Has anyone managed to solve the problems of odd socks?

[Nailsandthesea]

Without going for all black identical ones.

we are all completely different

size 11 child
size 4 adult
size 8 adult

my youngest is colour deficient and autistic and for the last 10 years prefers different socks and inside out

it is not practical to have just black

but I have just counted 97 completely odd socks before I gave up

they often just take them off and throw them and I’m forever finding them down the sofa etc it is giving me the rage

😡 all the money on socks - I haven’t brought new ones for years but what the hell do you do

i almost want to bin the lot but then I know I will
find another 19 down the side of their beds et.

is there any solution??

Buy multiple identical pairs. When at uni, people asked why I always wore dark green socks with jeans or slacks. They were old school socks that needed to be worn out.

I had a big laundry declutter at the start of the year. I think you need to be ruthless about getting rid of stuff that you don’t actually wear. Make sure that all your clothes can actually fit into your drawers, so it’s not lying around. Make sure you put clean washing away as soon as it’s done.

You don’t need that many socks. Enough for a week is fine. So pick your best 8 pairs or whatever and get rid of the rest, so you don’t get so overwhelmed by it all. The fewer you have, the easier it is to keep track of them.

was delighted to find perfect sock in poundland earlier this year.
£3 for a pack of 5.
I have 5 packs, should last a while 😁

As I find odd socks after washing I leave them on a high shelf in the relevant person’s room. Then when the other sock appears (often when I change beds and find when inside a duvet cover) then I know where it’s partner is lurking. I also have a bag where one of a pair is worn out…sometimes DH will have two of one variety and the spare is used. School made sock puppets once…I contributed many socks!

It takes a bit of searching, but you can find colored socks without texture on the inside. I don’t have a link because we finally graduated to just buying white and black, but they do exist and at regular stores. Look for words like “soft”, but also just check each pair. You want ones that are dyed, not woven.

After many years of buying all black socks for DH and me, but somehow still getting odd socks in the wash, I read an article in New Scientist (I think) that explained why.

The two socks you buy each time haven’t been made together, taken from the same vat of dye etc. They are paired up at a later stage of the manufacturing process. So the ‘pair’ you buy is basically two random socks. When they are laundered they may start fading at different rates.

When they’re a plain colour the difference is more noticeable, I suppose. So I now buy patterned socks

You think my socks are odd but to me they’re the same because I go by thickness-Steven Wright

get all socks same thickness

i only have one but buy nothing but TESCO GREY school socks

no matching

Exactly!
Three of us wear black socks with coloured heels and toes or coloured arches so easy to pair. One wears plain black - he actually has two different types with different ribbing but easy to pair. If on the odd occasion there is an odd sock it get put in the special odd sock place and is reunited with it's partner very quickly. Everyone is trained to put their washing in the laundry bin. I really don't see why some people find it so hard.

All black sounds a great idea. However the reality is that you then have 14 black socks on the line all of which differ slightly in length, blackness or some other way from the other 13.
If by any miracle two do match enough to call them a definite pair, one of them with have a hold you could put a fist through. This sock will also be declared the most comfortable favourite one and protected by a teenager saying that you can never throw it away.

DD2 has solved it though. She bought from a company that makes odd socks that sort of match (like black chess pieces on white for one, and white chess pieces on black for the other) and wears any two that she has available with no reference to matching.

We never have odd socks.

It's something I've never understood?

They go in the washing machine together and they come back out.

I genuinely don't understand how they can be lost?

Never managed to work out where they go but you can guarantee that if you throw away you will find the other sock appears pretty soon after🙄 I have a little pretty container where odd socks go, if having an at home day odd socks are worn by sons and as we don't wear slippers they tend to develop a hole quite quickly. They then make good dusters, especially on your hand for awkward things like shutters then binned👍

This! I’ve never had odd socks. But only 2 adults.

I never have odd socks. They go into the laundry basket when removed, I check there are two of each pair as they go into the machine and again into the dryer. If going on the line they hang in pairs.

If there's one missing from the wash it gets left on the side, usually it's been dropped on the way downstairs. If it's missing from the dryer it's always still in the machine so I find it then.

Not sure I've ever ended up with missing ones at the putting away stage.

I'm not organised enough for this - but wash them in pairs in a mesh bag.

Do keep an odd sock container somewhere, agree that odd socks should not go back to the drawers, otherwise people end up wearing odd ones. When your odd sock container gets too out of hand, do a big sock hunt (look under/behind all furniture, check corners of stored duvet covers and sheets) and throw any persistent odd ones away.

You get odd socks to start with when people take them off in different places. The DC are the worst for this but I'm guilty of it too - if I go to bed in socks and one of them works its way off in bed, if they get left on the floor and one gets kicked under a piece of furniture. If I step in something wet and take my sock off immediately, it gets put in a random washing basket (or left on the floor) and my other one a different one at the end of the day.

The other thing that happens is they get caught up inside things like duvet covers and pillowcases. Washing inside a mesh bag prevents this.

Yes if the odd sock problem has grown too huge, throw them all out and start again.

You might want to look into seamless/diabetic socks for your DS? Those can be more acceptable for sensory issues.

I remember a post (but can never find it again) where someone had bought a press stud gadget and loads of studs off Amazon and put studs on all the socks. They’re only apart when they’re on someone’s feet, otherwise they’re put back together when they go in the laundry and stay together til they’re worn again.

I put all odd socks in a bag and once a month sort through them. Always manage to make up several pairs. It amazes me that some could be in there for months on end before their other half turned up.

Another thing that worked well for me was putting a laundry basket in the living room, so when the kids are relaxing there and take off socks, jumpers, etc. they can easily just toss them in the basket.

My eldest has all grey, middle has all black and youngest is the only girl, so just has lots and I pair up when both turn up.

I have a permanent pile of odd socks sitting in my clean washing basket - every now and then I try putting them in a carrier to start afresh and only look in carrier when I am missing one, however I usually then end up dumping them back together. I should just give up on the old ones....

I hate plain coloured socks for matching so usually I get the black ones with a coloured heel / toe for school so makes them easy to pair up straight from drier / line.

Separate wash bag and wash cycle for socks and underwear. It works.

At boarding school we used these (otherwise you've got 300 pairs of almost identical socks in the same wash)

Loc A Sok Sock Locks Blue (Pack of 10) amzn.eu/d/de9ri34

It does rely on everyone actually using them though.

I hate socks! I told my Husband to ball his up before they go in the wash. This morning there's a sock on top if the microwave and there's one in the car ffs.

*We never have odd socks.

It's something I've never understood?

They go in the washing machine together and they come back out.

I genuinely don't understand how they can be lost?*

Don't you know that washing machines eat socks?! I'm sure that's the answer, as we try so carefully to match socks before washing, and we still have a large odd sock pile.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Metaltex-Holder-Socks-pcs-Multi-Colour/dp/B00B0M4AUS/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=sock+pairers&qid=1679911186&sr=8-6

Work a treat. Never lose any socks

I go through the wet washing when I hang it and place any odd socks together in a row so that I know they’re odd before getting frustrated during “putting away” phase. Then I have a basket for clean, dry odd socks that I go through once a week or so. The pile of odd socks doesn’t grow enormous if you regularly check through. It’s frustrating when kids are careless about socks, I find dirty ones in all corners of the house- but when I do the guilty party gets a boring consequence such as a week of emptying the dishwasher. You’d be amazed how much more careful some kids get when they risk extra household chores. 😂