# Socks - I have rules about them **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 13, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138 "2014-12-13T17:06:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RID905](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@RID905](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RID905)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/1 "2014-12-13T17:06:13Z")
This is my first post, so please be gentle and supportive. šŸ™‚ LOL. Yes, I have several rules about socks. A few of them are as follows: - If I take off my socks ( either white sport socks, or black dress socks) for whatever reason, and then decide to put them back on, each MUST go back on the same foot from which it came. I will hold them up, and try to determine where the big toe stretch area is, and if one sock doesnā€™t show it, I will hold up the other sock to figure it out. Putting socks back on the wrong foot is just not acceptable. - If I have been walking around in socked feet, and go to put on a pair of shoes, then I will scruff each foot up against the opposite pant leg to clear anything stuck on the bottom of my sock before putting it in my shoe. Putting socks with unknown items stuck on the bottom back into a shoe, so that I end up walking around on that dirt, is just not acceptable. - When taking a nap, socks must be removed before going to bed. I have found that socks will twist and rotate while sleeping so that the sole is on top. Getting out of bed with socks twisted 180 degrees sideways is just not acceptable. Thanks for allowing me to share my important sock rules. šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/2 "2014-12-13T17:08:10Z")
Sock scuffers are frowned upon around here. And welcome! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/3 "2014-12-13T17:18:56Z")
My only sock rule involves never tossing clean ones. That is, if I discover a sock with a hole, and it is clean, I wear it before discarding it. If I forget to discard it and it gets laundered, Iā€™ll wear it again before discarding it. Oh, and the way I fold them, tucking/rolling a pair together (does that have a name?). ETA: welcome, RID905! ---
**Author:** ![RID905](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@RID905](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RID905)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/4 "2014-12-13T17:30:55Z")
Once a sock scuffer, always a sock scuffer. Thereā€™s no going back. And folding themā€¦ thereā€™s got to be a name for that. And I donā€™t ball them up and jam one into the other. :eek: Thatā€™s also a rule. It breaks the elastic. Socks should be neatly folded. then tossed in a drawer where they get all bound up and inter-twined ( Apparently there are no rules about putting socks in drawers !!! Who knew !!?? ) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/5 "2014-12-13T17:43:12Z")
Iā€™m a big fan of socks. I feel naked without them, even if otherwise fully clothed. I wear socks pretty much always, except in the shower and other very limited circumstances. My socks also have an ā€œassignedā€ foot. I know which foot a sock is supposed to go on, even if no one else can tell. If for some reason I _have_ to wear a sock on the ā€œwrongā€ foot, I will be aware of it all day until the situation can be remedied. My wife understands exactly none of this (sheā€™s from a sock-averse family). ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/6 "2014-12-13T17:53:27Z")
I arrange mine, rolled, in the order of the colors in the spectrum. Then comes brown and beige, then grey. Black sox are in their own little drawer, as are white sox. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/7 "2014-12-13T17:53:40Z")
I donā€™t stuff one sock in another. I donā€™t fold socks. All my socks are free range. Young, old, dress, white, black, patterned, short, long, cotton, syntheticā€¦its like fricking Ellis Island in that dresser. About the only time I wear socks is when dressing up or having sex. You know, special occasions. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/8 "2014-12-13T17:55:26Z")
I have a few pairs of Nike dri-fit foot socks that are labeled left and right! ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/9 "2014-12-13T17:55:50Z")
You people are weird. šŸ˜› Welcome anyway, **RID905**! Actually I love socks. I have about 20 pairs in various pretty colors and wool socks are a must in winter. Mine are always balled up in the drawer, though. And I never sleep with socks on. So I guess I also have sock rules. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/10 "2014-12-13T17:57:39Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > About the only time I wear socks is when dressing up or having sex. So, ever have knock-your-socks-off sex?šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/11 "2014-12-13T18:01:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > So, ever have knock-your-socks-off sex?šŸ˜ƒ If I suspect it will be that good I double bag as a precautionary measure. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/12 "2014-12-13T18:04:06Z")
- I can wear a pair all day, but if for some reason I take them off I can not put them back on before laundering. Only clean and pristine socks go on the feet. - I never wear socks alone, only with shoes. Since I donā€™t really like to wear shoes, that means when I come home the shoes and socks usually come off. _Certainly_ I never, ever wear them to bed! When I was in the hospital a few years ago this really seemed to annoy the nurses but from my viewpoint wearing socks to bed is like wearing shoes to bed. I did agree to put something on my feet before putting my feet on the floor, though, which compromise it seemed we all could live with. - Socks must match (apparently among young kids this is no longer a thing). These last few years Iā€™ve actually taken to knitting my own socks. Iā€™m enjoying the mix of meditative craft and skill/thought involved. And itā€™s a very portable project. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/13 "2014-12-13T18:06:03Z")
> [@RID905](#): > > And I donā€™t ball them up and jam one into the other. :eek: > > Thatā€™s also a rule. It breaks the elastic. Socks should be neatly folded. > > then tossed in a drawer where they get all bound up and inter-twined > > ( Apparently there are no rules about putting socks in drawers !!! Who knew !!?? ) It also is counter to all the entropy laws of The Universe, causing time warps and shifts in the space-time continuuuuuum. Pissing off The Universe is usually a poor idea and it will usually retaliate by snapping the elastic in your socks and causing all your sponges to dry out. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/14 "2014-12-13T18:06:46Z")
**RID905** , itā€™s quite clear you understand the meaning of life. Welcome aboard! You are a boon to fighting ignorance with your profound wisdom. > [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > Black sox are in their own little drawer, as are white sox. What about the Cubs? Will they get their own little drawer if they \ win a championship? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/15 "2014-12-13T18:13:45Z")
> [@RID905](#): > > This is my first post, so please be gentle and supportive. > > šŸ™‚ LOL. > Yes, I have several rules about socks. > > A few of them are as follows: > > - If I take off my socks ( either white sport socks, or black dress socks) for whatever reason, and then decide to put them back on, each MUST go back on the same foot from which it came. I will hold them up, and try to determine where the big toe stretch area is, and if one sock doesnā€™t show it, I will hold up the other sock to figure it out. Putting socks back on the wrong foot is just not acceptable. > > - If I have been walking around in socked feet, and go to put on a pair of shoes, then I will scruff each foot up against the opposite pant leg to clear anything stuck on the bottom of my sock before putting it in my shoe. Putting socks with unknown items stuck on the bottom back into a shoe, so that I end up walking around on that dirt, is just not acceptable. > > - When taking a nap, socks must be removed before going to bed. I have found that socks will twist and rotate while sleeping so that the sole is on top. Getting out of bed with socks twisted 180 degrees sideways is just not acceptable. > > Thanks for allowing me to share my important sock rules. > > šŸ˜› These are all perfectly normal behaviors (except maybe for the nap thing). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/16 "2014-12-13T18:15:02Z")
When I get home, I prefer to remove shoes and socks, and go barefoot. My toes are unusually long and dexterous, and walking around inside with sock feels like wearing mittens indoors. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/17 "2014-12-13T18:15:17Z")
I like climbing into bed, and _then_ taking off my socks by rubbing one foot against the other and vice versa. It intensifies the ā€œahh, no socks onā€ feeling. The downside is if I forget to put them in the laundry the next morning, slipping into bed and feeling furry little objects under the covers can be . . . disturbing. Oh, and how would you fold socks? Iā€™ve always balled pairs up - Iā€™ve never seen any other way. If you want to get neat about it, places like The Container Store have drawer-separators to sort various undergarments. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/18 "2014-12-13T18:16:21Z")
And of course, new posters need to be reminded that socks are forbidden on the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/19 "2014-12-13T18:18:41Z")
nm. Beaten by **kayaker.** ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138/20 "2014-12-13T18:23:01Z")
Which is a shame because socks make the best troll bait. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/socks-i-have-rules-about-them/707138.md?page=2)