Self-changing socks

I’ve been dreaming up interesting product ideas in my Now Truly Copious Free Time(TM), some of these ideas I may actually try to patent. One that might not make it to the patent office but is interesting nonetheless is my idea of self-changing socks. Since almost no one reads MT.Net, I can share my idea with you.

Here’s how it works. Simply take a pair of cotton dress socks, let’s say they’re blue, and put them on in a room illuminated by fluorescent lighting. Then walk out into daylight, or to a room with incandescent lighting. Voila! Your blue socks have changed to brown. Or your brown socks have changed to blue. Socks that change themselves!

I love the CFL lights in our home: they’re bright, they sip energy, and they don’t generate wasteful heat. They do, however, play tricks with my eyes when I’m picking out socks. My brown socks and blue socks look exactly the same under CFL lighting. I’m thinking that the cotton itself is fluorescing through the socks’ dye, distorting the color. Or it could be that the colors of the socks just aren’t present in the CFL light.

At any rate, if you see me with mismatched socks, don’t assume there’s anything wrong with me or the socks. It could just be the lighting!