Every once in a while, a pile of clean socks builds on top of my dresser. It's an unmatched, unsorted, unloved pile that seems to appear as if by magic. I just organized it and — determined to be rid of it for good — hopped on the internet to find a solution.
I was hoping to find one quick tip, and instead found this list of 7 useful ideas.
The list is nice because you can pick what works for your organizational style. For example, the 6th tip — keep a separate basket for clean, lonely socks — sounds like what I do now, which doesn't work for me. But the tip to buy fewer types of socks sounds pretty great, especially when it comes to dress socks.
See the full list at Home Your Way.
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I always buy the same kind of socks AND I wash them in mesh bags. I read an article years ago that said to always buy the same kind of socks and it has changed my life.
Some children really love sorting things, and socks are ideal. There is a certain amount of coaching time involved, but they quickly become experts. Flatware from the dishwasher is also wonderful for these kids.
haha I was going to say the same thing as Dulcibella ... several years ago, after growing tired of matching socks, I just started buying all of the same kind and forgot about trying to pair them up on laundry day. Problem solved!
If you line-dry, always hang them in pairs. That is to say, hang a sock, take the next one, if it doesn't match the first, leave a space and later on "fill in the gaps". Then when they are dry you can take them off the washing-line and put them away rolled together. No more chaos in the sock drawer.... By the way, usually you can see slight colour differences either when the socks are wet or when they are dry - so either you see which sock goes with which sock before hanging and put them together accordingly, or you can hang "the unidentified rest" together and match them when they are dry. no problem at all....
When my beloved dog Paulina was alive, I tied all the singleton socks together with sturdy rope to make a sockie spider toy for her. She loved it.
People organize socks?
I have socks in every color and pattern imaginable. They all go in a drawer and I rarely put on a matching pair.
We've designated a small "matching basket" above our dryer in the laundry room to avoid a sock pile in the bedroom.
In the past, we have thrown all the socks in a small bin - to be sorted later. Then we would just dig for socks. Haha
However, now we just take one day a week to put all the laundry up and match socks. Thankfully there aren't too many pairs to match in just a week.
I might to buy all the same types. That sounds so much easier!
Stop buying and wearing socks altogether and you will never have to worry about sorting them again.
When I take off my socks, I thread the pair through a little round rubbery ring with grips inside that I got at the (fabulous) Container Store. They go through the washer and dryer together and when they come out, I just remove the ring thing-y, roll them together and throw them in the sock drawer. Never have a stray one anymore!
In our household (man, woman) there are just two types of socks: thick (sporty) and thin ones. We both wear the same size and always wear dark grey socks. So after line-drying, I just make pairs of thick and thin socks and put them on either the left or the rigt side of the sock drawer and I'm done. Lonely socks stay on the line 'till next time and always find a brother.
If we would wear different sizes, I think I'd buy one color per person.
I do a mix of 3 tips:
1. I have a mesh bag for all the socks. That's how they get washed.
2. They're all either one colour (black) or black with coloured heels and toes. Fairly simple to match up.
3. Any single socks left over go into an AWOL socks basket until a mate turns up. Sometimes, one will get worn out, so I throw that into the rag bag and leave its mate AWOL until another sock wears down that can match it.
Buy the same type of socks in quantity in a minimum of colors.
I never sort my socks, all different patterns, all different colors. All my socks are low-cut.
I cant even remember the last time I wore matching socks.
I match what I can. The unmatched ones go in a bag in hopes of finding their match. Sometimes I turn the unmatched ones into dog toys by stuffing one inside another, adding a dog treat, and tying in a knot.
LOL HHRI
We have the sock bucket for lost socks. Our kids earn points for matching up pairs -- when they hit a designated quantity, they get to pick the movie for Saturday night. They hate the chore, but so do we, so it's kinda a win-win situation to get it done.
Cringes at how HHRI sorts his underwear.
No one in my family has ever had a problem keeping up with socks. Perhaps we are all Obsessive/Compulsive.
I buy all socks in the same color 20 pair of black socks. problem solved. I learned that when I was a nanny from the kids grandmother.