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Socks

rachylou

Veteran

Ok. I have too many socks/stockings. How many should I have?

These I have determined are my categories:

Heavy hiking socks
Heavy warm winter socks
Thin warm winter socks
Heattech winter tights
Trouser socks
Light weight summer socks
Athletic socks
Stocking anklets
Stocking knee highs
Stocking thigh highs
Fun tights (coloured, patterned fishnet, etc.)
Capri tights
Footless tights
Footies

Wow. That's fourteen categories. My problem is, I wear these all at different times of the year and I like to do sock-only loads of laundry, so I can treat them right. So I have built up a laundry load of each type. Because I'm deranged, ok? Ok. But my intention is to somehow stop this neurotic behavior.

Should I just say 8 pairs of each type? One for each day of the week and one pair to wear on laundry day? Also, how do y'all wash your socks? With your jeans?

My gypsy neighbor said I'd make a good gypsy with my obsessive laundry sorting. There are rules for what can and can't be washed together and apparently I follow them instinctively...Not that I'm saying gypsies are neurotic. She said it!

General

48 replies

Latest reply was from Staysfit

kerry

Veteran

I do not love wearing socks so I try to have as few as possible! But I know you run cold so having a sock wardrobe would be essential. What I do know is my dislike of socks was, in part, because I tried to make one type of sock work for most situations. So now I have a few different categories. I'm picky about the height of my socks too.

Your categories are abundant but make sense. Do you need 8 (or more) pairs for every category? Which categories do you wear most frequently?
If you're picky about how you launder your socks, can you hand wash so you don't end up with bottlenecks? I have a pair of very lightweight Zella capris that are so great when the weather is hot and humid, I thought I should duplicate. But then I realized I could do a quick hand wash and they'd be dry the next day - no duplicate needed!

I wash my socks based on weight - heavier ones with denim and such, lighter ones with cotton and such.

If you're going to be neutrotic about something, socks isn't a bad choice - they don't take up so much room!

Anonymous

I would think very few categories need 8 pair of socks, but I guess that would depend on how often you're hiking in winter, for example. I would also treat trouser socks and knee high stockings as the same need category for myself. I think a few categories could be combined.

I must admit, I thought I was particular on laundry, but seeing that you have socks only loads, I realize how laid back I really am. I have never washed only socks in a load. They get sorted by color and must ride along. If I don't want to lose some of the small footies, they may get thrown in a mesh bag. Stockings potentially would hand wash.

Astrid

Veteran

I think having eight pairs makes sense if you wear them everyday, but that probably isn't true for any of your categories. I would think about aiming for a different amount per category, depending on how much you wear them (and for how many days in a row). I'd also rethink your laundry habits. I wash my wool socks with my wool things on wool cycle, thin cotton socks with cotton stuff and my hiking socks that aren't wool with jeans. I wash thin stockings or tights with either the wool stuff or in a mesh bag with the cotton items.

Diana

Veteran

I wouldn't stress too much over it. Socks are small and don't take up much room. It's not like you have 8x14 pairs of pants or anything!

Now organizing them is another story...

Helen11

Veteran

Wow, that's a lot of categories..but I have most of them, too!
Though maybe not 8 of each. I'm not going to go count them, I'd rather not know.
As for washing, I have rules about what can go in together. My husband has no such rules, so all the socks go in with the boys' clothes. Ha!

Colette

Veteran

I haven't identified my sock cartegories, yet, but I have too many socks too. I have no idea what the right amount of socks should be, I'm just chiming in because I share your obsessive laundry sorting and fabric care habits.

crazyone

Veteran

As far as I'm concerned, you can't really have too many socks--they go missing and can develop holes pretty quickly, and don't take up a lot of space. I wouldn't worry about it--enjoy having a wide wardrobe selection of socks

I do wash my socks with all my other laundry, in fact I don't really separate laundry by type of item--I even mix sheets, towels, etc. in, though I tend to do one light load and one dark load.

Barbara Diane

Veteran

I don't have so many different types, but I got rid of a lot of my socks and still have many. I got rid of the cute ones with the white background because I wore sandals, not socks, in summer, and athletic socks with my sneakers when walking. Of course, I just bought new walking shoes at NAS and brought a pair of thicker socks to try them on with. But, it turns out, not as thick as my athletic socks. So now I wish I still had my summer socks.
I would ask what is the most you would wear? Sometimes I keep more than I use at home, because if I'm on a longer trip I might not do laundry and I want clean socks every day. Same with underwear. I got rid of a lot of my older underwear 6 months to a year ago and I just folded up my underwear-not folded with Kondo percision, but my mom did her socks and swears by it. I have to say I was surprised to see how many pairs I owned and was about to throw some more away when I realized I could take them on a long trip-and not necessarily bring them home.

Author Linda

Veteran

Hello, fellow sock lover! I too own lots and lots of socks, in large part because 1) former Wisconsin girl--socks were necessary items, and 2) my feet HURT when cold. Like really hurt. My doctor asked if I'd ever suffered frostbite and, well, I did, so that's probably why. If the temperature drops below 71F (seriously, I can tell that one degree difference between painful and okay), my feet and fingers hurt. This weekend the temperature here in Philly was 95+ and I wore warm socks and booties to my SIL's house, where she keeps the A/C (and the heat in winter) at a chilly 65F. So yeah, socks. Usually in summer I can wear nice no-show footies I buy from Smart Wool, but not at her house.

I've never categorized my sock collection to quite the extent you do. I have a drawer of neutral socks and dark, some thick and some thinner. I have a drawer of lighter colored socks, some thick, some thinner. And I have a drawer of true winter-weight socks for wearing with snow boots.

I throw lots of my socks in the wash and they come out fine, but the alpaca or cashmere ones and some other woolen blend socks get hand washed. I use Eucalan wash for those. Only dark socks get washed with my jeans, as I ended up once with some ugly grayed, blued over lighter-hued socks that looked too ugly to be worn even with long pants and booties. I used them for dusting.

Anyway, I am in the "can't have too many socks" camp. Bot sure about being a gypsy, though.

rachylou

Veteran

Ok! I will try mixing loads per instructions above. One of my things, re. number is I will wear one type of sock for basically a month, changing to a different type as the weather changes. So I'll wear each type every day, just not for the whole year or something. And then I'll change socks to go to work at the bakery. I'll wear the hiking socks to the bakery too in the dead of winter.

...maybe trouser socks tho I don't wear every day, esp dark ones...

jill58

Veteran

Rachylou, I do socks-only loads too! I have so many and generally wait until every last pair has been worn before washing them all at once. I also hand knit socks so those are washed separately. In the summer I never were socks except to exercise. It also seems easier to sort them if they're all done together in one load.

Thistle

Veteran

I have 2 categories of socks. Black work socks, all gold toe. White workout socks, all Nike.

Makes folding easier. And they just get washed in the white or darks load accordingly.

I am a simple creature.

viva

Veteran

You have WAY more socks than I do, but I just love that you have so many categories of socks! I don't know why it made me smile so much!!!

I really just wanted to share that my friend Anne and I have a moment every September where we look at each other (or post on facebook) and sigh a happy sigh: "Aahhhh. Sock weather."

rachylou

Veteran

I am glad I'm not totally alone! (So embarrassing otherwise )

deb

Veteran

Rachy, you are so funny. I cannot help because I am not a sock collector.

rachylou

Veteran

If only I'd collect interesting socks or something, Deb!

Gigi

Veteran

Hmmm, as far as how many of each type, that would depend on the frequency at which you wear them. For instance, I live in a climate that is quite cold six months out of the year, so I have a lot more thick winter socks and thick tights than I do thin winter socks and thin tights. So I would think about that if you want to pare down.

I always wash my socks with my regular clothes, so sorted by color. I use a lingerie bag so that they don't end up missing. If you are able to do your socks with your regular clothes, that would really help cut down on the number of socks that you need.

Adelfa

Veteran

I had a lot of socks when I lived in Northern California. Many of the same categories, not quite all. I had wool hiking socks, long trouser socks, short trouser socks, tights, nylon knee highs, cashmere argyle socks, footie athletic socks, crew length athletic socks, nude footies, black footies.... and I wore them all. I mean, that's why I bought them.

Now basically all I wear are thin footies. Either I'm wearing sandals, or pumps, or flats with no socks--or I put the footies under athletic shoes OR under booties because no one wears booties with socks around here. I've still kept my short trouser socks because I can't believe I don't need them. And one pair of hiking socks for planes.

Point being.... my guess is that you need your socks.

rachylou

Veteran

That's the thing about NoCal - microclimates. Vast situational variety. Yesterday I drove 9 miles, 14 min. Went from fog to sunny but windy. Sometimes if I just leave the hills, a ten minute walk, it goes from foggy to sunny. I could spend the whole day changing clothes like an Edwardian.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I am a bit in awe of your sock needs. My best sock decision was to buy lots that match. There is a sock eating monster in my washing machine.

rachylou

Veteran

Shevia, I am convinced - and I think about this because of my sock neurosis - that you can get a pair of socks and they will not wash the same. Like one will stay white and one will discolor just a bit. Or one will stretch a bit and the other shrink. I am positively convinced.

Joyce B

Veteran

I have found that even when you get the same color in knee high stockings they are all different. Dye lots matter for those, I try to stick to the same to make sorting easier but that doesn't really help. That works better with white socks but not all the time. Same thing goes for trouser socks.
I wash my jeans separately as they take longer to dry than all the rest.
I would say just enjoy your socks as you already have them, like and have use for them.

Laura

Rachy, I envy how very organized you are by having your clothes or in this case, your socks sorted into categorized for every occasion. Do you have them all sorted out in your drawer at home as well so when you need a pair, you can easily identify and grab the right pair, fast?

Like you, I have many different category of socks too! My categories are as follows:
- heavy wool socks
- thin cotton socks
- athletic ankle socks
- over the knee fashion socks
(various colors)

- stockings
(various colors)

- thin tights (various colors)
- thermal tights
(various colors)

- dance tights

I find that the right pair of socks can make a huge difference in my outfit and this is from a person who likes to wear boots a lot!

rachylou

Veteran

Too true about dye lots, Joyce!

Laura, company! Lol The right sock does make a difference!

I hate to reveal that my are all indeed stored by kind, but they are. A coworker once got very mad at me for my level of sock organization when I mentioned it. Lolol. She did!

Ledonna N.

Veteran

I am a separate load washer also. We have a Sock Warehouse in the Chi. My friend Tem introduced me to it. I lost my mind. They had so many different kinds. socks stockings footie. I might have to do a separate blog post about it. The Chi gets so cold and I wear so many boots I need socks and stockings and tights in my life.

rachylou

Veteran

Oh, you must do a blog post about Sock Warehouse! I'd probably get too happy there, however

Staysfit

Veteran

What! A sock warehouse! I learn so much here on YLF. Who knew?

I have my specialty running socks, both long and short, medium thick and thin. (That was four categories)

I have Pilates socks (hard to believe they make them right?)

I have sleep socks (( my feet get cold at night))

I have trouser socks

I have no show socks to wear with sneakers, and shoes when I don't want to go barefoot.

I have thin winter socks made of merino wool in several lengths

I have moderately thick socks also made of merino wool

Finally I have a category I call missing socks. I have no idea where they are? Most likely the dog ate them, or possibly they disappeared in the laundry or in my DS's or DH's bureau. Farley looks mighty guilty though......

rachylou

Veteran

Ok. Now I want to see a pair of Pilates socks!

Runcarla

Veteran

Wowsa! This sent me running to my sock drawer to do an audit...

Workout socks

Socks for winter sports - snowboarding, X-country skiing, winter running
Weekend/gardening socks (ancient white Thorlo's)

Trouser socks - I have been influenced by the trendy men who frequent my work turf in their too short pants, with interesting ties and socks. All my trouser socks are 'interesting'. My favourites have 'the girl with one pearl earing' complete with pearl. It sometimes falls off in the wash, but I have always been able to find it and sew it back on.

Stockings/nylons - regular and micro fishnet

Wool socks (for over any regular sock when ++warmth is needed) these are the kind used to make 'sock monkeys'....

I currently don't have any tights on the go, though I wore them last winter.

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