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By Steve
#6314
We all know how battery testers work: you find a battery in your home or office and have no clue if it's still usable. You attach it to a battery tester and voila - the battery is flat so you can happily dispose of it.

But on washing day, what are you to do if you find a couple of stray socks? Sure, you can smell every single one of them, but that isn't only unpleasant, but it can actually damage your health, e.g. if you're allergic to dust. Alternatively, you can throw everything you find into the washer, but that'll unnecessarily shorten the life-span of your clothers, plus, by washing stuff that's already clean you're not exactly doing a favor to our environment.

This is where the sock tester comes to play: scan the socks (or any other garment you may have found) with the sock tester, and the sock tester will tell you if they actually need a washing.

Reward: Free sock testers for me
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By Michael D. Grissom
#6877
Isn't it about time for biodegradable disposable socks? =))
By cheshiredog
#6915
Actually something that applies to nearly all my garments strewn about the house.. perhaps disorganization is my root problem :-)

Rather than a device, I wonder if it's possible to use a visual indicator, perhaps a colored stripe across the toe. My toothbruth has a "time to replace" indicator that fades from blue to white over time. Could a special dye get "reset" in the dryer, then body moisture changes its color (like the blue/pink humidity indicators).
By Rishi
#6974
cheshiredog wrote:Actually something that applies to nearly all my garments strewn about the house.. perhaps disorganization is my root problem :-)

Rather than a device, I wonder if it's possible to use a visual indicator, perhaps a colored stripe across the toe. My toothbruth has a "time to replace" indicator that fades from blue to white over time. Could a special dye get "reset" in the dryer, then body moisture changes its color (like the blue/pink humidity indicators).
This may be feasible. Almost all detergents are slightly above pH 7. Washed fabrics should be at this pH. Used fabrics on the other hand will have micro-organisms, which lower the pH to below 7.

If a suitable range 'Litmus' patch were to be woven into the clothing, cheshiredog's idea can be realized.

Rishi
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