What to do with Old Socks or Beyond Sock Puppets

We have 3 basic types for socks in our home.  Cotton socks, fancy wool socks and our son's sock which are usually beyond redemption when they go out.  Here are two projects to help you reuse both old cotton socks and old wool socks.

Cotton Socks into Rags~

For this project, cut off the foot of the sock.  You are then left with just the upper ribbed part of the sock.  Cut up one edge of the tube.  Presto!  You have a new cleaning rag.  The ribbed texture grabs dirt as well as any specialized cleaning cloth and is very absorbent.  There is no need to finish the edges.  Because of the way they are knit they wont ravel.  I sometimes like to use these small rags as my paper towel substitutes for the really yucky messes that I don’t want to clean the towel after wards like grease, paint or glue.

Wool Socks into Mitts~

This project is best done with hand sewing but can also be machine sewn.  The only difference is if you are sewing by hand I recommend marking it out with chalk and then cutting it out first before hand sewing.  If you are sewing it by machine I recommend marking it out with chalk, machine sewing and then cutting it out afterwards.  In most cases you will not need to finish the edges unless you like the way it looks better.  Follow the illustrations below.

Cut on the green line and sew on the blue line.  The dimensions given are approximate because it will depend on how big your hand is and what size your sock is.  If the sock is much smaller than the hand you want to put into it, you can cut a hole in the side for the thumb.

Another idea is to drop a bar of biodegradable soap into an old sock and tie it onto the house bib in your garden.  That way you can wash your hands right at the hose.  A small sock works best for this one.