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Yeah, I hang up my clothes, so... If you want to save a crapton of time on doing laundry, throw out all your socks and buy the same kind. I standardized on Und

Yeah, I hang up my clothes, so... If you want to save a crapton of time on doing laundry, throw out all your socks and buy the same kind. I standardized on UndeR Armor Resistor. Cheap, last about a year, seem to stay in profuction forever. If every household member does that, you never have to play the sock pairing game again.

ewjordan 10y ago
For the true laundryphobe, you can buy socks in bulk for less than a dollar a pair. Just wear a new pair every day and throw them out when you're done. I don't actually do this, FWIW, but talking about it is a fantastic way to annoy an environmentalist at a bar. I often threaten to create a startup around the "disposable clothing subscription" idea, 9 out of 10 at the table are horrified by the wastefulness or think it's ridiculous that people consider matching socks to be a nuisance at all, but that last person is so lazy that they'd almost consider it if the price was right. I suspect it probably wouldn't make a great subscription business, pack/ship costs would make the margins really tight if you wanted to stay around the $1/pair price point (and you'd be sourcing really crummy socks even to get there), so I think you'd have to go pretty far up-market. Who knows, maybe that could work (it looks like a ton of sock-of-the-month premium subscription box things do exist), though probably not for daily disposable socks.
Joeboy 10y ago
Absolutely. I go for black army surplus socks, which I think cost about 1gbp a pair last time I bought a batch, which was ages ago.
morsch 10y ago
Only after you have standardized the foot size of your household members...
- IgorPartola 10y ago
  No you want every household member to have their own brand/color/size. That way you can quickly separate them.
a3n 10y ago
If you want to save an additional crap kilogram of time, don't bother throwing out your socks and buying new ones (unless worn out), just wear the first two socks you pull out, regardless of color or pattern. Because who cares?
- a3n 10y ago
  Hmm. "Because who cares" meant who cares what socks you have on? I actually do wear whatever comes out of my sock drawer, and I throw away singles, not pairs, so my socks are often mismatched.
  - IgorPartola 10y ago
    Did you just reply to yourself?
Kluny 10y ago
That's a great idea until you get into cases like: light colored pants with low shoes (you need light socks) dark colored pants with low shoes (you need dark socks) running (you need thin socks with no seams) hiking (you need hiking socks, or at least thicker ones, and probably two pairs that you can wear at the same time, and multiple sets) cycling (you can use the same ones you use for running, but your generic black socks probably won't do it) Only a heathen would wear the same socks in all of these circumstances.
- ams6110 10y ago
  I wear blue jeans almost exclusively. And I don't run, cycle, or hike. So this is a very workable idea.
- IgorPartola 10y ago
  Matching socks to pants vs to shoes is its own debate, but that's why I picked the socks I did: they are great for exercising, black in color, so go well with jeans and also go well with my black and white Chucks. I do have several pairs of specialty socks: a pair for dressy occasions, a very thick woolen pair for extreme cold, and a couple of pairs of taller socks for when I need the extra protection. That works just fine because I pull those out roughly three times a year so there is very little matching to do. Obviously, this is not the fashion forward thing to do, but I think for working in a casual setting and meeting friends for a beer once in a while it works just fine.

ewjordan 10y ago

For the true laundryphobe, you can buy socks in bulk for less than a dollar a pair. Just wear a new pair every day and throw them out when you're done. I don't actually do this, FWIW, but talking about it is a fantastic way to annoy an environmentalist at a bar. I often threaten to create a startup around the "disposable clothing subscription" idea, 9 out of 10 at the table are horrified by the wastefulness or think it's ridiculous that people consider matching socks to be a nuisance at all, but that last person is so lazy that they'd almost consider it if the price was right. I suspect it probably wouldn't make a great subscription business, pack/ship costs would make the margins really tight if you wanted to stay around the $1/pair price point (and you'd be sourcing really crummy socks even to get there), so I think you'd have to go pretty far up-market. Who knows, maybe that could work (it looks like a ton of sock-of-the-month premium subscription box things do exist), though probably not for daily disposable socks.

Joeboy 10y ago

Absolutely. I go for black army surplus socks, which I think cost about 1gbp a pair last time I bought a batch, which was ages ago.

morsch 10y ago

Only after you have standardized the foot size of your household members...

IgorPartola 10y ago
No you want every household member to have their own brand/color/size. That way you can quickly separate them.

a3n 10y ago

If you want to save an additional crap kilogram of time, don't bother throwing out your socks and buying new ones (unless worn out), just wear the first two socks you pull out, regardless of color or pattern. Because who cares?

a3n 10y ago
Hmm. "Because who cares" meant who cares what socks you have on? I actually do wear whatever comes out of my sock drawer, and I throw away singles, not pairs, so my socks are often mismatched.
- IgorPartola 10y ago
  Did you just reply to yourself?

Kluny 10y ago

That's a great idea until you get into cases like: light colored pants with low shoes (you need light socks) dark colored pants with low shoes (you need dark socks) running (you need thin socks with no seams) hiking (you need hiking socks, or at least thicker ones, and probably two pairs that you can wear at the same time, and multiple sets) cycling (you can use the same ones you use for running, but your generic black socks probably won't do it) Only a heathen would wear the same socks in all of these circumstances.

ams6110 10y ago
I wear blue jeans almost exclusively. And I don't run, cycle, or hike. So this is a very workable idea.
IgorPartola 10y ago
Matching socks to pants vs to shoes is its own debate, but that's why I picked the socks I did: they are great for exercising, black in color, so go well with jeans and also go well with my black and white Chucks. I do have several pairs of specialty socks: a pair for dressy occasions, a very thick woolen pair for extreme cold, and a couple of pairs of taller socks for when I need the extra protection. That works just fine because I pull those out roughly three times a year so there is very little matching to do. Obviously, this is not the fashion forward thing to do, but I think for working in a casual setting and meeting friends for a beer once in a while it works just fine.