I am working toward no socks but I HAVE to run socks right now since the tank is only about 9 months old. When I don't run the socks I get outbreaks of uglies. Since I have a dozen socks it helps and just throw the dirty ones into a sealed bucket and clean then all when they are all dirty. Yes, it is an hour out of a month I cannot get back....
I tried just spraying them out and letting them dry but found they clogged up quicker. So now I needed to spray them out then wash them in the washing machine with a little bleach and extra rinse cycle and air dry for at least 24 hours.
Eventually I will get back to no socks because I have a 180 gallons of refugium and rock tanks and those sponges and grass have to eat too!