The Caveman dumped an armload of old socks in the trash the other day. Ever the copycat, I too was motivated to cull my own sock drawer. Alas there was no ‘armload’ going out from my stash.
There was an evolution of running socks in my drawer: Wrightsock, Thorlo Experia, Injinji, Balega plus many other brands that were never my main squeeze. Many were dingy, some had small holes not big enough to affect performance so they were spared the trash heap.
A hole in my beloved Balegas. Noooo!
Why am I saving running socks that are no longer in rotation?
- I wore some to Pretty Muddy and pitched them, along with the shoes.
- Running socks ain’t cheap.
- On rare occasions I wear them with civilian clothes.
- I am a sock hoarder.
Do you keep too many socks? When is the ‘right time’ to throw them out?
I love socks, but I’m a “sock snob” according to my friends. I only wear smartwool, for running and otherwise. I throw socks away anytime there is a hole. I have a few other kinds that people have given me or I bought thinking I might like, but I don’t wear them.
When they get holes that I can feel when I’m wearing shoes, I pitch them. Running socks are so pricey, though, that I feel guilty doing it even if they need it.
Love my Balega’s! So hard to let them go once they’ve passed their prime. My husband is a sock and underwear hoarder which drives me insane, he won’t throw the old stuffy with holes in them away so I do it for him. Usually he doesn’t notice.
I’ve worn just Balega’s for a couple of years now and some of my original pairs are still holding strong! They are by far, in my opinion, the best running sock, lol. If I see a pair of socks thinning, I’ll toss ’em. 🙂
Yes I am a sock hoarder…I’m admitting it now. I have tons of socks in my drawer with holes in them but I just can’t seem to let them go lol! I need to toss them for sure!
I guess if you consider the fact that about 99% of mine are dingy and full of holes, you could say I need a good going through that drawer!
I always end up with way too many!! I never throw old socks out and keep buying more!! Spa love!
I hate hate hate socks with holes in them so those get thrown out very quickly. Even at the sign of wear they go bacause if I poke a hole during a run I am done for in the blister department. Which is probably why I don’t have enough running socks. Since I am pretty picky about what I wear running, many of my socks that I have tried and not liked are moved to every day socks and I have a very small rotation of socks that I wear running.
I always keep too many socks. My drawer was so full that I couldn’t fit all my socks it and close the drawer, so I had to purge. Now my drawer is more manageable:)
Were you peaking in my sock drawer? 🙂
Every single pair of Injinji socks I have has holes! Luckily I just ordered 12 new pairs, and should have them next week!
I love that you put “hoarding” as a tag on this post. :^)
Holey socks do get tossed, but I have some socks that have been washed so many times they are stiff and should probably go too but I won’t do it.
I do believe there is a lifespan on socks esp running socks. There is only so much the washing machine can take out before the socks are just not right for running anymore. I do wear my beloved Wigwam/Ironman Express. I have more running socks than regular socks. lol
yes I used to hoard them, even if one got a hole if there was still another one like it in another pair I kept it!! luckily with all the goodies over the last year when something gets a hole I can now toss it 🙂 But I also won’t add new socks to the rotation until some die
I am sad to say that the few socks i own ALL have holes in them. I usually just steal Matt’s socks.
I am a sock horder. Even worse, I steal other people’s socks. I have ones that belong to friend, ex-boyfriends, coworkers…the list goes on. Not my fault I have cold feet 😉
You really have to throw them out once they’ve lost enough elastic so that they creep down while you run. And I mean so far down that they end up under your heel. Also if you do a race like the Tough Mudder – who wants to try and resurrect filthy brown socks?
I feel like socks never die.. I mean sometimes they do but very rarely! I use the same socks I wear everyday for my runs so I don’t know the price but I am definitely a hoarder with a lot of other things just not socks! (:
I can barely shut my sock drawer there are so many in there! Once running socks wear down, I demote them to every-day wear…but then never wear them because I feel like a bum when I’m not running in running socks, so I end up wearing never-been-running socks socks! And Target has too many darn cute socks!
I have 2 overfull drawers in my dresser of just socks….I love socks so very much. Running, crew, knee, thermal, boot…ect I do not throw them out until it is pretty much impossible to wear them LOL
I do have too many socks, running and regular socks. I guess I throw mine away when I can’t stand the holes in them anymore.
I’m a barefooter and hate shoes and socks, so I have only about 8 pairs, just enough to get me through wintertime. Unless they’re my thick wool socks (I use them as a second pair around the house on extra cold days) I toss them when they get a hole. Even the injinjis…
The old socks are the story of my running life. I remember the first expensive ThorLo 25 years ago. I ran so many miles that they couldn’t survive.