As someone who has decluttered ridiculous amounts of stuff from her home, I love (like totally love) making single decisions that prevent me from having to make lots of little decisions in the future.
When holey socks come through the wash, I throw them away. No questions asked. I used to judge the severity of the holes and/or dream about being the world’s greatest homemaker and darning them.
A hole is a hole, y’all. And let’s be honest, I’m never going to darn a sock.
I made this pre-made decision a few years ago when another mother warned me she’d heard the kids would be doing something shoeless in P.E. the next day so she’d been checking for holes in her own kids’ socks.
That’s enough to send panic into my Slob Heart. As I checked my kids’ socks, I was appalled. I was also appalled at their lack of concern about little piggies sticking out in their P.E. class the next day.
The holey socks had to go. And all future holey pairs as well.
Oh, and let’s all pretend this picture was taken before the sock went into the wash so the stains would have been TOTALLY gone had it been washed.
And if we’re going to pretend that, let’s also pretend I took a shower after I took this picture.
Do you darn? Is it hard?
I’ve pre-made other decisions to keep clutter out of my house. Check them out, and tell me what decisions you’ve made.
Note: Does holey seem like a real word to you? It didn’t to me, but it is according to the internet! (And we all know everything you read on the internet is true, right?)
Here’s a great tutorial for darning socks. I do it occasionally, because my kids like it. I do it in the evening while my husband reads our bedtime story. (Almost finished with the Wingfeather Sage, really wonderful series!)
And as for the word “holey,” of course it’s a word! Robin used it all the time, as in “Holey rusted metal, Batman!”
Socks that have holes, stains, or just aren’t soft anymore get a new home in the trash. If I won’t wear them on my own feet they’re gone. I probably go through socks a lot more than the average person but I can’t stand itchy socks! (First world problems…I know)
I used to read all those articles about what you can do with stuff instead of throwing it out (use socks with holes for dusting!) but I finally figured out I was always going to have more socks with holes (I don’t like the look of that adjective and don’t need to use it) than I am things to use them for, and then you have to figure out some place to put them. So, no.
I throw them away. The only good use I ever found for them was filling them up with rock salt and throwing them on the roof to help melt off the snow and keep the water from getting under the shingles, and once you have a few up there, they last all season, and there are always more if you need more.
If you insist people use an emery stone for thirty seconds while they’re in the shower and lotion gets rubbed into feet after baths and and everyone keeps their toenails cut, you’ll have fewer holes in your socks to start with.
“The only good use I ever found for them was filling them up with rock salt and throwing them on the roof to help melt off the snow”
I love the idea!
I guess I decided this one without making a conscious decision about it. I tend to get holes in the cuff or on the top of the foot, so I throw them out as soon as I notice the hole. I don’t want someone noticing a hole in my sock!
I keep a pair of scissors in the laundry room and actually have to cut up the holey socks (and other holey garments not fit to donate or give away) because if I don’t they magically reappear. I don”t know how or who the guilty party is but it solved the problem and helps eliminate the temptation of trying to salvage them. Sad but true. 🙂
I discovered that our local council recycles clean, unsellable fabrics, which get used as mattress stuffing etc. This really helps me to declutter things which “I might sew if I had time” or “I can just wear it around the house”. On Tuesday I put a big bag of clean, unsellable clothes etc into the collection bin, including my much loved cashmere cardigan/comfort blanket which had a big hole in the elbow. But ouch! I just realised I should have taken of the ‘special’ buttons which I bought and sewed on when a button came off and I couldn’t find it and needed a matching set. Anyway, if you’re like me and hate to throw out something which ‘might be useful or fixable’ this might help if you can find something similar near where you live.
My mom taught me to darn socks. We say “Darn, this one has a hole in it,” and throw it into the trash. That was always a great joke at our house. My gramma actually darned socks for my grandpa because he requested it, but wouldn’t you know, they were so uncomfortable where they had been darned that they ended up throwing them out anyway.
My daughter and I both wear sock in complementary (mismatched) colors and patterns.
Lol, I don’t even remember making this decision!
I usually notice a holey sock while at work so the moment I get home it goes in the trash but I keep the unholey one! Why? Because I buy them in packs of 6 or 12 so know that soon I will have a mate for it since another sock will develop a hole or the dryer will eat one of my socks :D.
Oh, I don’t keep tissue paper either. I am hard pressed to toss my no longer useable giftbags though.
A way to keep crafting area neater: I keep a gift bag by my work area so any plastic or paper from packaging goes in there instead of the floor or the landfill, then empty it into the larger recycle bags when it gets full. It stays open, is collapsible when necessary, looks pretty and it is recyclable when the time comes.
Socks with holes drive me nuts! At least as much as socks without mates. I don’t keep either one anymore. 🙂
Way back when socks were made of wool, they regularly went into holes and so my mother would darn my father’s socks. Daughters imitate their mothers so, according to my mother, my first attempt at sewing was to darn my white socks with pink wool. I can understand the darning attempt but with pink?! I am so not a pink person.
Many years later, many more than I care to think about, I wear bed socks which are wool and I wear out the heels. I resent paying for new ones and so I darn those, with matching wool I hasten to add.
I enjoy darning. The trick is to use a darning ‘mushroom’ to spread the sock/hole over but I don’t have one of those so use a flat bottomed round glass paperweight. I find the process strangely enjoyable but I wouldn’t attempt to darn normal day to day socks.
Same here! I inherited lot of hand-made woollen socks from my granny and wouldn’t dream of throwing those away. Learning proper darning helped a lot 🙂
I’m on a kick of knitting socks and although I have several pair that are a few years old I haven’t had to darn any. I will, though, when the need arises. I also wear a lot of manufactured socks and just pitch them out when they get too worn. Our town has a great sock outlet…. cheap socks abound!
When I see a hole in a sock, it becomes a cleaning rag. Then I throw it away,
Hi there, holes in socks brings back some good memories of my Mom darning my Dad’s socks. She would use the old round light bulbs inside the sock. I remember the woolen ones where it was easy to see the weave of the stitches. Hope the light bulb idea helps Susan in England.
Regards Frances from Sunny, Heatwave, South Africa
I have tried to darn socks. I guess I’m not doing it right because, like someone else mentioned, it makes them unwearable. I love using them for rags. I love the idea that Sarah had. NEVER.HEARD.OF.THAT!! Rock salt in them and toss them on the roof during winter so your roof doesn’t freeze. BRILLIANT!! (our family as a tradition of putting the Thanksgiving stuffing in a sock to stuff the turkey with while cooking. lol. My family is hilarious and gross.. I love them to pieces!)
I tried darning socks, using a light bulb to spread the holes out. I understood the concept and didn’t do too bad a job, but it still left a rough spot that irritated toes/feet. Didn’t enjoy the chore so just quit doing it and started throwing holey socks in the trash.
I split holey socks up the middle from top to toe and my hubby and I use them for wiping up oil or paint spills in the garage, for cleaning brushes in his art studio, and for any project that involves glue. I also read about one woman who cuts off the “foot” and keeps the top part; she uses them in her bathroom when she washes her face: pulls them to about the middle of her forearms so that they catch the water instead of it dripping down to her elbows and then on to her p.j.s and then the floor.
I am darning a sock in this very minute. But it is a woollen sock handmade by my granny who is too old to knit anymore.
I cut off the toes of the mateless socks and use them as a arm band to keep my phone in place while I am running.
Yes! Cut them up or mark an x with a sharpie. I’m relieved I’m not the only parent who has experienced this phenomenon!!