It’s a common problem to have an odd number of socks. But is it true that the washing machine has an insatiable hunger for socks and swallows them up? The truth is that it can – in rare cases.

Socks can get caught in the door seal during the wash. Some machines can then be pulled into the inside of the appliance through a gap in this rubber lip, explains Joshua Jahn, an energy consultant at a German consumer advice center.

According to Jahn, socks and other small clothing items can end up inside the machine, for example, in the heating coil. Trying to save them is usually hopeless: heat and friction cause the material to dissolve completely after a while.

If a tradesperson has to open the machine anyway during a repair, you could ask them to look for socks or their remains. However, if you don’t know anything about electrical devices, you shouldn’t try this yourself.

Machine age matters

How likely your socks are to disappear during a wash depends on the machine’s age, according to the expert. Not many machines have the slot-like wastewater drain anymore. "The older the washing machine, the higher the probability that it has this gap and that socks will be pulled through," Jahn says.

"And even with these appliances with a gap, the probability of socks getting in is not that high," says Jahn. "You don’t have to worry about a sock disappearing once a month."

Claudia Oberascher from the HEA, a specialist association for efficient energy use in Germany, agrees that the machine’s age is a factor.

"If you have a very old appliance, this can happen more easily," she says. If you have a reasonably modern model, it shouldn’t be devouring your socks at all, she adds.

Use a laundry bag

The best way to prevent socks from getting sucked inside the machine if you have an older device is to use special sock clips to gather them together or to put them in a laundry bag.

"And you shouldn’t stuff the washing machine to the top," Jahn recommends. "The probability that the socks will be pulled towards the gap increases the fuller the washing machine is. Always leave a gap about the width of your hand in the drum."

Or else buy socks that are all the same, so if one goes missing, there won’t be an odd one left over.