Sunday, September 7, 2014

Finding My Mate...The Lost Sock Phenomenon...


I know...I know, I've been talking a lot about socks lately.  You see every time I do laundry and come across a lost sock I throw it into our "lost sock box".  Then every couple months I pull out my lost sock box and attempt to make some matches.  Well it happens to be that time of year again, every time I become more and more baffled by this crazy phenomenon!


I mean how does this even happen?  Really?  We wear a pair of socks, throw them in the laundry and wa-la only one sock comes out.  Looking for answers I went straight to the knower of all things...The Internet!  I know they say you can't believe everything you see on the Internet, but really I had no where else to turn.  I need answers!

  Folks have all sorts of theories on this phenomenon!  Psych doctors believe it's all in our head, that these socks are not really missing.  Pfft, whatever doc!  On to the next theory!  Some scientific math whiz came up with a whole new theory:

The first modern attempt to explain the fundamental questions of laundry involved the decay theory. The decay theory states that the quantity of socks in a load can be expressed as a decreasing exponential function of time which is analogous to radioactive decay (see equation 1).

            N=N0*exp(-pt) (1)







Um, what??  Did they really just use an equation on this matter??  Since I don't claim to be any sort of a math whiz, I have no Idea what they are talking about, so I continued my search!

I then came across the Bureau of Lost socks, (yes there is such a thing) again not much luck there as to where my socks have gone.

I decided to take some hints from folks like me who are on the same great hunt.  Folks who's mission is to be smarter than the average lost sock!  Some great tips I have come across are listed here:

  1. Throw out all your socks, then go to the store and buy a package or two of all the same type of socks.  Throw them all in a drawer and just grab two out when you need a pair of socks!  Done!  No more sorting socks ever!  you can even get black socks and white socks and keep them in the same drawer...Brilliant!
  2. use Sock Clips!  to be honest I didn't even know of these little gadgets. I do believe there are some great handy people out there who come up with everything!  Hopefully it will be me one of these days! These handy little clips hold your socks together in the wash, hence no more lost socks!  I did research these, they are available in all shapes and sizes, in all price ranges!
  3. Tie your socks together as soon as you remove them from your feet...simple enough!
  4. Put all your pairs of socks in a Mesh delicates Bag zip it up and keep all your socks together in the laundry!
  5. Hang a small clothesline in your laundry room and hang your lost socks on it!  this way when you happen across the mate you can match them up right away!  As for me I would need a clothesline across my whole house to be able to hold all my lost socks!!
I hope these tips are able to help a few of you keep your socks together with their mates! 


 Back to tip number 1, if you are like me and hate to throw things away especially your fun printed socks, I came across a fun book while doing my Internet research.  The book is called Lost Sock!  200 Clever Ways To Use Your Single Socks!


This book would be a great housewarming gift, white elephant gift, or holiday gift for anyone really!  If you are interested in this book you can check it out here,  Lost Sock! 200 clever Ways To Use Your Single Socks!

Have a great day, Thank you for visiting my Blog :)



41 comments:

  1. I don't have lost socks anymore. I started washing them all in a lingerie bag, so now I never lose any. It's a brilliant idea :)

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  2. I think this is a great book, and I could definitely use it! We have so many pair-less socks, it's unbelievable.

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  3. I put them in the laundry bag, too. Since then I never lost a sock.

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  4. Good tips! I am pretty sure that my cats take socks out of the laundry basket. One day I will find all the lost socks buried under furniture or the washer and dryer.

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  5. Oh my gosh. So many lost socks! I seriously don't have a clue where they go either. So frustrating haha.

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  6. When my kids were growing up, I throw all the mismatched socks in a small laundry basket. Once a month, we'd have a sock party where we all sat in the floor and tried to find the matches. We found quite a few, but there were always some that stayed single. I would slip one of the singles over my hand for dusting.

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  7. Hahaha! I have so many single socks in my drawer, it's ridiculous. When we moved across the country 3 years ago I finally got rid of all of the singles but now I have more. I love the sock clip idea.

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  8. My kids use say the sock monster that lives in the dryer ate the left sock. Never the right, always the left. Lol.

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  9. I used to miss one or two when my kids were still little. Sometimes I find them inside a shirt or inseide the rubber of the washer (frontloader washer).

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  10. I'm so glad that I'm not alone in this situation. It happens with gloves too. What the heck!

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  11. "Tie your socks together when you take them off" is BRILLIANT and I'm only dissapointed I never thought of it. Wow. So glad you posted. #lifechanging #notsarcasm

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  12. I always put my socks together, so I always have the two together! It's been so helpful, haven't lost one from a pair in a long time.

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  13. Ha ha! I love this! I used one of those suggestions for my boys and husband. I got packages of tube socks for them, each a different colour. No more matching, and no one notices if a sock goes missing!

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  14. Story of my life. The sock monster taunts me. That books ls perfect! I have many singular socks just waiting for their time in the spotlight.

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  15. I have so many lost socks! I also discovered a couple of years ago that my washing machine "eats" socks (they get stuck between a seal in the door). I'm just sure my dryer is eating them as well, because every time I do laundry I have more missing socks...

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  16. How fun, I love this post. Will think about some of those tips for my own socks :)

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  17. Seriously...it's a great day when I have all the socks paired up after doing the laundry. What transpires from the time we put them in the hamper to the time we get them out of dryer? lol. Great tips.

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  18. This is a great post! I even read it to my husband and we laughed and laughed about the math equation. Those tips from others are great except "Put all your pairs of socks in a Mesh delicates Bag zip it up and keep all your socks together in the laundry". When I was in basic training in the military we had to do this with our undergarments and socks. Let me tell you...nothing gets clean this way. Try this instead: use cloth diaper pins and pin your socks to its mate before throwing them in the wash. Someday I will follow my own advice and try this someday ')

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  19. I don' really have a problem with lost socks but growing up one of my friend's moms always made everyone in her house safety pin their socks together when they washed them so they would;t get lost. Genius idea!!

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  20. Sounds like my house! lol Great post, thank you for sharing! Have a great weekend ahead!

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  21. Haha... cool idea. I never thought of that. I use to just shrug and buy new socks. My son however, he somehow loses them because I even get to wash them.

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  22. I might have to get that book or just throw the socks away. We have so many single socks that it is ridiculous!

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  23. haha this is funny! I have mainly white socks so thankfully I don't often lose the mate. But when I do, I throw the other one away so I don't have an odd number!!

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  24. Missing socks is one of life's greatest mysteries LOL!

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  25. I don't think we have ANY matching socks left anymore. We have a HUGE basket full of mismatched socks and thats what we get. It's been 12 years of missing socks at my house and I'm just done trying to figure out where they go! haha. - Jeanine

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  26. We have a lot of socks here, but I've never ran into that kind of problem. And I don't use any special "thing" to hold them all together. Guess I am just lucky, huh? :D

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  27. Ha! There likely is some other world where all of our missing socks are hanging out- enjoying the beach with an iced drink! :) Love your tips. They all are great!

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  28. All of my lost socks are hanging out somewhere, I'm sure. Even when I try to pair them together in the washing machine, they still get separated.

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  29. I recently came up with a theory that the washing machine is actually changing the physical makeup of our socks. I swear I put 12 pairs of matching socks in, and I get 24 non-matching socks out! Love this post. Thanks!

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  30. These are great tips! I have a sack full of lost mates.

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  31. I always have a pile of mismatched socks on the dryer. It is annoying. I can up with some ways to use the mismatched socks a little over a year ago.

    http://upliftingfamilies.com/10-ways-recycle-reuse-mismatched-socks/

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  32. I must be one of the lucky moms that hardly ever loses socks. I am always able to mate and fold them when I do laundry.

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  33. Hilarious. I think most of us can relate to the phantom sock. I am not much of a sock wearer myself, nor my daughter, but my son tends to misplace his socks frequently.

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  34. Ha ha I love this - I just did the great sock-matching too! It reminds me of a comic strip I saw once, where odd socks and wire coat hangers would unwind themselves and sneak away in the night :)

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  35. Oh the phantom sock. they go missing even easier when the socks are tiny like those for babies! A pair never lasted long in our house!

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  36. I gotta admit I always have on mismatched socks and so do the kids. One of them always disappears from a pair, it never fails.

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  37. Whenever we are missing a matching sock, I put them in a basket and then we go back a ew times a month and try and match up any of the lost socks.

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  38. I was always taught the mesh bag method to help me keep account of every sock, BUT do I remember to do it every time I wish? YES lol

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  39. This is hilarious. I would love to know where all of the missing socks go. One big mystery.

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  40. Omg love this!!! I never really had a sick issue until I met my hubby! The guy looses socks daily! I'm sure he has beat some record by this point lol

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  41. These are all great tips indeed. I love the idea of have all the same white or colored socks then you can never go wrong. Tie the socks together after you remove them from your feet is a great idea too. Thanks for sharing.

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