‘Pull your sock off by the toe,’ she said. 

I thought she was nuts. My mom was exasperated, but continued to ask. For years. “Please pull your sock off by the toe.’ She finally told me that it helped her fold the laundry faster. Even with that explanation, I thought she was nuts. How much extra time would it save?

So, today I timed it. The entire bin was inside out. Even while power folding to Lauryn Hill, it still took me 16 extra seconds to turn my five year old’s pajama top right side out. I wedged my hand into the tiny sleeves and the tiny socks. They got balled pretty good, and consequently slightly damp. I really had to get in there to straighten out the toe. It took an additional 7 seconds for a pair of socks. 

I’m not off the hook either. Trying to detangle my strappy sports bras or right my skinny jeans (maybe this is why they are now out of style?).

I didn’t want to do the math, but I did the math.  

A medium capacity front load washer from Whirlpool is about 4 cubic feet. (I’m rounding for easy math). According to the Tide website, this is about 12 men’s t-shirts, 6 pairs of socks, 3 skirts, 2 sweaters, 5 pairs of pants, 4 pairs of underwear.  That’s 38 pieces of clothing. (Remember to double the socks) And let’s be real, you probably jammed at least 3 additional pairs of underwear, 3 pairs of socks.  If you have kids – you may have an additional three shirts because their stuff is smaller. So that’s 50 pieces of clothing.  Realistic?  Yup.

Because there is a 50/50 ish split between socks and everything else, the average extra time for folding is about 10 seconds per piece.  I’m assuming 1 load of laundry/week for a family of 4.  So here we go.

[[50 pieces x ((16 seconds + 7 seconds)/2)] X (2 loads/wk x 52 weeks)] = 59,800 seconds → 997 minutes → 16.6 hours/year x 12 years = 199 hours/24 hours = 8.2 days 

8.2 days of turning clothes right side out*

Do you have any idea what you could do with 16.6 hours/year? Or 8.2 days?  That’s a trip to Hawaii.

I’m sorry Mom. I get it now. And thank you.