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What can you use old socks for? I mean, some that don't have holes, (Original Post) raccoon Dec 2016 OP
Dusting furniture...? nt MADem Dec 2016 #1
puppets! BuddyCa Dec 2016 #2
Cat or dog toys! csziggy Dec 2016 #3
Yes shenmue Dec 2016 #16
Another thought - since they have no holes, dye them black csziggy Dec 2016 #4
Door stops and paper weights sarge43 Dec 2016 #5
Throw them in the microwave for a bit and they make good heating pads. n/t demmiblue Dec 2016 #15
Dipsticks. femmocrat Dec 2016 #6
Stuff them in republican family members' mouths. Hassin Bin Sober Dec 2016 #7
Haaaaaaaaaa shenmue Dec 2016 #17
The Red Hot Chili Peppers had a novel use for them. Arkansas Granny Dec 2016 #8
Heh! demmiblue Dec 2016 #14
I throw what's left of them out in the spring Brother Buzz Dec 2016 #9
I live in a cold climate, Mendocino Dec 2016 #10
Some don't have holes? True Dough Dec 2016 #11
For the ones that don't have holes zanana1 Dec 2016 #12
Roll them up into a ball. madamesilverspurs Dec 2016 #13
I put a couple with my chain saw tools for cleaning. panader0 Dec 2016 #18
I send them to H&M crazycatlady Dec 2016 #19
What is H & M? nt raccoon Dec 2016 #20
clothes store crazycatlady Dec 2016 #21
Give them to Goodwill (or another thrift store). mahatmakanejeeves Dec 2016 #22
very useful SCantiGOP Dec 2016 #23

csziggy

(34,136 posts)
3. Cat or dog toys!
Sun Dec 25, 2016, 03:27 PM
Dec 2016

For cats, put some catnip in them and tie them off. We used to use old longe whips (think buggy whip) that the long lash had broken off. Tied a string around the catnip filled sock and the other end around the end of the whip.

We called them "confuse a cat sticks" in honor of a Monty Python sketch. They were great for wearing out kitties just before bedtime without wearing us out.

I never needed dog toys for our farm dogs but socks could be braided or sewn into pull toys or some other toy for dogs. I'd be careful that the dogs would not shred them into pieces small enough to swallow which could lead to medical problems.

csziggy

(34,136 posts)
4. Another thought - since they have no holes, dye them black
Sun Dec 25, 2016, 03:28 PM
Dec 2016

And use them for those occasions you need black socks.

femmocrat

(28,394 posts)
6. Dipsticks.
Sun Dec 25, 2016, 04:16 PM
Dec 2016

LOL

I give them to my husband and he uses them in the garage for checking the oil, cleaning the car's interior, etc. He says they are better than paper towels. (These are old white cotton socks. Synthetics wouldn't be good.) I ended up with a good supply of them after the boys left home. They make OK dust rags too, but not as good as old flannel shirts!

Brother Buzz

(36,444 posts)
9. I throw what's left of them out in the spring
Sun Dec 25, 2016, 09:10 PM
Dec 2016

I start with fresh underwear and a new pair of socks in the spring, and when holes wear through the socks, I just pull them up and baste them to my underwear and throw on a new pair of socks. By fall, I have a fine pair of long johns that serves me through the entire winter. Thrifty, I am.

madamesilverspurs

(15,805 posts)
13. Roll them up into a ball.
Thu Dec 29, 2016, 04:15 PM
Dec 2016

Keep 'em handy to throw at the teevee; they don't hurt it. These days, they get thrown so often they keep the screen clean, so there's that. Bonus: bending over to pick them up is exercise, so sez me.


.

crazycatlady

(4,492 posts)
19. I send them to H&M
Thu Dec 29, 2016, 08:09 PM
Dec 2016

They have a clothes recycling program, and my clothes too ratty for the thrift store go to that (holey and mismatched socks, holey underwear, ratty tshirts, etc). What they do with them is beyond me but they don't go to a landfill.

mahatmakanejeeves

(57,503 posts)
22. Give them to Goodwill (or another thrift store).
Fri Dec 30, 2016, 12:29 PM
Dec 2016

I started with Goodwill, because it's such a huge operation. Especially at this time of year, it gets trash bags full of donated junk that it can't put up for sale in its stores.

What it can do with clothing that is too worn out to sell is to bundle it up in huge bales. Why? So it can sell the bales of otherwise useless clothing to rag merchants. The rag merchants shred the clothes and process them for rebirth as 100-percent rag content paper.

So that's where that comes from.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_paper

Just mark the bags are "rags," and you'll be okay.

Don't take my word for it. Ask them.

Best wishes.

SCantiGOP

(13,871 posts)
23. very useful
Fri Dec 30, 2016, 01:08 PM
Dec 2016

for picking up cat puke. We have an old cat who sometimes gorges on his food and then spits it up. Pick it up with the old sock, pull if off your hand so it turns inside out and it is a slightly less obnoxious task.

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