To think this is normal? (lighthearted!)

[mrsmalcolmreynolds]

I was putting away some laundry the other day that MIL had done for us (v grateful for this as life is crazy busy at the moment) and commented to DH that she pairs socks by just lying them on top of each other, rather than folding them round inside each other so they form a sort of ball. DH then said that before he and I met he had never come across the "ball" approach to sock pairing.

I was slightly flummoxed by this (and also how we've managed not to have this conversation in 17 years!) as surely if you don't fold socks into each other all the pairs get separated? It had never occurred to me that people wouldn't do this with their socks but I thought I'd check here in case I've been committing an odd sock faux pas my whole life and have dragged DH into it too (he does plenty of sock folding and does it my way)?

I grew up in a sock balling home and balled my socks for many adult years.

Then I discovered Marie Kondo. Now I fold my socks and my sock drawer is a thing of beauty

Clicky link to sock folding the Marie Kondo way:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=CW_9iwzhAjk

My dm ironed and then folded the tops, im a baller- and i certainly dont iron them!

We ball them but am aware that other people don’t.

Re odd socks, when we last moved house I realised I’d built up a large bag of odd socks.

I quietly threw the bag away - it was incredibly freeing and I highly recommend it.

I'm sorry your dm irons socks

Yes bluelonerose- irons socks. And pants, the 'waistband' of bra's, tea towels and face flannels. She also uses a plate to eat a biscuit.

Baller here. MIL just folds over tops but I find that (particularly OH's massive) socks end up too messy in the drawer (I tend to rummage for what I want).

My mum pairs and folds andput neatly away in drawers it looks lovely but i just ball.

Obviously you ball them. Otherwise they wouldn't work as a Sock Bomb when you throw them at your siblings.

My mil ties the two socks into a knot!!

I'm a flat folder. DH is a 'scrunch them up to resemble potatoes' sock pairer. I have to refold his socks when I see them as they make my teeth itch.

In retaliation, he re-stacks the dishwasher in disgust when I do it.

We're the poster kids for healthy relationships

The picture that dragonsandcakes posted of folding Over tops is quickest and most effective. Balling takes longer to pull apart. Konmari method takes longer to put together and could fall apart more easily.

I'm glad I'm not the only person with millions of varously washed out black socks with slightly different elastic tops. Thought I was being clever only buying black socks so they'd always match....nope!

So tempting to throw them all out and start again but I just can't.

Yes, I fold them into a ball. That way, I (hopefully) don't have a DC shouting, "Mummy! I can only find one sock!" at 7.15 on a school morning.

Floral DH seems to be completely unable to tell the difference between his (size 7) and DS2's (size 1) socks when they're hanging on the radiator. He puts his own clothes on the radiator and puts them away, but he once left a pair of socks for a month. When I mentioned them, he said, "I thought they were DS2's!"

I Marie Kondo mine so folded and stored neatly. No odd socks in my life.

Ball.
It is the only acceptable way to do socks.

I never knew about sock balling till I moved in with my now DH. Now I wonder how I ever lived without it.

I fold the tops over. But my MIL also just puts them on top of one another. I think this is because she also irons them (!) so balling etc would undo this. Is your MIL by any chance also a sock ironer?

Oh thank god twomadefour posted as up till that point I thought I was the only person in the world shackled to a fucking sock tie-r!
My DH ties his socks together, he gets in a pissy mood if his socks are rabbited together. He thinks it stretches out the top band of the sock. Naturally, I refuse to take part in such deviant behaviour and leave him to match/tie his own socks.

I iron my socks, then lay them flat together, fold in half and then turn one sock over them both. I'd say ball, but they are flat and then they can go in the draw all in a row neatly. I can fit two pairs of socks side by side and once they are all stood up I can fit loads of pairs in the draw.
We do have lots and lots of odd socks and it drives me mad. Me, oh and ds2 are the only ones who puts full pairs in to be washed. The other 6dc always miss socks or just wear odd ones. I'm a bit odd about socks. I like them to be new and as soon as they look/feel old I replace them

I fold and rarely have odd socks.
Don't they get all stretched out if you ball them?

I do what gemplusthree does, without the ironing. My sock drawer is a thing of beauty. All neat and organised.

Unlike the rest of the house!

I iron my socks

Are you unwell?

Folded socks are dead socks and really freak me out. My mother was a sock folder and I used to have to undo all the little socks corpses and make me them into nice fat balls again.

But what I found freeing was stopping trying to pair my childrens’ socks. Wash ‘em and throw them into their baskets and then it is up to them to find the pairs. Or not.

I find sock rabbits tend to mysteriously uncouple in the drawer so I make sock potatoes.

I tried the Marie kondo of folding them up for a while but it was far too much of a faff.

So sock potatoes it is.