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I never really had trouble with missing socks until our oldest child was born 7 years ago. Suddenly I had all these teeny tiny socks in the wash and they would end up getting lost or at least disappear in other pieces of laundry for long periods of time before being discovered.
It was very annoying.
Not only because I’m cheap and hate buying new socks all the time, but also because it was hard to find a matching pair of socks for my baby when I needed them! And when you are a sleep deprived mom, little things like losing socks seem even more frustrating than usual.
One day as I was doing our laundry and putting some other things into lingerie bags to be washed, I had a “light bulb” moment! Why not use a lingerie bag
to keep my son’s little socks contained so that they could easily be found once they were washed? It was such an incredibly simple solution, but it’s become one of my favorite laundry tips ever!
Want to stop losing socks in the laundry? Here are a few tips!
* Use a lingerie bag that is fine mesh with small holes.
I’ve discovered that bags with bigger holes make it easier for the clothing inside the bag to get snagged- especially if you also use the bag for delicate clothing too.
* Don’t stuff the bag full.
This is common sense really, but if you stuff the bag full of socks, there isn’t going to be enough free space for them to move around and actually get clean. I tend to err on the side of caution and only fill the bag about 1/3 full.
* Use the lingerie bag when traveling, too.
I get really tired of the kid’s socks floating all over the place in their suitcase when we travel. I’m not sure why it took me so long to think of it, but a couple of years ago I finally got smart and used the lingerie bag to contain their socks when we travel too. Works like a charm!
Jettsmom
My son’s washing machine quit. We got a new pump for it and while replacing it, we found our granddaughter’s tiny little sock stuck in the pump. Washing machines really do eat socks. I got them a lingerie bag for her little socks.
ThriftyFrugalMom
Oh wow, that’s crazy! Hopefully the lingerie bag will do the trick and prevent more issues. I guess that was one expensive sock! 😉
lemniskate
another thing that helps is — if they’ll go along with it – buy all the same kind of socks. I buy 10 to 12 pairs of socks for my teenage son, and as they get holes or wear out, he tosses the no-longer-wearable sock in the trash; if he’s left with a sock with no match it just goes back into the hamper (that’s my lost sock system; all solo socks go in the hamper and eventually almost all find their mate); it never takes long before there’s another solo sock to match up. When we get down to about half the original number of socks, I go and get another 10 to 12 pairs, and start the process all over again. He’s got a pair or two of dress socks and the like but having many of the same kind of socks for every day saves a lot of time and aggravation.
(And we did the lingerie bag with our socks in basic training 😀 You can put your name on everything else but it’s pretty hard to mark the black socks they had us wear with our BDU’s and combat boots 😀 )
ThriftyFrugalMom
Buying all the same kind of socks is a smart idea! Thanks for the idea. And your comment about it being hard to mark black socks made me laugh. Yes, I guess that would kind of be a problem!
Lucinda Nutting
I could smack myself this is such a simple idea…so brilliant! My fiance is constantly (constantly) losing his socks. This is going to save us a fortune! 🙂
ThriftyFrugalMom
Lucinda, that’s how I felt when I first thought of it….like why in the world did I not think of this before? Have fun figuring out what to do with all the money you save. 🙂
Kristen @ Joyfully Thriving
I registered for two lingerie bags at our baby shower and have used them faithfully since! They do a great job of keeping socks together! And yes, I take it along when traveling as well.