Everyone I know who uses a clothes-line will peg socks to the line, collect them when they're dry, and pair them up. And we all know that pairing up is tedious, time-consuming and usually unsuccessful.
My idea: pair them up BEFORE hanging them out to dry! Peg up the pairs.
My experimental results: out of ten washloads, five pre-paired and five post-paired, the pre-sock-pairing was invariably faster and better. I can't explain why this should be, and nor can I explain why more people don't pre-pair. When I try to explain this invention to people, they laugh at me and explain that there can't possibly be a difference. Well, there is! and I hope you folks on half-baked will understand. (PS. this is my first contribution, so please "understand" gently!)
NB. Can any tumble-drier-using people report whether it works for them as well, please?-- ljw1004, Sep 13 2003 http://www.wizzpeg.com/ Inexplicably raising this idea to the level of a product: special clothespins for socks. [jutta, Sep 15 2005] My mother used to do this, way back when. Possibly she still does.-- DrCurry, Sep 13 2003 there should be some kind of sock stapler that leaves no holes that you can use immediately after taking them off.-- po, Sep 13 2003 I just wear the same pair of white socks for about 4 weeks straight and then just throw them away when they are black...-- DeathNinja, Sep 13 2003 or run away on their own...-- po, Sep 13 2003 Or just buy cheap white socks, wear them once, and toss them. Sweatsocks are cheap enough to be almost disposable already, I am suprised nobody sells socks you are supposed to throw away after once use.-- pdp, May 04 2004 Or just buy lots of socks that are the same. I have at least 12 pairs of identical socks. So "pairing" is just grabbing two socks.-- GenYus, May 04 2004 This isn't really an idea.-- MikeOliver, May 04 2004 Ummm.... Ho-kaaay...-- mailtosalonga, Sep 15 2005 This is actually consumer advice, but as jutta hasn't MFDed it, I sure won't!-- ldischler, Sep 15 2005 random, halfbakery