Dealing with orphan socks

11 August 2014

Pin orphan socks to the laundry room wall to easily find mates

As I toured a new client’s home recently, I was struck by the clever solution she had created in her laundry room for dealing with orphan socks. She created a sock wall!

When a sock comes out of the dryer that doesn’t have a mate, she just pins it to the wall using a push pin. If the missing sock shows up in a subsequent load, she can easily identify its mate. She told me that if an orphan sock languishes for a period of time, she tosses it.

I think this is great, because it’s easy, sustainable, and very visible. I think if it were my laundry room, I might want to minimize holes in the wall (and socks) by putting up a bulletin board of some sort and using push pins with binder clips to hold the socks. But the principle is terrific!

Orphan socks aren’t a huge problem in my home because we minimize the number of different types of socks we have. My husband and I each have one type of white socks we wear with sneakers and a minimal number of dark socks. When I do come up with a sock without a mate, I just put it in the sock drawer and trust its mate will join it soon.

What about you? How do you handle orphan socks?

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Comments

We have a simple but awesome product here in Finland which solves the orphan sock problem for good. It’s a plastic clip color-coded for different family members.

SUPI sock holder

The manufacturers may not have thought about selling to the US yet, maybe they should!

Milla Havanka August 11, 2014 12:19 PM

I was too quick – they deliver to the US! I recommend this product very strongly.

Milla Havanka August 11, 2014 12:21 PM

Thank you, Milla! I have seen something similar (but not exactly the same) for sale here. I’ll have to keep an eye out for the Finnish version!

Janine Adams August 14, 2014 04:23 AM

We use our orphan socks as rags for dusting/cleaning. After they are used, they get tossed. Great way to ‘re-purpose’ those socks!

Anne August 15, 2014 09:55 AM

Love this post! At a recent client we had a “match the sock party” with their family. It was great to match up and then let go of socks. Everyone loved it!

Ellen Delap March 21, 2015 07:05 PM

I love the idea of a “match the sock party,” Ellen! Socks are such a challenge for so many people.

Janine Adams March 22, 2015 06:28 AM

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About Janine

Hello! I’m Janine Adams — a certified professional organizer based in St. Louis, and the creator of Peace of Mind Organizing®.

I love order, harmony + beauty, but I believe that the way that you feel about yourself and your home is what truly matters.

If you’re ready to de­clutter with a purpose and add more ease to your life, you’ve found the right blog — and you’ve found the right company.

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