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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhat can you use old socks for? I mean, some that don't have holes,
they're just old and kind of grubby-looking.
MADem
(135,425 posts)csziggy
(34,136 posts)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)And use them for those occasions you need black socks.
sarge43
(28,941 posts)Fill with dry beans or, if a tight weave, sand.
demmiblue
(36,865 posts)femmocrat
(28,394 posts)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!
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,330 posts)shenmue
(38,506 posts)Arkansas Granny
(31,519 posts)demmiblue
(36,865 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,444 posts)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.
Mendocino
(7,495 posts)I use old socks on the outdoor water faucets for insulation in winter.
True Dough
(17,311 posts)How do you get your feet in?
Sorry, couldn't resist that lame old joke.
zanana1
(6,122 posts)Fill one of them with nickles and use it as a weapon!
madamesilverspurs
(15,805 posts)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.
.
panader0
(25,816 posts)And use them for applying stain on wood.
crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)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.
raccoon
(31,111 posts)crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)It is in my local mall.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,503 posts)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)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.