Those Mischievous Washing Machines

Barry Panson in Monroe Township, New Jersey writes:

You once answered a question about why clothes turn inside out in the washing machine. The other day, as I was turning my shirts the correct way so I could hang them, I mentioned that column to my wife, but I couldn’t remember your complete response. My wife informed me that I was crazy and that the reason the shirts were inside out was because I put them in the washer that way. Could you please reprint your original response?

Marilyn responds:

Sure!

A reader asked, “Our washing machine is always turning clothes inside out. Why in the world does it do that?!”

I answered, “Actually, you’re probably wearing those clothes inside out! Your washing machine is just returning them to their original orientation: with their seams on the outside. Imagine a pair of shorts cut in two pieces–front and back–and ready for sewing up the sides. Sew up the seams, and that’s the orientation to which the garment tends to return: flat and untwisted. The manufacturer then turns this garment ‘inside out’ to make the seams disappear. People are often amused to see how the washing machine always seems to know what not to do. They toss in their clothes rightside out, and the machine turns them inside out. So they then toss in their clothes inside out only to discover that the machine leaves them that way!”