To bin all the socks in the house and replace with all plain black ones?

[TitsalinaBumSqoosh]

I have off sock baskets and bags coming out my ears! I'm seriously considering binning them all (in recycling obvs) and buying lots a plain black ones. AIBU?

Don't do it!! We tried and it failed for same reasons as PP - fade differently; minor differences. We now go for black with small pics on and nobody gets identical socks. I then tip them on the settee and tell all family members to sort their own/put away with the threat of binning them at the end of the day!

There are still a few plain black ones kicking about - someone is clearly wearing them but no bugger claims them!!

I wouldn't get days of the week socks either - some people can get really anal about only wearing them on that particular day!

My mum once bought my son a pack of days of the week socks. He’s autistic; it didn’t end well!

I would definitely have one colour for each member of the family

*How does this work with 3 teens all going to the same school and all needing black or grey socks? Plus DH who wears a suit so also needs black socks

Your thinking is flawed*

Perhaps I should have said a variation for each member. There are enough variations on black socks, eg different colour heel and toe, or a pattern on the sole of the sock.

A friend of mine has for many years worn odd socks as she reckons life is too short for trying to match all your socks every time they come back from the wash!

No!! Two of my DD’s where black socks to school, they are never the same and never match up because I am sure each has a pile of odd socks stuffed in random drawers!! I forever have a pile of odd black socks waiting for the other to appear, which it never does!

DS who wears days of the week socks is also on Spectrum, he has about 10 different sorts. If one gets a hole in it he throws it and it's match away.

If he ends with less than three pairs for a day he asks for another set.

He probably has about 30 pairs of socks in his drawer at the moment

No I tried this and DS hoarded then all and I ran out.

I did that but I hadn't factored in the fade factor. I often think I should write the book 50 Shades of black socks and the woman too tired for sex sorting them'

Communal socks strikes me as a bit icky.

I buy our socks in big packs. People have black with coloured toes or black with coloured soles or plain black with the size inside that sort of thing. Everyone gets their own socks back after laundry but I don't bother pairing them. No one can see the toes or soles anyway and it feels like a secret rebellion under your school uniform.

Do it!

I only bought big packs of white socks when the DCs were young. I didn't even bother sorting them. I left them in a sock basket and they could help themselves heading out to school - 'first up, best dressed' style.

Now that it's just DD4, DS and myself at home, I have black socks all the same size for winter in the basket. DD4 and I have the same shoe size.
DS does his own laundry so his socks stay separate.

Does it really matter if one of your socks is slightly more faded than the other? I cannot say it bothers me in the slightest?

DH has all the same and they're harder to match than mine, which are black with a pattern underneath, or DD's, which are brightly coloured and patterned. They're all different ages, so unevenly worn. Fade, stretch, condition of elastic all alter over time, but aren't clearly visible when sorting in a hurry. I hang them in their pairs. It takes an extra half a minute when hanging, but makes putting away much quicker.

You need a different colour or pattern per family member. Always buy three identical multipacks at a time so that, even if the socks within the packs aren't indentical, you have six of each sock for pairing.

Master stroke; Pay the smallest person in the house to the pair the socks

I have two sets of socks - a set of identical black ones (maybe 7-8 pairs?) and a set of identical sports socks. It makes life so much easier as I never have to match them!

Just to add, the key is to buy them all in one batch at the same time so they all fade equally. When I replace socks, I replace the whole lot at once. Never had any issues.

my own are all black and it's much easier to pair this way.
we have a mesh bag each for our socks, so at least each person's stay together.

I did this. Just went into Primark and brought 40 black pairs.
My husband is a size 10 and I'm a size 8, so we both wear the same size socks really.
So much easier.

I have contemplated doing this for the 4 males in the household. But for me one of life's little joys is selecting a pair of socks in the morning that match my clothes or mood. I have some relatively expensive Sea Salt ones, and some bamboo fair trade ones that I absolutely love; I have others I'm a bit meh about and tend to wear those if I'm going walking or gardening etc.

Reading this thread I have realised I am really weird.
Sorting the socks is one of my pleasures in life.
We all have different size feet I get the ones with coloured toes and heels for DH and DS and me and DD have a variety.
I wash and dry them as odd then lay them out on the bed for sorting. I love sorting them. I also can't resist buying them. I have at least 70 just for me some just for Christmas which go away for the rest of the year.
I like sorting other things too, pens and pencils, books, herbs and spices.
I have noticed DD sorts things as well so it must run in the family.

Liyhatesjazz. Your perfect man is The Count from Sesame Street. He was purple and loved counting things, alas by the time he got to 5 or 6 he had worked himself into such a frenzy he could go on anymore.

Some of mine got in dh's drawer and he wore them. How he didnt notice they were too small for his size 10s, I don't know. I'm a 4!!

I have done this for years. I stick with Primark and haven't had a problem with colour fade.

A few years ago I had a hissy fit at DS's mismatched school socks...long short different shades, so got rid of them all bought two lots of the same style and made sure all were washed at the same time.

I've just had to buy DS new socks as he has moved on to the next size...the same as OH and myself...sorting should be fun. OH and I already have some communal socks.

My Mum used to make my DAD and DB have their own colour