One thing that is neglected by men in their wardrobes is socks. Most men don’t give any thought to these little pieces of cloth. The only time anyone pays attention to his socks is when he needs an extra pair because the old ones are old, or when he doesn’t find the one piece in his wardrobe. Well, this is true that socks may not be the most significant part of your wardrobe still, it matters as it protects your feet from sweating and controls the bad smell of feet whenever you are outside. But this becomes the opposite when you don’t take care of your socks or don’t wash it on time. Which brings us to today’s question which is how often should you change your socks? To know the answer, and care guide for socks keep reading this article.
How often should you change your socks?
You need to change your socks daily if you are not active in any sports activity. If you do any exercise then keep the extra separate pair of socks for it, which means you have to change your socks twice a day if you are involved in any sports activity.
Besides that, you should always change your socks every day. Either wash them every day and use the same for the next day. Never wear the same socks for 2 days because it will create a bad odor or smell and looks unhygienic. People with sweaty feet should always change socks twice a day if they are outside for long hours or the whole day.
Besides changing your socks, you should also know how to take care of your socks and how to wash your socks in a way that they last longer and don’t hold any stinky smell whenever you wear them.
How to take care of your socks
- Wash and keep your socks separate from other clothes because if you put your socks along with other clothes then it will lead to ‘lint’, and your socks may be useless soon because lint will damage the fabric of your socks.
- While washing your socks, avoid using any type of chemical detergent or bleach to get rid of bad odor. Using bleach or any chemical detergent will ruin the fabric, and the elasticity of the socks will be lost.
- Another main thing you should always keep in your mind is to avoid washing your socks at a hot temperature. Hot water will have the capacity to damage any fabric, so always prefer cold over hot water.
- Use the hang dry method instead of tumble dry. Hang dry is best to hold the life of your socks. In case you are in a hurry then only you can use the tumble dry method once a week. Don’t overdo tumble dry otherwise you will ruin the fabric. If the tumble dry is required, use the low temperature at slow rotation.
- Ironing your socks is a bad idea for your socks’ longevity. Yarn which is used in socks manufacturing is flammable when coming in contact with high temperatures. Never iron your socks after washing.
- If you are a man who likes to roll your socks to save the little space in your wardrobe then don’t do it, instead, fold your socks. If you roll your socks after washing then they will lose their elasticity and also look saggy when you wear them.
- Keep your feet’ nails short so that the fabric is not pushed out. Mostly, socks lose their fabric quality from their toes.
- Always buy the appropriate size for your feet. Although there are different socks that serve different purposes such as – hiking socks are long to protect from insects, they also absorb moisture faster. Running socks are short with ankle support, etc. Whether you are buying any socks make sure it’s your feet size, small socks will get ripped from the toe after wearing for a short time, or the socks will stretch out from the toe and lose their elasticity.
How to wash your socks?
You can wash your socks either by hand or in the washing machine. Because socks need to be washed daily after wearing, so a machine would be a good option. You can wash your socks with your hand if you want to. We will discuss both methods below.
- First, separate your socks, of different colors. Never put white socks with any other color socks in the washing machine because it will soak up the color of other socks. To avoid this, wash your socks separately, of different colors.
- Pay more attention to white socks, wash all white socks separately. Besides, that, also put your socks separately if the fabric is of different types.
- If you have strained socks, then you can apply stain remover to remove the stains from your socks. Buy any best stain remover in the market. If you don’t know much then you can use Tide Ultra Stain Release Liquid, I personally use this to remove stains from my socks. Instructions are written on the bottle. Usually, you have to put your socks in a stain remover or directly apply it to socks.
- You can also make your own stain remover at home by sprinkling or throwing white salt on the stains.
- Before washing your socks, make sure to turn your socks inside out, to completely remove the bad odor and bacteria from the socks because most of the sweat and bacteria are stored on the inside part of the socks.
- Put the socks in the washing machine, separate the light color socks. To avoid any stretching or fading, set the machine to gentle and use the mild detergent to avoid any fading.
- Now, let the machine fill up the water( make sure the water is set to cold). Warm water will result in shrinkage and fading.
- After a few cycles, take out the socks from the washing machine and turn them outside in the right way.
- Now, put back the socks inside the machine so that the outside part will also be clean.