Here’s What To Do With Your Single, Unmatched Socks

In my upper dresser drawer is a graveyard on mismatched socks of all colors and patterns. Some may have been there since I was a teenager. Their mates disappeared long ago. Some of them may have disappeared five addresses ago. Were they gobbled up by the washing machine? Were they carried off by a bird or squirrel? Did they blow away? I guess I’ll never know but I’ll never quit trying to locate them.

And while I continue the search I just can’t let go of all those lonely single socks. That’s why I keep them all together in one drawer so they can all keep each other company waiting and hoping for their reunion day.

Today is Lost Sock Memorial Day recognizing that nearly everybody has a drawer with unmatched socks. The theory of the day is to spend a little time remembering how warm and comforting on your feet those socks were when they were a pair, then end it all. Either get rid of those unused socks or put them to good use.

Here are some ways you can put those neglected socks to work:

• Put them over your hand and use them for dusting.
• Use them for washing your baby. It’s soft and you won’t drop it.
• If you have a unmatched tube sock use it as an umbrella caddy in your car. It absorbs the water and keeps your wet umbrella from dripping. But don’t forget to open it up and let it dry when you get home.
• Use it a heat pack. Fill it up with dry rice or beans, sew up the open end, then pop it in the microwave for a minute or two when you need it and you have a nice heat pack. Use another sock to cover it so you can wash it.
• Use a sock to store or save coins. If you like playing cards it’s a convenient place to keep your money in between card nights.
• Use a couple of socks to cover the top legs of a ladder so they don’t scratch or mar surfaces when you place a ladder against the side of the house.
• Keep game pieces for checkers, chess, scrabble and other games in a sock.
• Stuff tall socks with newspapers and stick them in your boots to keep them from flopping over. Adding charcoal to the toes of the socks will help absorb odors.

Can you think of others?