10 Ways to Recycle and Reuse Mismatched Socks

Make Homemade Pet Toys

If you have pets, you can easily make them some homemade toys. Stuff catnip inside of a sock and give it to your cat. Make your dog a new chew toy: stuff a tennis ball into a sock and tie it in a knot or weave several socks together. If your pet gets upset when you leave, try putting a sock in their bed or in their kennel. Your scent is on the sock and it can help ease your pets anxiety.

Use them To Clean Up Around the House

My mom used to save old socks and t-shirts and would use them to clean up around the house. You can simply put the sock on your hand and you now have a cleaning mitt.  Sock is are great because they are small enough to get into cracks and crevices so you can use them to clean the baseboards, window sills, ect. Once you are finished cleaning, simply toss it into the laundry to wash it and reuse it.

DIY Heating Pad

Make your own DIY heating pad using an old tube sock. Simply fill the sock with rice or beans. You don’t want to fill it completely full. You will want some space inside of the sock so that the filling can move around and contour to your body. Simply sew the end of the sock together. Then toss it in microwave for a minute and place around your neck.

DIY Travel Neck Pillow Roll

Make your own DIY travel neck pillow using an old tube sock. Cut up additional socks from your sock pile and stuff it into the tube sock. If you don’t have enough socks you can also cut up worn out t-shirts or buy stuffing filler from the store.

Sock Puppets

Have your children grab several of the socks from your pile and decorate them with markers or fabric paint. They can make their favorite animal or be creative and create their own characters. Once they have made their puppets, make a DIY puppet show using recycled cardboard box.

Change Holder

I often find change in the bottom of the washer or dryer as I am doing the laundry. Keep an old sock in the laundry room and put all your spare change inside of the sock. When you fill the sock with change, turn it into the bank and see how much change you collected while doing the laundry.

Make Sock Animals

If you have an colorful socks in your sock pile, you can make cute animals using old socks. Don’t worry if you don’t have any colorful socks to make your animal friends, you can buy them at the dollar store or thrift store. Then cut up your old socks from your sock pile and use them to fill your stuffed animal creations.

Store Your Umbrella in an Old Tube Sock

Next time you have to use your umbrella in the car, keep an old tube sock in your car so that you can have a place to store your wet umbrella. The sock will absorb the water and keep your car dry. Just don’t forget to take the umbrella out of the sock when you get home so that it can properly dry.  If not you will end up with a moldy umbrella.

Homemade Ice Pack

Next time one of your kids has a boo boo and needs an ice pack. Simply fill up a sock with ice and put it on your child’s boo boo. The ice will stay in the toe of the sock and it is thick enough to prevent it from burning your skin. As the ice melts, it the sock will absorb the moisture and it can used again. Use this method instead of using zip lock bags.

Do you have an pile of mismatched socks sitting on top of your dryer? Instead of tossing the socks into the trash can, try some of these ideas so that you can recycle and reuse your mismatched socks.

Which idea do you plan on using?