Doing the laundry is a regular occurrence in most households, but it turns out that many Brits have no idea how a washing machine actually works, as they are puzzled by the symbols on their appliance.
The symbols offer handy guidance as they detail how to wash clothes properly as well as protect and maintain them, so they could make all the difference to how your clothes turn out when you wash them.
Despite this, a recent survey by appliance brand AEG has found that just 21% of Brits can successfully identify the normal wash cycle icon.
Our tumble drying know-how wasn't much better, with just 38% of people managing to figure that symbol out.
The survey, which quizzed 2,000 Brits on their washing machine knowledge, found that the younger demographic (16-24 year-olds) need the most help as they struggled the most with identifying each icon.
They were the worse performing generation to take the survey with just a third able to identify the symbols correctly.
Another area of laundry knowledge was quizzed which showed Brits struggle to know which goes into each of the three washing machine compartments.
Harriette Jarman, AEG’s laundry product manager, said of the results: "This is one of the fundamental parts of a washing machine, yet clearly most Brits aren’t sure what actually goes in each drawer.
"Each compartment does slightly different things and so it’s important that the correct products are placed in the correct compartment - otherwise your wash could be affected.
"While each washing machine may be slightly different, the compartments are usually labelled 1,2,3 or a star symbol for the third compartment. It’s important to check the manual to identify these."
Only 38% were able to identify correctly what goes in each compartment and the topic is a sore spot for celebrities like radio DJ Ronan Kemp who recently revealed through Twitter he had no idea what goes in each compartment.
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