When this Redditor ends up with a single unmatched sock, they hang onto it — and Reddit is full of ideas about how they can use it.
They posted in January on r/Anticonsumption, a subreddit devoted to "criticizing, questioning, and discussing consumerism." The sub's users often share tips to buy less, save more, and reuse old items more effectively.
In the post, the OP shares a photo of about fifteen socks, then asks, "WTF do I do with these holey unpaired socks? Have been hoarding them for years."
r/Anticonsumption rose to the challenge. All of the suggestions save money and are great for the environment because they keep the old socks out of landfills.
Aside from darning the socks and wearing them as mismatched pairs, the most popular suggestion was to use them for cleaning.
"I use them as cleaning rags for gross tasks!" says one Redditor.
Another adds, "They fit on your hand and it is easy to handle them. They can be wet or dry depending on the surface. Keep a colored wash bag in your laundry room and wash them while keeping them separate from the paired socks."
Others preferred to make something for a pet.
"I chop them into small bits and then shove the bits into other dead socks," says one Redditor. "Shove in a few pieces of washed cut-up crinkly chip bag and a tablespoon of catnip and stitch it all closed."
Another says, "I used to tie the bachelors together to make a dog toy, since he loves my socks anyway: Socktopus."
A third Redditor reveals, "Some animal shelters will take them! They use them to protect incisions after kittens get fixed." There's also a low-effort option: "I have a big box my cats like to hang out in, so anything soft and cloth I don't have any other use for goes either in there or their carriers as nesting materials."
Other suggestions from the thread include cutting the socks up for hair ties, patches for other clothing, fingerless gloves, stuffed toys, wristbands, and more.
One user also recommends, "I've learned that you can actually recycle your used socks through Smartwool. They will salvage what they can and everything else gets used as dog bed filling and such."
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