Winter on Two Pairs of Socks

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We’re minimalists, mostly. We try to not have a bunch of stuff. This naturally extends to the wardrobe. I’ll cover more about what we wear another time, but for now, I want to give you an idea. With the right socks, you can go an entire winter with just two pairs of socks. You wear one, and the other sits in your drawer. When one pair is dirty (which can take some time, with the right socks) you wash ‘em and switch.

Packing is easy. You wear on pair. To cover all sock-wearing needs, you put your other pair in your bag. Done.

These are not normal socks, of course. I have been wearing Icebreaker Stripey socks for about a year, now. When not wearing those, I wore some old wool socks until my Icebreaker socks dried. (I didn’t wear them only when they smelled foul, which took usually at least four days of daily use). I’ve not been extremely thrilled with the Icebreaker socks, and recently wore a hole through them. (Daily use for a year could seem excessive, but I have high standards.) Icebreaker Customer Support kindly sent me a replacement pair, and it seems the problem I had with the first pair will not be a problem with the second.That said, I’m still interested in trying a pair of Darn Toughsocks as my “other” pair. Two good pairs of socks cover all my cold-weather anddress-sock needs. (I wear these in formal occasions, too. Anytime I wear long pants, one of these pairs of socks is on my feet.So - washing. What’s up with that. How I do it?Yes. In a sink. Or in the shower. Or in a washing machine. (But do  not put them through the drier). The wool used by Icebreaker or Darn Tough is not like cotton. It doesn’t pick up odor, it dries quickly, and it easily releases any stink it does pick up. So, when in the shower, soak the socks, maybe add a little soap, get them wet, rinse them out, hang them up, and they’ll be dry and stink-free in the morning.