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Margaret Boyles
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Recyling Panty Hose in the Garden and Home
As the cool fall weather sets in, it’s the perfect time to declutter drawers and get creative with reusing what you already have. If you’ve got a pile of lonely socks or stretched-out pantyhose, don’t toss them just yet! From clever household hacks to smart garden tricks, there are plenty of ways to repurpose old socks and nylons.
Like me, you probably have a drawer or box with tights and nylon stockings that you no longer wear. And perhaps you keep all those single, mateless socks that emerge from the wash because you hope the other sock will turn up!
I’ve mastered the art of finding new uses for them. I don’t turn them into rugs, quilts, sock puppets, doll clothes, pet outfits, or anything that requires real work. Below, you’ll find a (very) few of my favorites. Please add some of your own in the comments!
New Uses for Old Socks
Don’t throw out those old or lonely socks! There are many smart ways they can be useful:
- Nothing works better for dusting and scrubbing than slipping both hands into cotton socks and getting to work. Spritz the palms with appropriate cleaning products and use them on the floor, the counters, the ceiling fan, the car, the window blinds, the baby, or the dog. They’re washable, too, and can be reused many times. Check out some of our favorite homemade cleaners.
- Unmated socks also make good storage bags, especially for organizing a junk drawer. Use them to store loose extension cords, crayons, or pieces from board games and jigsaw puzzles, or to organize toiletries when packing a suitcase. Use a permanent marker to categorize the contents and a rubber band or twist tie to secure the bag.
- Hang a sturdy sock from a kitchen hook and toss your spare change into it once a week. At the end of the year, add the accumulated change to your emergency savings account or put it toward a special treat. We use ours, usually about $50, to buy some holiday feast items that wouldn’t otherwise make it onto our shopping list.
- As bar soaps shrink to small slivers, collect them in a cotton sock, tie up the end, and use them as a soap-in-a-bag for baths and showers.
- Make a cold or hot pack: Fill a cotton knee sock or tube sock about ⅔ full of dried rice, lentils, beans, or dried corn kernels. Tie it shut with a piece of twine. Place in the freezer for a flexible cold pack. Microwave for 1 or 2 minutes for a hot pack. For a real treat, slip a couple of warm, filled socks under the covers at the foot of your bed to warm up your feet on a chilly night.
- Cold-weather walkers and runners: Pull a couple of long wool socks over your lighter-weight gloves at the start of a winter jaunt. If your hands get too warm, pull the socks off and tuck them into your waistband or stuff them up the sleeves of your jacket.
Smart Garden Hacks for Old Tights or Pantyhose
Just when you thought you were safe from pantyhose! Your worn-out pantyhose can actually be incredibly useful in the garden. (If you don’t have pantyhose, find another stretch material.)
- Since nylon is stretchable, it works for tying tomato plants to their cages so the growing stems do not become top-heavy. Strong and stretchy, the soft fabric won’t injure the plant stem, and it will expand as the stem grows in diameter. Wrap once around the stem, not too tightly, before tying it to the cage. This gardening hack is also useful for other plants and young trees—and a great way to avoid squash vine borers!
- As melons, gourds, and squashes increase in size, providing support to the stems is essential to keep them from breaking. Use clean pantyhose or stockings to wrap around the fruits. Here are some instructions and pictures.
- Protect your fruit and vegetables from maggots, codling moths, and other insects by wrapping them in stockings or nylon socks when they’re immature in size. Due to the stretching ability of nylon, the fruit will not be stressed and continue to grow, and the fabric will work as a barrier against these pests.
- A leg or a whole pantyhose makes a good container for storing onions or garlic. Hang it from a hook in a cool, dry place. The air circulation and flexibility of the fabric make pantyhose perfect!
- Collect seeds from your flowering plants and vegetables before they cast them down on the ground and become invisible. Just cover the brown ripening pods or seed heads with pantyhose.
See how we use pantyhose in the garden!
Repurpose, Reuse, and Reduce Waste
Instead of tossing out single socks or old pantyhose, give them a second life with these creative reuse and upcycling ideas. From eco-friendly cleaning hacks to practical garden solutions, these tips save money and reduce waste—all while making everyday life a little easier.
Find more great tips for reusing, renewing, and refreshing. Also, get fun ideas for upcycling or repurposing old objects!
Do you have your own sock or pantyhose hack? Share your ideas in the comments below!
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If your washer had a discharge hose that empties into a stationary tub or sink, clamp a sock over the end (clamp by the open end to make a bag) to catch all the lint that gets flushed from the machines lint trap. Prevents drain clogs over time. Heavy cotton athletic socks work the best for us.
Thank you for bringing back the e-mail and pdf and print options! Was sorely missed!
When making large batches of soup, stock, or even spaghetti sauce, I put the herbs in an old sock or stocking, so when the cooking's done, I just have to lift the sock out of the liquid instead of having to strain it. Then you can clean the sock and re-use it. (For very small batches, I put the herbs in a large teaball, the size you'd use for a whole pot of tea.)
Pre-filter the stuff going into your swimming pool's filter. Cut 1 pair of pantyhose legs into 4. (The panty part of the pantyhose becomes a 5th) Tie a knot in one side. Slide the hose sock over the skimmer basket. Replace the basket . . . and catch the pollen, leaves, bugs, etc. that requires frequent back washings, BEFORE they get to the filter. Easily washed out with a hose, for repeated use.
I've been doing this for YEARS. I've been successfully maintaining the proper pressure throughout an entire pool season (outside Philadelphia, PA) with only ONE backwash.
Odd or holey socks can be used to clean the toilet and then tossed.
A few more varied uses similar to some above...
Fostering motherless tiny kittens, especially neonates, none of whom can regulate their body temperature, same use as those goats! And kittens can be very messy so a lot of socks can come in handy. Also, that rice sock gently warmed comes in handy to form in a circle and toss a towel over to make a cozy little bed.
For refinishing and finishing or painting wood, put a latex glove on your hand then slip a sock over that. Dip your fingers into the paint or varnish stripper and rub evenly over all sides of the object, then later use another sock and wipe it off and clean the object, then later yet to add a new finish of paint, stain or varnish. Perfect for difficult shapes like spindles or delicate carving. You can toss these or soak and rinse them for later use.
For your oatmeal bath, use old pantyhose or lightweight tights or socks. Cut the hose or tights into about 12-inch sections, socks as is, pour a cup of instant or old-fashioned oatmeal into it along with some lavender blossoms or essential oils or other scent if you choose, and toss in your warm bath water to absorb water for about 10 minutes. Gently squeeze the sock and see the oatmeal's "milk" ooze through the hose and gently rub this all over your skin, let it sit for a minute or two, then rinse. The hose helps slough dead skin cells and clear your pores and the oatmeal softens and conditions your skin.
There is a mail in recycling program for hosiery. For more info, search in google for "savemyhosiery"
For years I used a sock as a "case" for my 35mm cameras. I inverted the ankle part back over the foot part, creating a double thickness of sock, and kept a camera-in-sock standing on end in my very well-compartmentalized purse for handy access. Today's camera phones seem (I don't know for sure -- I don't own one) to be a lot more delicate than my 35mm workhorses, but if you have a camera phone in a case, maybe the doubled-over-sock can still be helpful as a protective cushion. Maybe?
What a great use for mismatched socks!
We have great fun dressing newborn baby pygmy and Nigerian goats in socks during chilly winter months. Cut a slice across the heel (front legs slip thru here), snip off the toe (this part faces the rear), and cut off or roll down the ribbed ankle section to form a turtleneck. The business part of the baby is left exposed and functional, plus Mom can sniff and identify in a crowd.
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