Sorting Kids' Socks

[Julia R]

How do you sort out all your kids socks? I have a paper bag full of unmated socks right now. After they come through the wash, I can't tell whose are whose. My kids are 7, 3, and 1. I can tell the 7yo's from the 1yo's, but often that's as good as it gets. Also, when one kid is done with the socks they get passed down. Trouble is, I can't tell what size the socks are supposed to be after a while. Once they shrink a couple of times, they kind of all look the same. We have a few pairs of fun fancy socks, but most are plain white and white with lace cuffs. I'm about ready to pitch them all and start all over with some kind of coding system. I have better things to do with my time KWIM?


What do you do?

[Mothering by Heart]

Not the most cost effective, but I matched up the socks I could, gave them to Goodwill and threw the rest away. I went to Old Navy and bought all new socks. All white, They have the size on the bottom. The two oldest fit into the biggest size and the two youngest fit into another size. Much easier. The socks are nice and stretchy, too so they are comfy for everyone ;)

[Julia R]

We don't have Old Navy here. Did they come with size on bottom, or did you write it on?

[Mothering by Heart]

The size is printed on them.

[Mamaka]

A friend of mine w/4 boys all about 2 years apart would label the socks w/a sharpie on the bottom of the toes. She used first and middle name initials since their 1st names all started w/the letter J. :)

Another idea would be to use the little lingerie bags and sort the socks into the bags prior to washing.

[Mothering by Heart]

If you want a coding system, I have heard abou this one. 1 dot for the oldest, 2 dots for the next, and so on. When you hand them down, add the extra dot :grin

[toymama]

I always buy white and the same style for both boys. They are almost close enough that they can wear each others socks comfortably. I also make sure they don't have too many sock anymore. They had way to many for a long time and it was horrible having to match the same size together.

[Mother of Sons]

Last year my mil put initials on the toe of each kids sock. That worked ok except that even though 2 of the kids wore the same size, they refused to wear socks with the wrong initial. I am also a little goofy in that I want the original pair to be matched up. I think what I am going to do is give each kid a set of numbers (1-10, 11-20, 21-30) and I'm going to number each pair on the bottom so 2 socks will have 1 on the bottom, 2 will have the number 2 etc. I think it's a little bit goofy but I really do like always having the same 2 together.

I like the dot idea though.

[Heather Micaela]

A friend of mine w/4 boys all about 2 years apart would label the socks w/a sharpie on the bottom of the toes. She used first and middle name initials since their 1st names all started w/the letter J. :)

Another idea would be to use the little lingerie bags and sort the socks into the bags prior to washing.

That is what I do
I put underwear and socks in a sepatarte color-coded mesh laundry bag for each family member. They get put in there right when they get dirty.

I would put size on the bottom w/ a pen ratehr than name or you would get confusesw/ hand-me downs

[Lady TS]

I only have two boys so far, and they can *almost* wear the same size socks.

What I have done is buy one kid one brand (ie, Hanes) and the other kid another brand (ie. Keds). But then I figured out that the Keds last a lot longer, so I got one kid the colored bottomed ones and the other the gray bottomed ones.

I think what I will do next time, since they are so close in size, is buy socks is just buy all one size gray bottomed ones. That way sorting will be easy and if one gets a hole in it, I can toss it and still use the other sock, kwim?

[jghomeschooler]

I buy the Hanes socks, they have Hanes written on them in a different color according to what size they are. My dd's have blue, ds's have green, and I haven't gotten these socks for youngest dd yet. It's SO much easier to just see the writing on the toes and know who's socks they are. Oh, and I got rid of all their other socks when I bought these. My kids don't wear socks out, so these are lasting fine for us. hth

[Iarwain]

We do the Hanes color coded ones, too. I think FTL is doing the color coding now, too. They've each got just a few pair of "special" socks and all the rest are Hanes. For the big boys we don't even fold them, just toss them in the drawer and they grab two when they get dressed. That way it doesn't matter if they come up with an odd number, it'll sort itself out eventually. We have a lot fewer unmatched socks since we started doing this.

And the Hanes colors are such that even my colorblind boys can tell which is which. I always have to watch out for color coding around here, but these work OK for us.

[Katiebug]

You can get socks with the sizes printed on the bottoms from Gap, Old Navy and Children's Place. Children's Place is usually the best deal. I recently got 6 pairs for $5...nice socks.

[Kasi]

When my older children were very young, my daycare provider gave me some Tupperware sock keepers...they are little rings that you slide the pair of socks into. They keep them from being lost in the wash, and they are always matched. :) It helped me out so much while they were very young.

Now that they are all older and have bigger feet, we also use the color-coded Hanes...even Mom & Dad!! DD doesn't use them yet...she has tiny tiny feet, but has girly-girly socks...so it's easy to tell hers from her brothers'.

[tree_hugger]

What a timely thread, I am going out to buy new socks for the boys today. :)


I always buy white and the same style for both boys. They are almost close enough that they can wear each others socks comfortably. I also make sure they don't have too many sock anymore. They had way to many for a long time and it was horrible having to match the same size together.


I'm going by Toymama's plan. I going to get, maybe 15, pairs all in the same size, same colour, and I'm not going to sort them! Ben and Sam are so close in size, they share underpants and socks, and I just toss them all in a basket on top of their tallboy. :tu

[gamomof2]

I buy the exact same socks for my kids; even though I have a dd and ds. They both like to wear the low cut ankle socks, and they can both wear the same size, so that's what I do! Dd has pretty stockings for church, but those are usually washed seperately. For play and with tennis shoes, they both wear the same.

[Julia R]

OK I'm buying new socks!! I am having a hard time justifying the waste of all the good socks we have now though. Some really do need thrown out anyway. I am going to buy all the girls the same kinds of socks in different sizes and mark the size with a sharpie. That way I won't have the trouble of determining when the next child should be able to fit into the socks. I guess if I don't have odd socks anymore, that could make the price work itself out. What socks last long, yet don't cost a ton. I usually buy multi packs at walmart. The elastic rips out on some. If I do this, I want a kind that won't get too shabby. They should be ones that I can readily buy again and replace any time too. The girls like the kind without big ribs on the foot but have big ribbs in the cuffs and turn down. They love ones with lace trim at the cuffs, but I don't find these anymore except in single pairs. I could sew lace on them myself though. They should be a good weight to wear with both tennis shoes and dress shoes. Anyone have some like this that they love?

I will do half with lace trim and half plain. We already have shoeboxes in the sock drawers that seperate, so I can throw lace in one and plain in the other- unmatched.

How many pairs do you think I should get each kid?

[Boys and Angels]

The boys have all white socks with grey toes and heels. My husband has all plain white socks, and I have girlie anklets. All of the boys CLEAN socks go in a basket. They match and fold them and put them away.

[Julia R]

Children's Place is usually the best deal. I recently got 6 pairs for $5...nice socks.

I went to children's place and they were 3 for $6 and 6 for $10. I would love to get them 6 prs for $5! I found an Old Navy. They don't have socks for older DD except the low cut kind. The others only go to 5 years. Have you noticed that socks, especially packaged ones, are all of a sudden lots thinner and cheaper made? The elastic is aweful too. I'm still hoping to find some good nice weight cotton, turn cuff socks in all 3 sizes, that will be around for me to come back and replenish in a year or so. Dd's would really like ones with lace at the cuffs, but I want cotton not nylon, so I'll probably just sew it on.