Washing and Sorting Socks

I hate it when the washer and dryer eat my socks. I know I put both of my blue argyle socks in the washing machine so why is there only one when I take it out of the dryer? I fear that discovering the source of the missing sock will always be a mystery. However there are measures you can take to prevent losing socks and to sort them so your socks don't go in the wrong sock drawer! Socks are a simple part of the laundry process and one that's so easy to master!

If you have trouble deciding which socks are Dad's and which belong to your teenage son, here's a simple solution. Buy a zippered mesh bag for each member of your family. Ask them to put their dirty socks in the bag. Tie a different colored yarn on each zipper pull so it will be easy to identify whose socks are in which bag. When it's time to wash, just toss the zipped bags into the washer and then the drier. No more lost or mismatched socks.

This may seem an obvious tip, but one you should keep in mind all the same. Make sure you do get all the socks out of the washer and dryer. It's easy to do a general sweep and not look back into the machines to check for left-behind items, however this could help you out sometimes. If you fail to retrieve all your socks from the washer or dryer the first time around, chances are the sock will come out with something else and get lost in the depths of family laundry. Just check your bases and make sure you know you've picked up everything.

When it comes to sorting socks, it can be a tricky process. Especially in families where everyone has similar socks, the sorting and distributing process can be a feat. One of the easiest ways to do this is to divide up the socks in a more general way and then let the rest of the family take what socks are theirs. Whenever the laundry is done, my sister and I end up with a pile of socks and underwear on the beds that we then proceed to divvy up according to what we know is ours. If you take yourself out of the individual sorting mix, you'll make things way easier for yourself and your family.