Worry no more, Mom! Samsung has a solution!

Samsung solves the mystery of the missing socks.

Kuala Lumpur, 18 May 2016 – Laundry may seem like the most mundane and tiresome household chore. But in fact, one of life’s’ greatest mysteries lie within the depths of the washing machine. Socks magically disappear in the wash! Mothers know this best as their kids are always asking them where the other piece of their favourite pair of socks went. It’s almost as if there is a portal to a different realm at the bottom of the washing machine where socks get sucked into!

To uncover this mystery and to help mothers understand how a sock disappears, leading scientists have done their research and discovered the secrets to why our socks go missing in the wash. According to the research, around 84 million socks go missing around the UK every month. However, sock salvation is in sight. Samsung’s AddWash uses an innovative second door which allows users to simply drop in extra items during the wash cycle, providing a possible end to the problem of forfeited footwear.

From the research, it was discovered that the main factors causing socks to go missing was the way clothes were separated into batches for each wash, and the number of socks in each wash cycle.

However, the most common causes were items falling behind radiators or under furniture without anyone realizing. Sometimes, a stray sock is added to the wrong coloured wash and gets separated from its matching sock or the sock was not pegged to a washing line securely so they fall of and blow away – or they are simply carelessly paired up.

In Malaysia’s home ground, Jimmy Tan, Head of Consumer Electronics Business said, “We believe this new study has finally solved the age old mystery of the missing socks, even in Malaysia. At Samsung we are changing the way we do laundry with the new AddWash Front Loader washing machine. No longer will we load the machine with trepidation as we worry whether pairs will be separated forever. Now we can add those loose socks, and indeed any other item of clothing you forgot, in mid-wash to ensure everything stays together.”

Psychological Reasons for Sock Loss

As part of the research, interviews were conducted to identify key psychological themes that contribute to losing socks in the wash. The following four trends were identified:

1. “Someone else has it covered”
Simply put, when a task is shared among a group, individuals tend to assume that someone else will take responsibility – so no one does.

2. Out of Sight out of mind
For example, when we lose a TV remote, we search in all the likeliest places such as under cushions. When socks disappear, we simply look in the easiest places and then assume the sock is lost forever.

3. Truth if I believe it
This occurs where we tend to believe something is true if we want it to be true. So in this case, if we cannot see any odd socks, we convince ourselves there are no odd socks.

4. Human Error
Human error accounts for many accidents, mistakes and mysteries, particularly in the wash cycle and these fell into two main areas:

Omission: where we fail to respond or do something when we should (leaving a sock on a bedroom floor, in the laundry basket or washing machine)

Commission: where we do something when we shouldn’t (throwing a lone coloured sock in a white wash, kicking a sock out of sight, balancing a sock drying precariously which might fall behind a radiator)

“Thanks to the study and Samsung’s AddWash Front Load Washer, no sock will be left behind. Mothers no longer need to worry about the magically disappearing sock and everyone will always have the complete pair”, added Jimmy Tan.

The Samsung AddWash Front Load Washer was also awarded Editors’ Choice by Trusted Reviews and given a five-star test labo rating by Les Numeriques in March this year. Starting at an affordable recommended retail price of RM2,899, the award-winning washing machine is also part of Samsung’s Parent’s Day Promotion with exclusive prices, running until 7 June 2016.

Visit www.samsung.com/my/addwash for more information.