I think a lot of people simplify by buying only one kind of sock for each person and all they have to do is throw it each pile. For instance, one child omly gets tube socks with green stripes. Another child only gets red stripes.

I take the lazy way out. The two boys share a sock/underwear drawer. I don't bother to match things up, I just throw it in there. I grab what we need when we need it. I have a harder time with dd's socks because girl stuff comes in so many different styles. She's only 2 yo and in that size category where there are so many pretty clothes. She loves to have pretty socks to match all of her cute outfits.

Trying being in a house with NINE PEOPLE... that is 18 feet and at last count over 100 pairs of socks!!! I wish I had some sort of great wisdom to share with you. ...ah.. I will tell you what I do with my husbands dress socks.. since he gets undressed in the sameplace each night I have a large mesh bag for him to throw his socks into. I then zip it up and wash the socks in that bag and then give them back to him that way. Would that work for you???

I keep wanting to get up the guts to throw out all the kids semi matched socks and start a whole new system using the mesh bags for all of us.. but honestly that this point I have two HUGE baskests and I throw all the socks in there and make them hunt for a match :)

Maddiemom

Missing socks? I think the washer gnome eats 'em *grin*

I have a smallish plastic basket in the bedroom. When I'm putting away laundry, any stray socks go into the basket. Chances are I'll find their mate either 1) tangled up in the just-washed sheets or in another item; 2) mismatched with a similar-colored sock (whoops); or 3) somewhere under the bed or collecting dust bunnies in a far corner of the room.

I admit that some stray socks are hopeless cases. If I don't find its mate within a certain period of time, out it goes in the trash.

Solutions? I wish I knew of one!

You didn't say how old your children are. If they are at least 4-5, they can put away their own clothing.

I never use a central hamper system. How about if you have each child have a dirty clothing basket and you wash each child's clothing a day. That way all of their undies, socks, etc. stay together.

I haven't lost socks in ages. I only do the laundry for myself, DH and the two younger kids. I sort once a week and pile the 5 baskets next to the washer. Every morning I dump one basket in, dry after work and fold and put away before bed. The basket with the socks is so easy to sort because the DD has pretty stuff. All of the DS socks look alike. If I end up with a spare I just put it in his drawer until a different on gets a hole and gets tossed. Then I'm back to a set again.

Gloria

My mother had a sock basket; she made us sort them. Either we had to pick out our own pair when we needed one, or periodically she'd decide it was too full, and make one of us sort them, and then we'd put our own away.

She had a marking system for all the white socks & underwear (eventually other clothes too)--lines for boys, circles for girls. The oldest boy (dad) was one line; add a line as you move down the row. Theoretically, if dad outgrew socks, mom could add a line and pass them on to older brother, etc.

I think that sorting socks helped me develop a "noticing eye." My DH couldn't sort out 3 brands of white socks if his life depended on it.

I also do that "buy all one brand" for each person, except for DD (we haven't found one she likes; so she's the one w/ the weird socks--easy enough, actually).

And I put the stray socks in the drawer, and when its made shows up, they get back together. Since they're all ,the same brand eventually it gets "married" again, even if it marries a "widower."

I cheated and got my kids socks all of their own. I have 2 boys 9 and 4 who have similar socks, in different sizes. I used colored sharpies to mark the toes, 9 got a red line, 4 got green and my 2 girls wear the same size socks, so I got them more packs, and marked theirs with a pink dot on the toe. I haven't tossed all the rest of the socks yet, but it's gonna happen as they get washed. We had a huge tub of socks, and it was impossible to find a matching pair even when it was full. Now with the marked socks, my 4 year old sorts them for me and even puts them away.
Good luck!

I am the mother of 5 children, all grown, but when they were little I bought them each a different kind of sock. Sorting was quick and easy and they could put them away by themselves. As they got older I bought the 3 boys all the SAME kind of socks so all I had to do was mate them up, fold them together and divide the pairs by 3. The girls each continued to wear different socks (If you have girls you will understand) but they were easy to sort. As my kids reached the age of 17, they did their own laundry and then it wasn't my problem anymore!! LOL

Good luck.
Sue

you know what's happening to me?

BLACK socks! I've been trying to find a new trouser sock I like, and the ones I've been getting all look like DH's!

I've told him, he MUST be Gold Toe socks ONLY. And of course that means *I* can't buy Gold Toe.

I guess I could mark them w/ thread; Sharpies won't work on black socks!

Talley, not only do I lose my black socks in the DH's pile, I've finally figured out where my undies went. His favorite briefs are black and I was so in the habit of pitching the black in his drawer that I didn't even notice I was throwing my black one in there too.

Since I haven't needed to wear dress slacks for a couple of years, the black sock issue has been solved. The DH just now puts my black undies into my drawer when he finds them in his.

Gloria

We keep his/hers laundry separate. I wash all my black trouser socks with my black pants, camisoles, etc. Since my clothes tend to be more "delicate" than their heavy-weight stuff, it just makes sense to me.

Their black socks get washed with their black clothes, but they wear white athletic socks more than black (and they each have their own brand).

The other benefit: If the guys wash clothes, I don't have to worry about them ruining mine--which has happened!

The last time I did laundry I paid attention to how I handled the socks. Here's what I realized:

I fold clothes as I take them out of the dryer. Socks are immediately paired up and put in a basket. It only takes a second to do and saves me from the aggravation of doing it later.

P.S. My laundry room is also in the basement.