8 things to do with your mismatched socks

Everyone has experienced the dreaded unmatched sock dilemma: What to do with the extra socks you have left over on laundry day? There are quite a few great uses for unmatched socks – that is, after you’ve waited the required 2-3 weeks (or months!) to see if the missing match is going to turn up.

Cleaning

The most common way to use an unmatched sock is to add it to the rag bin. These stray socks make a great hand cover for cleaning blinds, polishing car rims, dusting, wiping up drips and spills, the options are endless. You can even roll a few inside each other, or place a tennis ball inside one, to act as a dryer ball.

Paint Time

Socks are an idea clean-up tool when painting. Their thick weave helps to clean up drips and spills easily and then just throw them away. They can also be stretched over your shoes to keep them splatter free.

No More Stubbed Toes

Use old socks to cover the feet of a bed frame to prevent painful stubbed toes. Simply slip a sock right over the foot of the frame and fill with a few other unmated socks for extra cushioning. This also works for any furniture with feet or legs that you routinely catch a toe on.

First Aid

If you do suffer an injury, old socks are perfect to wrap around an icepack. They’re also great to pull on after applying moisturizer to hands or feet to keep it off floors and sheets. Hands can be wrapped in socks to prevent itching if chicken pox, poison ivy or other scratchy ailments strike. They can even be filled with oatmeal, tied up, and thrown in the bath to create a soothing oatmeal bath with less clean-up required than having it free-floating.

Going to the Dogs (or Cats)

Socks make great toys for dogs and cats. For dogs, you can fill one with treats, kibble, or other socks, tie up the opening, and instant toy! Do the same for a cat toy but fill with cat nip and let the fun begin. (A word of caution, be sure to wash the socks before turning them into pet toys; you don’t want Fido or Whiskers deciding that all your socks are fair game.) Unmatched socks can be turned into a nice sweater for miniature breed dogs. Spare socks also can be submerged in water and placed into the freeze for a few hours to make an easy and soothing chew-toy when your dogs are teething.

Going to the Kiddies

Younger children can have hours of fun with unmatched socks. They can create sock puppets, sock animals, and things adults cannot imagine! They can use them to sort toys, store puzzle pieces, hold crayons and action figures, make clothes and sleeping bags for dolls and stuffies, there really is no limit to what kiddos can do with old socks! You can even enlist their help to make a draft stopper by filling a sock with popcorn kernels and sealing it, then place wherever the draft is coming from, such as below doors or windows.

Drive safer

Ever had a moment when your windows suddenly fog up? Well, old socks to the rescue! Simply fill an old sock with cat litter (clean is best!), tie it up, place inside another sock and put it into your car. For maximum effectiveness, get close to the windows, possibly on the dash. These little wonders will absorb moisture and prevent your windows from fogging up.

Prevention

Of course, no one wants unmatched socks (although these ideas may be tempting). While we cannot stop your dryer from eating your socks, we do have a few suggestions for how to have less strays.

Attach a laundry bag to your laundry hamper. When you put your clothes into the laundry hamper, socks go directly into the laundry bag lessening the chances of them getting lost since the will be washed and dried right in that bag. This also makes sorting a breeze since each member of the house will have their own laundry bag of socks. If you’re super-efficient, you can even use two laundry bags, one for light-coloured socks and one for dark colours; this further prevents losing a sock when you sort the colours.

Or buy your socks in bulk. With a dozen pairs of socks that are all the same, you may occasionally have an unmatched sock, but chances are you’ll pair it up in a laundry cycle or two. And if you don’t, now you know how to put those unmatched socks to use!