Saturday, November 9, 2013

One of the Mysteries of Life

I was folding clothes fresh out of the dryer last night, and I noticed a rather peculiar thing: All clothing that has pockets had their pockets turned inside out.
Now, I understand about lost socks. Or rather, lost sock. Single. I'm accustomed to looking through the laundry for the socks to match, and generally succeed in pairing white with white, brown with brown, etc. but occasionally there will be just one sock.
There must be a spot in Sock Heaven where those solitary socks end up. Alone and lonely for its mate. So it sits and waits and waits for the missing sock to arrive and they can rejoice in their reunion.
Or not. I used to keep a basket for just such an occasion: one sock missing, hoping its mate will show up. Of course, that never happens, so eventually I turned some of the lonely socks into dust rags (they fit nicely on your hand) and didn't worry about it.
When my children we little, I pinned their socks together before putting them in the washer. A safety pin held their toes together, and both socks emerged from the washer AND the dryer. Someone once told me the socks go down the drain pipe when the washer cycles from wash into rinse. Could be. But the washer isn't clogged; it works just fine. Maybe the sock goes on its merry way out into the sewer world, never to return.
But I digress. I was pondering another great mystery of life: Why are all the pockets turned inside out when they emerge either from the washer or dryer? I'm saying, I don't particularly look for that phenomenon when I remove the items for the washer. Don't know if the washer does it, or if the dryer is the culprit.
I wonder if the pockets are turned inside out during the agitation process, where the clothes are swished around, or maybe it's during the spin dry cycle. 
 Next time I do laundry, I'll check out the pockets before I put the load into the dryer.
Until then, it will remain another great mystery of life.

4 comments:

  1. This is one of those quirky things I've also wondered over the years. If you figure it out, please let me know!

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  2. If you find out you will be a millionaire and save us all a million socks!

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  3. I think there are sock gnomes that swipe socks and make little sweaters and hats out of them. I once went to work with a loose sock hidden inside my pant leg. That had to be a prank. I recommend a mesh lingerie bag. Put all your socks in that and wash.

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  4. Marilyn, I think Rose has a smart idea for washing socks. lol What I would like to know is how my husband gets a hole in one sock instead of both. I end up throwing one sock and waiting for another like sock to get a hole, so I can use it's mate. lol

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