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Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

...but felt philosophically, that we shouldn't wantonly waste our resources, so was faced with thinking and finding ways to use them. 
 
I discovered a great way for recycling woollen socks.

They were long socks, so I started cutting at the top, going around and around and producing a strip 3.5 cm (1 1/2 in) wide.

I kept the circular cutting going until I reached the heel, which was worn and frayed and definitely not useable.

By clever manipulation I was able to keep the strip continuous and so cut on, around and around the foot of the sock until I reached the toe, another sad and sorry sight.
Rolled the strip into a ball and with a large crochet hook commenced to work a sole for my 'slippers'.

With the thickness of yarn I was working with, it took no time to finish.
I used roughly four old socks to produce a pair of soles.

It should be possible to continue crocheting and shape it to form a pair of slippers, I took the easy way out by sewing the soles of an ankle length pair of woollen socks to the crocheted soles and produced a warm, cosy pair of slippers.
 

We now have a large cardboard box to store odd and old socks - to avoid the temptation to toss them away.

Re-use your old socks..... 

Make a dust rag. Slip the sock on your hand. Dampen it with water or a furniture polish and clean away! Socks are good for furniture, window sills, computer screens, floor spills, handles, and blinds.

Polish your shoes. Old socks make great shoe polishers. You can also use them to shine the shoe after polishing.

Make a homemade hacky sack. A hacky sack is a small cloth ball filled with small beads or beans. Cut off about half the top part of a long sock and about three quarters for a short sock. Fill the sock with dried rice, dried peas, or beads. Sew the opening together in a ball shape.

Cut up an old sock to use as a water-bottle cozy.This requires a long sock. Cut the whole top of the sock off. Slide it over a bottle to keep the bottle cool (insulated). A shorter sock can be used for cups and cans.

Make a coin purse. You'll need an anklet-sized sock for this project. Use the whole sock and decorate this sock bag with sequins, beads, glitter, or any other decorative items you have about the house. Sew a strip of fabric onto the top for a handle, or a zipper across the opening.

Make sock dolls. You can also make a sock monkey or a sock puppet. Fill the sock with beans or rice. Glue, sew, or draw on eyes, nose, and mouth. Cut up another old sock into strips and sew on for hair.

Keep a pet's paws warm. If you have an ailing animal that is suffering from the cold, old socks can be helpful in keeping their paws warm. If you are a wildlife rehabilitator, another great use for socks is as temporary pouches for baby animals in your temporary care, such as baby joeys, bats, or possums. Any creature that likes a springy and soft warm place to snuggle into will appreciate this and you will be able to hang the sock up if it is a strong old woolen type, to mimic mother animal's pouch.

Make muscle relaxing packs. Fill with rice or wheat and sew up the open end. Place in the microwave with a glass of water to heat for 1 minute. Hang around your neck or place on other sore muscles for instant relief. (Note: Always include the glass of water to provide moisture or the pack can catch on fire if it dries out too much after repeated use.)

Make a hard-to-reach cleaning stick. Get a ruler (the longer the better) and slip the sock over the end. Attach with an elastic band or staple. Use this to run underneath stoves, fridges, and other hard to reach places. The sock-covered ruler will return lots of fluff and dust and it is easy to wash the sock after each use.

Make horse bandages. Cut the foot off the end of a long sock and make a horse bandage. Smaller socks might be suitable for smaller animal bandages on dogs or cats (try children's socks).

Make garden soap holders. Gardening can be messy and dirty. Pop a soap bar into the bottom of an old sock and tie a knot around the soap part of the sock. Leave the long part of the sock for tying onto a faucet in the garden. It will be ready for you whenever you need to clean up outside after a gardening session.

Sew a quilt or a sock rug, crochet an oval rug for in front of the fire gives them extra utility for years to come and is especially neat for those socks with cute patterns or designs that you can't bear to part with.

Wash the car or bike. A sock over the hand and you have an instant cleaning cloth that is soft enough for the car body or bike frame. Use one for washing and one for buffing.

Make a dishrag by cutting the cuff off an old sock and cut the remaining portion of the sock open so it lays flat. Take the cuff that is leftover from the dishrag and cut it into rings about a half inch wide and use the rings to make a potholder.Alternate colours for more pizzazz.

Make your own weaving frame for the potholder with an old picture frame. Drive nails in just until they don't wobble at half-inch intervals. Use an even number on each side.

A quick draught stopper. Cut off the toes of several woollen socks. Finely stitch the remaining pieces together to form a long sausage. Firmly stitch or tie one end, fill with sand, beans rice, or other spare filling that you have around the house and secure other end. Place at base of door.

If you want to enhance its appearance, add eyes, nose, mouth and maybe feelers or whiskers - whatever sort of animal that you can imagine.

Add a tennis ball. The purpose of adding a tennis ball to an old sock can be twofold:
 

Make a back and neck soother. Tie the tennis ball inside the end of a long sock. Taking the long end of the sock, toss the sock over your shoulder so that the ball lands on your back. Stand against a wall and lean against the sock and ball. Rub your back up and down against the ball that is squeezed into the wall and it will massage away aches and pains from sport, sitting too long at the computer or any other activities that may have caused back tension. Use a shorter sock for a neck massaging version.

Store your jewels in an old sock, great for when you are travelling.

Use an old soccer / footy sock to cushion a seat belt by snipping off the toe end and slipping it over the seat belt.

Make a dog pull-toy. In the same way, place the tennis ball in the end of the sock and tie around it. Take the long end of the sock and tempt your dog to take it. If your dog is playful, a fun tug-of-war is likely to ensue. See Warnings below.

Make a sock jump rope. All you have to do is tie about 15 or so long socks in a line and you have a neat jump rope! It's also fun to use different coloured socks!

Make dog toys and donate to animal shelters.

Take a dog's chew bone and put it in an old sock. You can bunch it into a ball and play fetch. The dog will have fun trying to get the bone out. See Warnings below.

Put an empty plastic water bottle in the sock, tie the end and give to dog. Many dogs seem to love crunching water bottles and the sock stops the plastic from decorating your yard.

Save them for moving day. Place valuable glasses, or knick knacks inside the sock sole and wrap the higher part around the bottom. This will give more protection. Add a tag on the outside of the sock, so you remember what is inside. Place in a moving box or inside one of your dresser drawers.

Make potpourri holders. Place potpourri inside and sew closed. Great in closets and dresser drawers. Gives off a gentle smell for months.

Make a cat toy. Pour Catnip into an old sock and tie it off. Cats love them. Just watch for holes.

Start a new trend. Wear two socks of different colours. Make sure that each colour matches your outfit.

Make Fingerless gloves. Cut a hole in the heel and cut off the toe of the sock. Stick your thumb in the heel hole and your fingers out the toes. If you want you can tuck under the raw edges where you made the cuts or sew a simple hem.

Use your imagination and come up with many more ways of re-using socks.

Always launder socks before using them in any of the projects.

Always sew up any holes in old socks that are destined for any projects requiring filling.
 
 
Warnings

Using a sock as a dog chew toy poses two dangers: it might teach your dog that all socks are chew toys, so try to ensure that it does not look like a sock before you let your dog use it; and ingested socks can cause bowel blockage, a serious concern for your canine companion, so if the sock becomes damaged, you should take it back.

Young kids will probably need an adult to help with the ideas that involve sewing.

Be careful when microwaving a sock containing rice, beans, or deer corn. Microwave it for no more than two minutes, and monitor it, as there is a remote chance that it may overheat and catch fire. To ensure that this doesn't happen, always place a mug full of water in the microwave along with the sock.