Sock organization may not be attractive to many people. Over the years, I have seen my share of sock drawers. None of them was pretty and magazine ready. Some were not sorted, others were half-sorted, and some had been balled up and thrown in bins. Since we need socks (Affiliate Link) most days, this area can save you time during your morning routine if they are well organized. Today, we are discussing the steps to organize your socks (Affiliate Link), the different options for organizing socks (Affiliate Link), and an example of how I organized my son's sock drawer. Follow along and get your sock drawer organized!
Jump to:
- Pull the socks out of the drawer.
- Examine the socks.
- Determine Your Perfect Sock Folding Method
- Best Ways To Fold Socks for a Sock Organizer
- Sock Organizer Options to Organize Socks
- How to Pick the Right Sock Organizer?
- How to Organize Socks in a Sock Organizer
- Sock Drawer Organizer Option:
- Tips when buying a sock organizer.
- Fold, sort, and organize socks in the organizer.
- The Reveal of the organized socks drawer.
- How much did it cost to organize this sock drawer?
Pull the socks out of the drawer.
Let's first pull the socks (Affiliate Link) out of the drawer or bin. Match the pairs of socks (Affiliate Link). This may take the most time. Be sure to have a lot of room to spread out these sock pairs. You could have a lot. Clean the drawer of debris for use later.
Examine the socks.
Next, examine the socks and determine if any of them have holes, stains, or discoloring, basically, any socks that look not useable.
Now, examine the old socks left to see if there are socks you no longer use. These could be socks for a special event you no longer do. Other reasons to get rid of socks could be that the band at the top of the sock is loosening and will not stay up. They could have also shrunk.
Determine Your Perfect Sock Folding Method
Everyone has their way of folding their socks. Here are some I found online that would help you find the best method. Watch this video on all these methods by Goldie Socks on YouTube.
The Square Method: This uses socks to create a cross shape. Then, fold the sock over and tuck it in on all four sides.
The Single-Fold Method: Layer the socks and fold socks in half. Fast method if you don't have time to fold your socks.
The Roll Method: Layer the socks and roll them up from the top to the bottom of the sock.
The Military Method: Roll the sock tightly from the toes up. Then, turn the top over the roll.
The Fold and Tuck Method: Use the top and fold one over both, and they will secure the socks together.
KonMair Method Sock Folding Method: After laying the socks on one another, visualize the tiny socks into thirds or fourths, depending on the sock length. Then, fold them. You can then stand them. Watch this How to Hikidashi Socks KonMari video on YouTube to see how to do it.
Best Ways To Fold Socks for a Sock Organizer
If you do not want to use a sock organizer (Affiliate Link), all these methods will work for a drawer. But, if you do, only the following folding methods would work.
The Square Method, The Roll Method, The Military Method, and the KonMair Method Sock Folding Method work best when used with a sock organizer (Affiliate Link).
Important Tip when figuring out what method of folding to use.
To determine which folding method to use, measure the height of your organizer and aim to fold the socks to be the same height as your organizer's outer edges. By doing it this way, your socks will be able to fit nicely and have no overlaying ones that may block other socks.
Sock Organizer Options to Organize Socks
There are various options you can choose from to organize your favorite socks. Below are some that may help you decide on the one you want.
The typical way to store socks in a drawer without an organizer is to use dividers.
By using the methods above, you can stand them up. Visit my sock/stocking drawer image below. And, yes, I do keep it this way all the time. It takes me four(4) minutes to fold the socks I use each week. I have two dividers in my drawer to keep them a little straight.
In this method, you can divide the socks into darks, lights, dress socks, extra thick socks, and thin socks.
Below are two options from Amazon (affiliate).
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Buy Now → (Affiliate Link)
Be sure to measure the depth of your drawer before buying any drawer organizer (Affiliate Link). They range in height and length.
Another way would be to store them on shelves in organizers.
I did this in my daughter's small room, which worked great for organizing the socks. It also helped when she would go away to school because she could take the organizer with her without having to remove the socks from the drawer and reorganize them when she got to her dorm. See my video below showing how I organized my daughter's small closet.
A third option would be to use an over-the-door organizer and store the folded socks in them.
This option is excellent for tiny homes or apartments. A clear one lets you see through them to find the necessary socks. Any folding methods from above would work with this form of sock organization.
This one has bins, and I found it on Amazon (affiliate).
Over the Door Organizer Heavy Duty 55x14x6.7,
Buy Now →(Affiliate Link)
How to Pick the Right Sock Organizer?
If you have several thick socks, they may not fit in your chosen organizer. Determine how many thicker socks you have before buying the correct type of sock organizers (Affiliate Link) to organize socks.
Also, if you have stockings, tights, or leg warmers, you can add them to these organizers but consider the thickness and how long they are. Pantyhose and tights fold up a little thicker than the standard socks.
How to Organize Socks in a Sock Organizer
Now that you bought your sock organizer (Affiliate Link), it's time to organize them in the organizer. You can organize them in a variety of ways. Below are just some ways you can use it.
Sort By color is common; people sort their socks by color to quickly determine what sock color to grab.
Organize by events - Events could be for occasions like work or workouts.
Sort by how warm they are - If you have socks that you only use in the winter or the summer, you can sort them that way.
Sort by brand - if you like a particular brand for a specific activity.
Organize by type - dress socks, workout wear, etc... if you have particular socks for a specific activity.
Sock Drawer Organizer Option:
Below, I will share how I organized a sock drawer in my son's closet.
Here is the before-the-image of the sock drawer.
As you can see, the socks were a mess. Dress socks were mixed with dark socks, among other things. I only had one divider in the drawer.
Now, I purchased a set of sock organizers (Affiliate Link) from Amazon (Affiliate Link) (affiliate). There is a variety of them.
It's better to have more organizers than not enough.
Buy Now → (Affiliate Link)
You can also visit The Container Store for even more sock organizer (Affiliate Link) options.
Tips when buying a sock organizer.
- Be sure to read the reviews about them before buying them. Two of them fit nicely in the drawer.
- Check the drawer organizer (Affiliate Link)'s width, height, and depth to ensure they fit in your drawer.
I used a collapsible sock organizer (Affiliate Link) type to make it easy for us. My son can then use it when he moves out later.
Fold, sort, and organize socks in the organizer.
Now, I went and sorted it as I described above. I used the Marie Kondo Method.
First, I measured the height of the sock organizer. This told me how high I could fold the sock.
Then, I folded the bottom of the sock to about that height.
Then, I continued to fold until the sock was completely folded.
I did this to all the socks and placed them inside the sorter. I grouped the holiday, dress, light, and dark socks in different rows.
The Reveal of the organized socks drawer.
Walla, here is the reveal of the sock drawer. I am so happy with the change. What do you think?
Here is a video on YouTube. It is different than the video on TikTok.
Below is the video of the entire DIY organized sock project! Please check it out! Follow me on TikTok for more DIY Projects.
How much did it cost to organize this sock drawer?
This project cost me about 20 dollars. It was very affordable, and my son appreciated it. And, it only took me about 30 minutes to sort and roll up the socks.
I hope these tips and my organized sock project inspired you to organize this space. Any questions? Please leave a comment below. Want to share? Please do! Connect with us on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter, HomeTalk, or Facebook!
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon (Affiliate Link), and at no additional cost, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase.
Visit our other Closet Organization Posts for help with other areas of your closet:
Katherine Macey says
LOVE that before and after! It's always nice to see photos that illustrate the organizing process.
Janet Schiesl says
These are great options for people. I know a lot of people dread the sock drawer. I solve the problem by buying all of the same socks. I have one drawer for white ones and one for black, then I don't ever have to match them up because they are all the same!
Hazel Thornton says
Oh dear, I would be shunned from the organizing profession if y'all knew how I organized my socks! In fact, I once wrote about it in a blog post called "Confessions of a Professional Organizer (I’m organized enough, and not one bit more)" if you really want to know. 😉
Deb Lee says
Who knew there were so many ways to fold socks? I like to organize them by type (warm and fuzzies are kept separate from everything else) and height (no-show, ankle, calf).
Julie Bestry says
I use a combination of these methods — a sort of fold, fold again, then roll method that's similar to the military method. But I don't have enough socks to need an organizer. I have casual socks, and knee-high hosiery for under work trousers. And I have only enough of each so that I can launder them easily, so I don't need an entire drawer for socks, let alone piles and piles. For men, who often care little about fashion and less about organizing, I sometimes recommend buying the same style in two colors. They can just dump all the black and all the other (tan? white) into another drawer, whether or not they fold, roll, KonMari, or anything else. Ladies' hosiery, however, tends to be for fashion as much as warmth, and definitely takes more of this kind of effort.
Seana Turner says
I organize my socks by type and color. I don't use a sock organizer, but have bins to hold the various kinds.
I think this can come down to personal taste. I do agree that the organizers make things look really nice, and make it easy to find a particular pair of socks because you can see each one.
Jonda S Beattie says
Love all the options you provided. Everyone should find something that works for them. My answer is to have a minimum number of socks and match them each time they come out of the dryer. A once over fold across two rows in my drawer and I am done.
Linda Samuels says
What a comprehensive description of how to organize socks! Like you, I've observed many different sock organizing preferences, from throwing them into a drawer without any order to carefully curated rows of color-coded socks. One of the tricky things is if the lighting isn't good near the sock drawer, it can be challenging to see what you've got, and not so easy to distinguish black from navy socks.
My sock drawer is organized by type and color in neat little rows. But your post inspired me to give a once over. I know I have socks I never wear, so why am I keeping them? Spring will be a great time to review that drawer during my spring/summer clothing switch. Thanks for the inspiration.