Stopping Lost Socks from Becoming Lost

It's so frustrating when your socks get lost in the laundry. We've all had that pair of socks that you wash and you know you put them both in the washer, but when you take them out of the dryer, only one of them is remaining. How does this happen? Where do all the missing socks go? Despite the validity of these questions, they are not for us to know right now so the most we can do is better prevent our socks from becoming sucked into the deep cotton abyss that is the washer and dryer combo.

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. Just a simple check 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 the 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.

Another thing you can do is to combine the socks before actually washing them. I'm not talking about stuffing them inside each other—this could stop them from getting as clean as you would like. Instead, stop by the store and look through the notions aisle for a small plastic circle that can be used to "combine" socks. You put the two socks next to each other and push the ends of the sock through the circle. They socks get washed together and stay connected through the entire cycle. At the end of drying, remove the socks from the connector and neither of them will get lost.