In 44 years of being a wife and mother I can honestly say I have never lost socks in the wash. I taught husband and kids to fold socks together when they took them off. I only put pairs in the machine and always at the bottom of the machine. If I ever found an odd sock I would look for it's mate or get the owner to find it. If it couldn't be found the mate would go into the rag bag. Socks are soft and make good polishing rags.
Organizing Socks