easier to see what sock it actually is (my husband always likes to fold his into a ball…not real easy to ID from that state).
I may have to instigate the mesh bag idea though. That would definitely make sorting socks for us much simpler. I just wonder if I can get my 6 males to actually use the system… :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I used to have that problem a lot. Now I tell everyone in the family to roll their socks in a ball before they throw them in the hamper. Yes, I have to unroll them before laundering, but at least this way they always end up together in the same load of wash. They are much more compliant in doing this than in pinning them haha.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have used a box sock orphanage for a few years now. The only problem is (and please someone tell me their husband does this too) if my husband, who wears both dark and light dress socks during the week get a hole in one of his socks he will throw away only the one sock and go get something out of the orphanage. And then I end up with the perpetual rotation of socks that really do have a mate but I spend weeks trying to meet up again. I think I am going to get my son one of the mesh bags. He wears all the same socks. He insist on doing his own laundry which is nice but his socks are usually standing on their own by the time they get washed. Oh well at least they both have so many other good quality’s.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You know those rings on the plastic milk jugs? The ones that hold the lid on? then they flop around on the top of the jug once the milk has been opened?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You can use those to keep socks together, pull the socks through the ring. Toss in hamper, washer, dryer and drawer.
What a great idea! But my girls’ socks are those super thin. Will they hold? Also, do they get clean…er….and dry…in the part that gathers?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.As I kid my mom, sister and I were in the car and noticed a sock on the side of the road. My mom says “That’s how far it got”. My sister and I looked at her and asked what she meant, she said “you know when you pull clothes out of the dryer and you are missing a sock. Well, the other one presses itself against the inside of the dryer where you can’t see it and when you’re not looking it escapes. So when you see it on the side of the road that’s as far as it got.”
Please log in or create a free account to comment.After a stunned moment my sister and I laughed our butts off. It has become on of our running family jokes, that my nephew (19) and niece (15) both know and tell their friends.
Loved the tips and will try a few now that I have two small stepsons that are constantly missing things.
Love to all.
hahahaha
Please log in or create a free account to comment.How funny that so many of our daughters just wear mismatched socks!!!! I have 3 girls (and an older son who thinks this is ridiculous) and a 5 year old son who apparently thinks this is cool so he deliberately unmatches his socks and says it’s a “crazy sock day”. My hubby started buying all black socks because he said I kept giving his away to my oldest boy but truth be known, if you knew my hubby you would know they walked away on their own! I don’t bother matching socks either, it usually ends up being “The Great Sock Swap” anyway!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great ideas and cute orphanage story! lol I used all my leftover socks to wrap delicate items in for extra cushion when I moved.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My daughters, too, wear mismatched socks- they started because my brother (their favorite uncle) was wearing them-he lived in a house with six other guys, and they all kept stealing his socks, so he bought socks in lime green, hot pink, neon yellows and oranges-he never had his socks stolen again. I am constantly losing my son’s(2) little socks though! We have the sock basket. All socks get thrown in there when they come out of the wash, and maybe once a month I go through and match them all. I hate matching socks. Waiting (im)patiently for summer so socks don’t have to be worn!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi Jillee and all of the Jillee-ettes!
We always had trouble with socks gone missing until we stopped using our clothes dryer.
In Connecticut the electric rates nearly doubled after deregulation.
The price increase coupled with our elderly dryer got me to clothesline and drying rack exclusively.
The last time that the dryer was repaired the drum had to come out and guess what I found???? All of the socks that had ever gone missing
I am convinced that everyone with missing socks will find them there.
The dryer though old, still works and I will occasionally use it for sheets with damp corners that need to go right on bed.
Love your website even when the posting is not something that I’ll use.
PS Sure hope that I win that Kitchen Aid!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks Ruthie. I really appreciate you saying that. :-) (Love your name btw….that was my roommate’s name in college!)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Another way to repurpose mismatched socks is as erasers for white boards. I teach and the students all know that they are washed before I bring them!!! Some grab a favorite color, a soccer sock, a character…and then they put their white board markers inside the sock. If you have enough, you can donate to the whole school!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have trouble with socks not drying when in a mixed load so how do your socks dry when lumped together in a mesh bag? I love the creative names for the single sock collection.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.They do fine in the mesh bag as long as it’s not too stuffed.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I am going to try the lingerie bag for each family member and have them pin their dirty pairs together before putting them in the lingerie bags. as it sounds like it will kill 3 birds w/ 1 stone: losing socks, keeping pairs together and sorting by person. It sounds heavenly!
W/ 7 people: 3 boys and 4 girls we have a “unique sox” bin of over 100. We have sox in 3 sizes for the girls and just when you think you’ve found the match, GOTCHA! They’re 2 different sizes. I really don’t mind the girls wearing mismatches except for church on Sunday, when we can’t find a pair of matching sox! :) Thanks for your suggestions!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great idea! I couldn’t understand why I had so many missing socks until one day I was getting the trash from all the rooms and “found” some sock that they had tossed in the trash. No holes or any reason to trash them but being lazy. I made them do all the laundry for the week – about 6 loads for us – and I have never had the trashed sock issue again.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a mesh hamper for those who are “Lost Soles Looking for their Sole Mate”.!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a bushel basket
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Of socks that have no mate.
How this happened
I am not sure.
Did they divorce of just separate.
The state of matrimony
Is not what it used to be.
I think we’d better investigate
When socks can’t even agree.
Hilarious! Thanks Joyce!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Bravo Joyce! ;-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi Jillee! I have been using the “bag method” for loose sock for a few years now. Even have my hubby checking the bag to match his socks!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love the curtains in you laundry room. Are they just strips looped on a rod? My washer and dryer are outside on a room off the old garage the previous owners converted.
Thanks for all your posts.
We used to do the safety pin idea and it worked really well in addition to buying all matching socks. The only problem we had was a sock thief that would steal the other kid’s socks. At one point we even put initials on the bottom of the socks. We identified the thief but she didn’t care and kept on stealing socks. :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.O dear, “hear” for “here”…and we were just working on homophones the other day. Need coffee……
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Anyone else notice that the teens and tweens are wearing mismatched socks all the time? I’m guessing this craze was started by a popular teen who couldn’t find matching socks because she had a laundry challenged mom like me. Anyway, I thank that girl from the bottom of my heart! So hear is what we do in my house.
1. The 3 girls socks go into a common drawer, there they can mix and match to their heart’s content. I have completely perfected the ability to avert my eyes from their feet! Which can be hard to do when they mix “themed” socks, think St. Pat’s day and Halloween…. :o)
2. I bought all the same socks for my son, and they all just go to his room.
3. My husband’s socks stay with his laundry, and my socks stay with mine.
Works for me!
Really enjoying your blog, Jillee, ever since Mary Hunt gave your laundry soap a shout out in The Daily Journal, Kankakee, Illinois.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks Rebecca! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m fortunate that my daughter doesn’t like to wear matching socks. I buy those cute little socks with crazy designs on them and she mixes and matches, I’ve even started doing it when I’m wearing sneakers, it gives me a smile to know that even though I look like a grown up, my feet are still five!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We have the mesh bags for the kids, but they are only as effective as the person using (or not using them). I started a support group called “socks without partners”, but it hasn’t really helped. LOL!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I pin all my socks together with a safety pin! Pretty little dish on my dresser full of pins means all my socks are paired and ready to go. When I grab them from the drawer, I toss the pin in the dish and run. Love it, all my little socklets used to get lost – now they are tidy and pre-paired. Best part is, I don’t end up with a bin of doom that my hubs and I both avoid. (Hate pairing socks)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Highly recommended!
When my husband first got his office job, I bought different colors of dark sox, brown, green,
Please log in or create a free account to comment.black, and blue. He would get dressed in the morning and had trouble seeing
what color the sox were. I sewed a few stitches of bright colored thread in the toe area.
Blue sox had pink thread, brown had yellow etc. It worked.
Then we decided that it was easier to buy black cotton (Gold Toe) and wear them with all colored pants. The only problem with that is if they are washed in different loads of clothes they come
out different shades of black so all do not match. I used cold water and Tide so that is not the
reason for the different shades. Cannot use all the sox interchangeably. bummer
When I do laundry I just make sure that two sox go in the washer and two come out. I hang them up on the clothes line in pairs so the dryer cannot eat them. Underwear too. Haven’t lost anything yet.
I am not really that organized, but the sox system worked for us..
My teen girls refuse to wear matching socks so I have no idea when or if we are missing socks! :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.It’s even more impossible for those of us who have shared custody of our children…socks get split between 2 houses and never get paired up again…and how is it that whenever I buy new underwear for my kids, that ALL the new stuff inevitably ends up at their Dad’s house within a couple of weeks, while I am left with the old, holey, grotty stuff? LOL! Anyone know what to do with about 50 odd socks?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Fill them with baking soda and toss in your kids shoes or in the closet to keep them smelling fresh! Use them as a “swiffer” for dusting or cleaning ceiling fans, blinds, baseboards…or stuff them all together, stitch shut and give to the dog as a stuffy. Ha!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love the dog toy idea!! Thanks! I dislike buying stuffed toys for our dog (she won’t tough plastic or rubber items). She loves to “destroy” the squeaker in them and pull out all the stuffing.
We did the “odd socks tied into knots as a dog toy” thing. Toby (our dog) loves it! Problem is that now nobody in the house can put their socks on or take them off without a little help from Toby! Gggrrrr….
My husband makes a batting type toy out of old socks…he just stuffs an old sock super tight with other old socks until it’s quite hard and uses it to bat balls with the kids.
Wow! Loads of ideas for all my odd socks…I was using up the rest of my old dryer sheets tied around baking soda for shoes…now I’m going to use socks! Feeling quite happy that I have enough odd socks to try ALL these ideas :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love the fact that the new trend here with our 3 girls and all of the girls in our area, is wearing MIS-Matched socks!! Problem really solved!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The columnist Erma Bombeck used to tell her children the other sock “went to live with Jesus”. I remember years ago my husband was working as an electrician and his pants kept bothering him. At lunch time he reached up his pant leg and found a pink stocking stuck to his pants!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.That’s funny. Made me laugh.
My husband was in CVS pharmacy, about to walk out and was stopped by security. They made him take off his outer shirt because it looked like he was stealing something. Turned out to be an old, stained microfiber cloth that had clung to his shirt when I took it out of the dryer. LOL!!! Oh, man!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I found out the hard way that there is indeed a washer sock monster….all these years I thought it was the dryer… twice our front loading overflowed. The first repair person revealed. nice pink thong in the water valve of the washer….years layer it was a knee high sock!!! I put all socks & panties in mesh bag and kids know to put there’s in one too!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great ideas! I think the bag idea will work best for my kids – I did the same sock thing when they were younger and it worked like a charm. But since I have a son and daughter – that no longer flies.
Thanks!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I found the website for your curtain~going to make these too! Great ideal! Thanks!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh good! I’m glad you like and you found it. :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I want to know did you make the curtain in your laundry room? Love it!! I also buy socks all to match for the boys..black ones and white ones..that way they always “Match” Thank you for all your great ideals!! :D
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a basket I call “Socks without friends”. When I need to feel like I have accomplished something, I will sort this basket, and match up the friends. Our worst sock issue is traveling and leaving one on the floor of the hotel/ camp. A small price to pay for all the adventures…
Please log in or create a free account to comment.haha….I’m loving all the different names for our lone sock depository’s! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.“Sock orphanage” – I love it! Have used the all socks alike (or at least a large # of them) for some of the folks here (you are right, guys are easier) but I like the idea of the bag for others (say…MINE!)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks!
Carrie
I had a basket called ‘Sox without partners’.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I hate sorting sox. Hate, hate, hate!
I finally bought several yards of mesh fabric, similar to the lingerie bags. I cut that up and sewed up a BUNCH of bags.
Sox come off the feet, the two sox go into one bag. Close up the bag with a safety pin by sort of weaving it through the mesh. Sox can’t get out!
They go through the washer and dryer that way, and into the drawer.
Different colors of mesh could be used for each person in the family.
IF I keep up with putting my sox in the bags, I never have to sort sox, and I never lose any.
I’d be VERY wary about putting safety pins through the wash, I used to use them and then our front loader machine stopped spinning. We emptied the filter thing at the front, and I pulled out some coins, hair clips, random stuff but there was a safety pin stuck right back out of sight, and almost out of reach, stuck in there as it had opened during the cycle.
We thought we were going to have to buy a new washing machine, so no safety pins in out washing machine anymore.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Safety pins will also rust. The thing to use is diaper pins. They do not rust and are large enough to be found in the washer (though I’ve never had one come off a pair of socks.) I keep a paper cup in the sock drawer to put them in when you put on the socks. Has been working for me for 13 years. If you have trouble finding diaper pins Babies R Us has them as well as Amazon. I may start using the sock bags though for my daughter since she and all her friends now purposefully wear mismatched socks.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a clothesline like yours! Except
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I attached binder clips to mine for the socks because I always lose clothespins too!
My “sockgraveyard” is actually a container in the laundry area where stubbornly stray socks are repurposed as cleaning mitts (for dusting/polishing, for instance, slip it over your hand and spray with your favorite cleaner or Murphy’s Oil Soap.) Kinder to your furniture than paper towels, less paper waste. The same container also stores cut-up flannel jammies. also for misc household chores.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We use them for this too – also as wash cloths for the younger kids in the bath. They just slip the sock over their hand, rub it on the soap (or put a squirt of liquid soap on their socked hand) and scrub a dub dub away! It’s easy for them to get between their toes and behind their ears, back of neck, etc, all on their own!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I call the washer and dryer divorce court. Haha They go in as a couple and come out single… I like the idea of buying all matching socks for my son. He seems to be the one who has socks that don’t get along :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.https://onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/05/shabby-chic-rag-valance.html
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I enjoyed reading the ideas about keeping socks together, but I am more interested in the curtain behind the hanging socks…is it just made from strips of fabric? Are they hemmed and if not do they fray easily? It is so bright and colorful. I have been thinking of new curtains for 3 of my windows and this is a great idea :D
Please log in or create a free account to comment.https://onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/05/shabby-chic-rag-valance.html
(read all the comments to answer your questions!)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I like the idea of a mesh sock bag to throw in the washer…was thinking about that the other day. Also, I keep our socks seperate from our other laundry in a sock hamper — just a small trash can with a lid. I keep it in our bedroom with a trash liner in it because that’s where we take socks off and they go right into their own hamper. If I want to wash all socks I can grab them quickly…no rummaging through the whole clothes hamper to find them all. I put trash liners in all laundry hampers so I can just quickly grab the bag of clothes to take down to the laundry room…much easier than carrying the whole hamper down the stairs.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.oh that is a fantastic idea! Except why not line the small trash can with the unzipped mesh bag? Just pull out the mesh bag once full, zip up and toss in the wash ;0)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We call it the sock graveyard :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great tips! I like the bag idea, might have to try it. I was doing the “orphanage” already but we call it “single sock department” in our house. :) And we never throw away even hopelessly single “orphans”. Wanna know what we do with them? Use them for rags! :) It’s actually very convenient, you put a sock on your hand and do all the wiping with absolute hand freedom. :) It was actually my “boys” who came up with the idea. They are not very talented when it comes to cleaning and ergonomic use of a rag is somewhat like rocket science for them. The socks solve the problem. :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We have used sock sorters for years and years. Best cheap investment I ever made. One year I found double ones, hooked together for bulkier socks. Here’s what they look like:
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=sock+sorter&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=3588178005&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=341167397372479086&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_4gsgvl0hfp_b
Please log in or create a free account to comment.ha-ha! I have a sock orphanage…It’s a mesh bag that all mis-matched socks go into, then the bag rides around in my laundry basket I put the clean clothes into from out of the dryer. Eventually, most of them get matched up…but not always! When I can see they’ve been hanging around for about a month without a match, out they go into the garbage! :) It also helps that I buy my son the same type of white socks for week wear, and about three pairs of the same black socks for Sunday…now, when one “mysteriously” gains a hole, or loses a mate, I’m not too worried about it!
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