6 ways to upcycle new life into old socks

Upcycling socks extends the life of the ones that lost their mate in the clothes dryer or on a hectic business trip. Creatively reduce your textile waste with these 6 new uses for your old socks.

Sore Muscle Pad: Make your own version of the sore muscle pads you see in drugstores with fabric covering microbeads. These sore muscle pads are a great use for old socks.  Heat it in the microwave or chill it in the freezer to soothe aching muscles.

Sock Monsters: Turning your socks into toys for you or your kids is a great way to upcycle socks. You can make simple shapes or more elaborate creatures by cutting limb holes where you can add arms, legs, horns and wings made from other sock fragments. Use buttons and felt for facial features including tongues and fangs. All you need to get started are fabric scissors, stuffing, needle and thread.

Spa Treatment: Slather your feet or hands with an intensive moisturizer. Slip on a sock and let it sink in overnight.

Duster: Wear a sock over your hand while you dust your furniture and baseboards. It works great for window blinds too.

Ice protector: Stay safe walking on black ice. Ice protectors are perfect to create when you don’t know what to do with old socks. Stretch a sock over your shoes, and you’ll grip the ground better.

Packing material: Almost anything clean and soft can be used for packing material. Collect socks and other items so you always have a supply on hand.

The EPA reports that each American throws away almost 40 pounds of clothing a year. Textiles represent more than 5% of all municipal solid waste even though almost 95% of that could be recycled; with the remainder could be composted. Nice Laundry, a retailer that encourages customers to send back socks for recycling, estimates that a single pair of socks can save up to 17 gallons of water and 66 BTU’s of energy.

You and your company can help by upcycling and recycling more textiles and other waste products. Your efforts may be as small as one sock puppet or as big as a company-wide initiative to collect textiles to donate to your local Goodwill store.