10:35am. “Seriously, where are all the socks?”
I sent this text a few days ago to Maggie. I could not find a single matching sock. My hatred of socks goes beyond the never-ending laundry battle— even the laundry that has been forgotten in the washer {side note, hello SudShare}.
In my house socks are never where they are supposed to be. There are sports socks, pattern socks, and one thousand white socks that still don’t even match. There are multiple mis-matched sock bins that have never seen the light of day. There is the lone yellow sock that sits on the dryer that I KNOW belongs to a baseball uniform, but I can’t find its partner. And the too-small unicorn socks that I just can’t bear to throw away. Plus the missing dryer socks, borrowed socks, old socks and the ones completely destroyed by our dog. What is the deal, why can’t I get a handle on socks?
Maggie is the opposite. Her dryer doesn’t eat socks.
Lucas and I went to visit Mags a few weeks ago to meet Mack (OMG he’s cute). We were getting Reeves dressed and I opened his drawer. THERE WERE 10 PAIRS OF MATCHED SOCKS. WTH. How did you do that? Where is all the chaos in that trop drawer? Wouldn’t you know her closet was the same. Neat pairs of 20 matching socks. And that’s it.
Fast forward to a few days ago, while my kids are running around with one gray sock and one white sock, we started chatting about how to win the “Battle of the Socks”.
Winning the “Battle of the Socks”:
First off, you’re not crazy, you CAN lose socks in the wash. Try to stick to smaller loads of laundry. If you overload the washer, socks can get pushed between the inner and outer tub, where you will literally never see them again. Plus, for anyone with a front loader {never again!}, socks can also get caught in the filter. It’s actually a good idea to look in the washer clean-out area every once in a while. Some sock-loss is unavoidable.
Wash your kids clothes separately & do a sock check. It seems faster, but piling everyone’s laundry in at once usually ends up more chaotic on the back end. It’s better to wash kids’ clothes separately and actually do a sock check before putting in a load. If you can get a visual on all the socks, you’ll know at least know that the pairs went in together.
Try a sock organizer. This may be hard to keep up with, but there are sock organizers out there. A friend suggested leaving an undergarment bag near everyone’s laundry bin for only socks. Socks get washed together in the bag, improving the chances of complete pairs.
Keep uniform socks in the laundry room or dedicated area: For families with ALL THE SPORTS it’s helpful to keep uniforms, and their coordinating socks/belts/etc labeled and in the laundry room or another dedicated place. Our laundry room isn’t huge, but it does have storage, so this is doable, especially since our sports don’t have a lot of gear.
If you can’t find it’s match, just let it go. Let go of the vision of taking an afternoon to only match socks. It’s not going to happen. If the socks don’t match, don’t put them in the drawer. Get rid of single socks. It feels wasteful, but there are ways to do this that don’t just mean tossing them in the trash. Often, homeless shelters will take them if you ask or stores like H&M have programs to accept textiles. There are 101 ways to re-use socks.
Pattern socks are actually helpful. Mass quantities of white socks won’t solve the problem. Patterns are quick to match and it’s easier to know if it’s gone missing. It makes sense — hence the yellow sock on my dryer that I know is missing it’s buddy. Fewer patterned socks are easier to track than the revolving door of white socks.
Regular sock audits. Today, I’m paying $0.10 a pair and they have 40 minutes to match all of these socks. My laundry room already feels lighter!
