Banish lost socks forever!

May the 9th is national lost sock day: could there ever be a day more triggering for the keeper of the laundry.

They arrive sad and solo, sometimes in pairs only to disappear, seemingly losing a mate into thin air. How many quests have we been on to reunite sock mates only to fall short and dissolve into a puddle of frustration? The frustration is real!!! Let’s put this nation lost sock day to good use.  We will also cover how to keep those white socks white! So read on!

(Below: pictures sent in from our customers – piles of socks without a pair).

Here are 5 tips on how to keep those socks under control:

1. This is the single most effective strategy

If you only add one thing to your sock routine make it this: ONLY WASH SOCKS AS PAIRS. Simple as that. Not paired up? It doesn’t go in this load of washing. Have a separate place in the laundry for such ‘holding pattern’ socks. We have a small basket in our laundry.

2. Purchase multiples of the same sock

Double down on the above by buying several of the same socks for each person e.g. my hubby (a serial looser of socks) has multiple pairs of the exact same black socks. BOOM! This makes pairing up far more likely to keep socks rolling through the wash. It also keeps the ‘holding pattern’ socks moving through the laundry!

3. Hang your socks as a pair on the line.

This is the first step in folding and putting away harmony. Hang them by the toe or tops – just hang them together.

4. Once dry, fold’em where they hang.

This is simply folding the sock pairs then and there as they come off the line. For this hanging them out by the toes is easier. Now, this might seem a bit much, but trust me. If you have a household where the washing doesn’t always get folded and put away immediately (hey, we’ve all been there) – you can thank me later for this tip!

5. Drying in the dryer? Pairs only please.

Much like tip number one, only put pairs in the dryer. If you have one load of laundry and need to split into 2 dryer loads, easy. Save all the socks for the second load. This is a no brainer – you have those socks exactly where you want them, and they aren’t getting lost.

Bonus tips

⭐Mari Kondo level organising. Have a separate space in your drawer for your socks. It can be as simple as an old shoe box or similar sized basket. The benefit of this is they are now easy to put away and easy to locate!

⭐White soaks looking grim? Let’s reset them to white. Suds up the bottoms with Figgy bar soap to remove any soiling that will wash away, let the soap sit on them for a few minutes if there is lots of grime to shift. Rinse your socks from the inside out by running water through them from the top, this flushes dirt away rather than trapping it inside the sock. Next prepare a bath: in a bucket of very hot water add ¼ cup oxygen bleach and 2 tablespoons of Figgy laundry powder. After a few hours, agitate the socks by rubbing the fabric on itself to help break up the stains. Soak overnight. Wash as usual, dry in the sun.

⭐Sick of spending time on white sock care? Free yourself by only buying dark coloured socks for those that can’t keep white ones clean. Case in point – my school aged boy is forever going outside in his socks alone, no matter how many times I ask him to put his shoes on!