Halfbakery: Automatic Clamp Kit for Sock Pairs

Problem 1:
You like to buy your socks in multi-packs and you end up having a plethora of socks that look a lot alike. Unless you wear your pairs in order without exception, the socks, that once may have started out identical, wear out at different rates, depending on how you match them up after doing the laundry. You might end up having unenvenly worn or faded socks to match up while folding/putting your freshly cleaned and dried socks. You find the task to be time-consuming and tedious.

Problem 2:
You like to keep your socks matched up by left/right foot. (Yes, I know someone who does this.) Matching up the socks, again, is found to be time-consuming and tedious.

Problem 3:
You tend to lose single socks amidst your other laundry items (like inside your pant leg) and don't want to take the time for extensive searching after each laundry load.

Solution:
Tiny clamps to attach to pairs of dirty socks before dropping them into your hamper. Clamps would serve as a device to keep matched pairs of socks together until putting away, or even until they are ready to wear, eliminating the missing sock search, or the time spent matching up pairs, however you do it.

Details:
The clamps would be small and smooth enough not to snag on any laundry items, or keep any part of the socks from getting properly washed. Two protruding "teeth" would be at the attachment point, sort of "stapling" the pair together near the toe. The "teeth" points and their matching pair of teeth with divets at the points (on the other side of the clamp jaws) would be the only contact points to the socks, allowing the socks to be cleaned thoroughly without any covered spots. The jaws would hover away from the socks on either side.

The clamps would be made of metal (for durability and tension strength) but coated with a smooth material (to prevent snagging and rusting), perhaps similar in style to those ventilated shelves found in many closets, but using a heat-resistant coating. The clamps would have to be made of materials that are able to withstand a washing and drying cycle without rusting, melting, or major deteriorating.

The tension would be strong but yet be easy to release by hand. There might be a locking lever, such as those found on the lids of old-fashioned glass jars. The size of the clamps would be very small - perhaps the size of a safety pin, but easier and quicker to fasten and remove.

For added convenience, a device holding plenty of clamps would be attachable to any hamper, and would administer instant attachment to pairs of socks using a mechanism similar to that of an electric stapler. A user would simply "feed" the toe or other area of the matched pair of dirty socks into the clamping device, and a clamp would instantly attach the pair using one of the above-mentioned clamps.

I imagine the household version of the clamping device would easily be able to accommodate approximately 100 or more clamps, to ensure consumers don't run out (with normal use). Refills in amounts of 10 or 25 would also be available to replace the occasional lost clamps.

With regular use, mismatched or lost socks would become a thing of the past. Putting socks away could become faster and easier, and could allow users to organize their sock drawers more easily. When it's time to wear a clean pair of socks, reach for a clamped pair in the sock drawer and release the clamp from the socks to put them on.

There would be a clamp return slot at the opposite side of the feeder on the clamping device. This side could also serve as a manual dispenser, for manual clamping of socks or for when clamps take on other practical household uses.