Why Are People Putting Empty Plastic Bottles in the Washing Machine? The Laundry Trick Explained
Laundry day has no shortage of unusual household tricks. One of the more curious ones involves placing an empty plastic bottle inside the washing machine along with your clothes.
At first, it sounds strange. Why would anyone put a bottle in with freshly washed laundry?
The idea is that the bottle can move around inside the drum and create additional agitation, potentially helping separate clothes and reduce clumping during certain wash loads.
But before you grab the nearest bottle, there are a few important things to know.
How Is the Plastic-Bottle Trick Supposed to Work?
During a wash cycle, clothes can become tangled together, particularly when washing bulky items such as towels, blankets, jackets, or bedding.
A clean, tightly capped plastic bottle placed inside the drum can move among the clothes as the machine rotates.
Supporters of the trick claim that this extra movement can:
- Help prevent clothes from becoming tightly tangled
- Encourage better movement of laundry inside the drum
- Help bulky items separate during washing
- Potentially improve the circulation of water and detergent
The bottle isn’t actually cleaning the clothes by itself. Its proposed benefit comes from the physical movement it adds to the load.
