I'm curious.... How do you handle all those stray mismatched socks? I cannot find a system that works. I use to keep a small shoebox-size basket in the laundry room but it is getting out of hand. There are only four of us but we seem to go through thousands of socks. My husband works outs & goes through 2 pair EVERYDAY. I try to buy in bulk for him and my son in hopes of making matching eaiser but even when I go back to the same store the new socks are just different enough to not-match! Then there are the ankle socks for summer and crew socks for winter...I'm tempted to just throw out all the ankle socks (even though some are still very good) at the end of the season but it's seems like a waste. Do you store socks with summer clothes that will probably not even fit next year anyway? And how long do you hang on to the fancy sock that lost it's mate...because as soon as I throw it out I WILL find the other one stuffed between the sofa cushions ;-)!!
a trick my grandfather taught me.
Get a package of those really small gold safety pins and pin the socks together before they go into the laundry basket and into the wash that way when they come out of the wash they are together already.
He did this for as long as I can remember. Never had any problems with it putting a hole in his socks or damaging them.
Socks are the bane of my laundry time...at one point I had an entire hamper that was filled with nothing but clean and unsorted socks...lately I have started having everyone have their own laundry basket and I have done loads for individuals, which is easy for me in my house because I have a teenage son and a preteen daughter, I sometimes will combine a load of my youngest with my clothes or my preteen daughters things...I have to mark either with a permanent marker or a loop of colored thread socks of my teen son and my hubby otherwise they get mixed up. I do put my daughters frilly socks in a lingerie bag so they stay together, I do this for the toddler socks too, because they were always getting stuck in strange places, like my blue jeans! I do keep a small container on top of my dryer for stray socks, but if i cannot find the mate after a week or two I toss them, otherwise I would have another monster pile to sort. I have adopted the idea that socks are somewhat disposable, I do buy the kids socks in larger matching quantities, the last socks I bought for the toddler was 10 pairs of all the same style for less than $6 at Walmart...I do not sort socks by season, but they all have a "sock drawer" my kids will wear the ankle socks as slipper socks through out the winter...stray socks can be recycled as awesome dusters for blinds, or made into fun sock puppets = )
yeah i feel your pain. i have a big hamper full of socks and last night i decided i am going to throw them away. I give up. Uncle.
I use the sock clip now. I have tried everything to keep socks together and my son has very expensive sports socks now. I found these and love them www.sockclip.com they go in the washer and dryer and your socks stay together! Awesome since our ski socks cost over $20 a pair! Hope this helps :-)
LOL, I feel your pain! I was getting so frustrated with matchless socks - couldn't figure out why the match wasn't in the same load when I didn't have any more dirty laundry. Then I found out that my kids were purposely wearing mismatched socks; daughter thought it was cool, son was lazy. At that point I threw in the towel, or sock I suppose. The kids are now responsible for matching their own socks. If they wear mismatched ones it's their problem. I no longer have to worry about it and laundry time is much more peaceful.
I feel your pain I have 5 kids and two baskets that I separate the dark and white stray socks into then about once every year If there are no matches they get donated to the local schools for arts and crafts. Icall around see who would want them.Good Luck!
I like the laundry pin idea, but probably wouldn't keep it up. Growing up, we had a laundry basket of them and once a month would have a matching party followed by a sock fight across my parents' bed. Loved it!!
I thought I was doing well with the socks until recently. My husband does random things with the stray socks and I run across them in the strangest places. On the marriage ref, I actually saw a guy that would label and number his pairs of socks. I'm beginning to think how smart this is because at least you would know if you kept finding the same sock or the partner?! I usually put the spares in the sock drawer of whoever's sock it is, and the next time around will find one or two of them. If the sock no longer fits, I throw it out.
We figured that all those mismatched socks, the ones that disappear for no reason, were getting sucked into the washing machine. We have a front loader, and I have to peel back the rubber ring to discover my socks, kids' socks, etc. that get sucked in there.
We use a lingerie bag to put their socks into when washing that will prevent that from happening.
As for finding them in between cushions, etc. Well......can't help there, but if the washing machine is the problem, that's been our quick fix.
We safety pin the socks together before washing and they stay that way after everything is done. Since I live with 3 guys (my husband and two sons) they each have their own signature socks. Hubby uses Champion socks, #1 son's socks are Jockey brand and #2 son's socks are something else (don't remember the brand) but they all are a fan of black socks.
I buy them patterned dress socks. Each individual has at least 5 pairs of the same dress sock. So this one has this style, that one has another style and the third has an even different style. If they loose one sock, no big deal because all of the individual's socks are the same.
I just keep up with my socks. Actually just being responsible for the sock from start to finish is the individuals responsibility. I hope this helps.
