Why are socks softer and smoother on the outside than on the inside?

I haven’t noticed this – maybe it’s you.

I wear mostly Gold Toe fluffy socks – they’re smooth inside and out. My sweat socks – don’t remember what brand name they are, one of the big names – maybe Hanes or Adidas – are also flat in and out.

So I honestly haven’t experienced the issue you are complaining about. Where do you get your socks?

The fluffy soft linty side is in next to you feet to feel cozy. The smooth side is othe outside so it won’t wear as fast against the shoe and your pants. Makes your socks last longer.

To reduce wear on the inside of the shoe, both for the sock’s sake as well as the shoe.

Maybe…you’re wearing your socks inside out?

Where are you finding these lumpy socks?

The only ones I have that are not as smooth on the inside as the outside are argyle – and the difference is a result of the knitting pattern having a right and wrong side.

One-colour socks shouldn’t have a non-good side.

Something I wondered about several years ago. I started wearing them with the more finished side against my feet (made sense to me and my shoes didn’t object) and on the plus side when I fold the tops down then the finished side is exposed.

I know two people where this is a big deal, and is a big deal for more people than you would think. The people I know, one it’s their son, and the other a granddaughter. The children are horribly bothered by the seems and bumps inside of socks. There are socks without seems that have very comfortable fabric on the inside, but you have to look for them, and usually pay a little more. You can wear your current ones inside out.

You might have noticed that in the last 15 years a lot of shirts now have the “tag” printed on the fabric, rather than a tag sewn in. This helped a lot of people who were bothered by the sewn in tags.

I used to have a kid in daycare whose socks drove her crazy. She’d say, “I’m having a reaction in my shoes!” And I’d have to take her shoes off and straighten out the seam.
My son was 3 at the time. We were sitting on the couch once, and he suddenly said, “I’m having a reaction in my underwear!” Oh dear!

@Dutchess_III In the case of my friend with the granddaughter, as she told me the story I interrupted her and said, “why doesn’t her parents believe her and buy her comfortable socks?” The kid was miserable. My girlfriend replied, “I finally did. I bought her 6 pair when she found sucks that felt good.”

I just don’t understand not believing the kid. The child’s mother thought it was whiny child type of complaint. Even if she didn’t believe her kid, if she had just talked to some people or giggled she would have found it’s not an isolated complaint.

I don’t know that they don’t believe her as much as they don’t understand why it’s such a big deal. I don’t either, for that matter, but that wouldn’t stop me from trying to resolve the problem for my child.

It’s a big deal, because for her, for them, it is extremely irritating. Just like for some people a teeth cleaning is more painful than the average person, and some people enjoy being tickled, and to some people it feels like torture. Not all nervous systems feel the same sensations. Especially, autistic children, seem to be sensitive to certain stimuli.

When my daughter’s socks have patterns on them, the patterns seemed to cause bumps on the inside (threads from the sewing and embroidery). She used to complain about them. Now I usually avoid those types of socks and just go for the plain white or white with colored toe or heel.

LOL. I always went with plain white socks, for me and my children, so I don’t have to worry about matching those suckers up!

@Dutchess_III: Yeah, that too!

We had a common “sock box.” All the socks went into one public drawer. One time Mom was visiting and she was matching up socks. I said, “You don’t have to match them.”
“Yes, you do,” she said.
“Why?” I asked. Since they were all the same sock, she had no answer. As a working, single Mom I didn’t have time for such nonsense as matching socks.

I like to buy several pairs of socks of the same style and color so I don’t have to match up, and if one gets a hole the other can still be used, or if the dryer eats one the socks are still usable. Then, my husband bought new sweat socks, 3 pairs black and three pairs white. Should be easy, but each pair has a left and a right! I need to search for the little L or R on the toe. That can’t be a woman who thought of that.

^^^^I had a housekeeper doing laundry, she matched my “L’s” together, and then matched my “R’s” together…

Left and right socks? That’s ridiculous!

@Dutchess_III They are actually very comfy because they are cut a bit to not bag up around the smaller toes.

@zenvelo That sounds like good sense, especially if your toes really size down away from the big toe.

I don’t think I’d even notice.

@Dutchess_III

Which shape foot do you have? I suspect people with a square foot wouldn’t need a l/r sock pair as much as people with a stretched foot.

I once bought all the same, all white socks, when I worked in a factory. For years, our uniforms were white, so that made matching white underwear a no-brainer, too.

Now I usually buy branded socks that are embroidered with the brand. Black, grey, white, colorers. I have the time to sort, now.

@zenvelo That’s hysterical!

I have the first one @BellaB. I have pretty, Barbie Doll feet. Although I don’t take care of them much. I run around barefoot every chance I get.

Be careful walking barefoot, @Dutchess_III. My mother’s dog just got hookworms and I googled it to learn more about it. That’s one that humans can get. It made me realize the reason why parents always tell kids to wear shoes. These are the worms that humans can get.

Well, yeah. That and glass and stickers and planter warts and all kinds of stuff. I’m still here. My parents never told me to wear shoes….unless it was church or school. I never told my kids to wear shoes. They don’t tell their kids to wear shoes. I mostly don’t wear shoes to this day.
I think there is a much greater risk of a kid hurting themselves by trying to run and climb in unstable and unpredictable flip flops, than by a piece of glass or hookworm or something. In my opinion, if you feel a kid has to wear shoes, put well fitting, all-encompassing tennis shoes on, not sandals or flip flops.

There is a reason you don’t see pro athletes or mountain climbers wearing flip flops during their sporting events. Occasionally they’ll compete barefoot, but never in flip flops. Why do we do that to our kids?

I have a pair of sandals that fit my feet better than 95% of my shoes.
I’m not a flip flop fan.

How often do you run at top speed, in them or climb a tree, or climb a fence, or jump over stuff in your flip flops, @ibstubro? Ha ha! Snuck pics of my grandkids in there!

Huh? @Dutchess_III
I don’t remember a time I left the house wearing either flip, or flop.

Or sandals. When is the last time your ran flat out, or climbed a tree wearing sandals? Sandals are marginally better than flip flops, but only marginally.

WRONG.
@Dutchess_III
again!
:-(

Many of those are for macho, athletic show off the court (or mountain, or whatever.) I doubt anyone would wear these for foot racing.
The ones shown that are more tennis shoe than sandal, yeah. Maybe.

Oh, pish, posh. @Dutchess_III