The Sock Shopping Habit That Actually Keeps Things Organized

Here is to the unsung heroes of the home: the individuals responsible for washing, drying, folding, and restocking drawers with clean laundry. The multi-step process that is doing laundry is arduous to say the least, and it is made all the more agonizing by the tiresome task of matching socks. It seems that there are always solo socks left lingering in the bottom of the clean clothes basket that are missing a mate, leading to an ever-growing pile of matchless socks, and then there's the matter of matching socks that are colored, patterned, or a different style or cut. If thinking about socks takes up any space or time in your life, you might be interested in a simple shopping habit that makes sock sorting easy.

The habit is as easy as can be: Only buy one type of sock. Instead of stocking up on that set of socks with gray, white, and black pairs, opt for the pack with all gray socks. In addition to choosing the same color sock all around, it's also wise to choose the same sock style across the board. That means choosing all crew cut or ankle socks, depending on what you wear most. When washing day comes around, you'll fly through the sock rolling process since all of the socks universally match one another, helping to keep the family's laundry routine organized.

As nice as having only white ankle socks might sound, this tip can be overly simplistic and not practical for many individuals. If you work an office job during the week and like to go to the gym on the weekends, for example, you'll need one type of sock for your job and another for your exercise time. In order to still benefit from the principle of this trick without limiting yourself too much, limit yourself to a single color of sock per style. This could be, for example, only navy for your crew cut work socks and only gray for your workout-appropriate socks. While you'll still have to find their mates on folding day, it should be obvious what goes with what.

For individuals in a family, sock matching for multiple people adds another dimension of complexity. You can use the color-and-style trick for the various family members' socks as well. Your school-aged son, for example, gets black ankle socks, while your young daughter gets pink ones. By keeping the color of socks consistent across each individual, you'll be creating order that is easy to sustain. Lastly, if you have socks that necessarily fall outside of these parameters (such as thick winter socks that might not always be available in specific colors), you can always launder them in a mesh laundry bag (this is also an underrated laundry hack that reduces wear and tear on clothes). By keeping them together in the washer and dryer, you'll have an easier time matching them when the time comes.