The Sockel keeps your socks together when you're not wearing them, to save you time and money on lost socks. But you still have to use it. It's not a robot. You can't program it. It's a tool. So for it to work for you, you have to create a tiny new habit.
To make this as easy as possible to start, think about your current habits with socks. Do you take them off in the same place every day? How are your laundry habits? What happens when the dryer finishes? Here's a little quiz.
1) I take my socks off:
a) always in the same place every day, and that place is where my dirty clothes hamper is
b) in one or two places (my dirty socks are either in my hamper or gym bag, which gets emptied right away into my hamper)
c) wherever I am when I want to take my socks off (bedroom, bathroom, couch, gym, office, etc)
2) I know it's time to do laundry when:
a) I do laundry in very small loads at the end of each day, I can't stand having clothes dirty
b) my laundry basket is starting to fill up, I catch it before there's more than one load
c) I have run out of at least one critical item of clothing (I have no clean socks/underwear/pants/etc)
3) When the dryer finishes:
a) I pay attention; I remove and put away my clean dry clothes right away
b) I always try to fold and put laundry away before I go to bed
c) as long as it's clean, I don't stress about putting it away because it takes too much time
If you answered:
mostly As - clip to the hamper: you might want to try clipping your Sockel to your hamper (with a hook or clip of your choice), and adding pairs as you use them. When the laundry load is done, you will probably want to remove socks to put them away, and then clip your empty Sockel back to the hamper.
mostly Bs - : see above (mostly As) or below (mostly Cs), your choice!
mostly Cs - two options to help minimize the time and effort it takes to do laundry:
Easy Option 1: Toss and Go: For the person who wants to do all the laundry all at once, without changing their pre-wash-day process at all. Literally just keep putting all your dirty clothes in the hamper. When you've run out of clothes and you're going to do multiple loads to wash it all, you're going to sort this whole thing before you wash anything. Pick up each piece of clothing other than socks (specifically avoid socks right now), put the dirty item in it's pile (darks/lights/towels/sheets/delicates). Everything is now in wash piles except the socks, which will be what's left. Since you basically know at this point that they're all still there and none have been lost yet (assuming you took both off your feet and tossed them in the hamper), plus they aren't tangled up with other clothes from going through the wash loose, Sockel them NOW! Grab the number of Sockels you need, put each pair in the end of a loop, and pull the toggle to secure them tight. Put Sockels with socks in the wash with everything else, in whichever load they belong in. Once the dryer is done, your socks will be fresh and clean, still in pairs, easy to see, easy to access. You can keep them on the Sockel and just toss the whole Sockel with five clean pairs (or more if you doubled up in the loop) in your sock drawer. Make sure to keep your empty Sockels in a convenient place for the next time you sort dirty clothes.
Easy Option 2: Sock-folds or sock-balls to keep them together, and Sockel before you wash: fold the dirty pair into a little ball so they stay together, and put them next to (or behind, so you don't see them) your hamper. When you're ready to do a load of laundry, grab a Sockel, secure each pair in to the end of a loop and wash!
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