How to wash your Wernies socks

Start with the pack

Socks are not like shirts. Under the Federal Trade Commission Care Labeling Rule, hosiery, anklets included, does not need a care label sewn into each sock. The instructions go on the package or a hang tag instead. So keep the pack, or photograph its back, before you throw it away.

One safe method is enough for the rule, which is why a pack may say only "machine wash" and nothing about ironing or drying. Most of our packs say machine wash. Read yours, because instructions differ between packs.

Washing no show socks

• Turn them inside out. The silicone strips then rub against each other instead of against the drum and the other laundry.
• Use cold or warm water, not hot. Hot water is harder on elastic and on the silicone.
• Put the pairs in a mesh laundry bag. A no show sock is small enough to vanish into a sleeve or the rubber seal of the machine.

Drying

Dry flat or on low heat. High heat tires the spandex that gives the opening its snug fit, and the sock starts to sit loosely long before it wears through.

Keeping white socks white

Wash whites with whites. Check the pack before using any bleach: when chlorine bleach would harm a product, the care rule asks the label to say "only non-chlorine bleach, when needed" or "do not bleach".

Reading the fiber content

The fiber line lists each fiber by its generic name and its share by weight, largest first, for example 80% cotton, 17% polyester, 3% spandex. Spandex and elastane are two names for the same stretch fiber, and a fiber under 5 percent can be named because it does a job at that amount, here the stretch that holds the sock on your foot.