CONFESSION time: even though it's one of our most-used home appliances, we're still not 100 per cent sure of all our washing machine's weird and wonderful cycles.
Super spin? Eco-clean? Delicates? We normally just chuck in a washing pod, pick a low-ish spin and hope for the best.
And it turns out, we're not alone in this .
Earlier this week, Capital Radio host Roman Kemp shared a photo of his washing machine's drawer with his 293,000 Twitter followers.
Baffled by each of the three compartments, Roman confessed: "I'm 29 years old and I still have no idea what to put in each of these."
Needless to say, the post stuck a chord with Roman's fans and racked up over 50,000 "likes".
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However, it also caught the eye of cleaning expert Laura de Barra – who thought she'd lend Roman a helping hand.
The author of Gaff Goddess: Simple Tips and Tricks to Help You Run Your Home wrote: "Ok. Listen up: There are usually 3 compartments: prewash, detergent, softener.
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"Not knowing what is what can make clothes smellier, scratchier and actually not last as long or do what they should."
The expert claims most manufacturers adopt a left-to-right system – meaning you pop your stain-removing products in first, followed by detergent and then softener.
We know what you're thinking – what's the harm in just putting them all in the drum together?
Laura continued: "It’s also imperative that the right s*** hits your clothes at the right time.
"Pre wash will have more surfactants to help remove heavy soiling so will need a lot of rinsing to remove, she needs to enter early doors.
"Softener is designed to linger, so needs only a rinse stage and detergent would never come off & clog fibres if it wasn’t followed by rinses."
In other words, you're limiting the life-span of your clothes by not doing this.
What's more, you also run the risk of making them smell from where they absorb too much product and not having the time to rinse it out.
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If you're still not sure what each compartment does, Laura recommended taking a closer look at the spray holes to see if that'll tell you where in the cycle the product is added.
She continued: "When the machine is at different stages, it calls water in from the inlet hose (usually top back left) and it runs over the ceiling and through the spray holes that are above a certain compartment. Divine!"
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