Radio DJ Roman Kemp has spoken out about not knowing what he should be putting in each of the three trays inside the drawer of his washing machine. While addressing his 294k followers on Twitter last week, he admitted to going 29 years without having 'any idea'. But it would seem he's not alone.
Alongside a photo of his appliance, the son of Spandau Ballet star Martin Kemp wrote: "I’m Roman. I’m 29 years old; and I still have no idea what I put in each of these…", the Mirror reports.
The post has since racked up more than 50k likes and 2k of retweets, with even more commenting on the tweet to confess the exact same thing. Sharing her similar confusion to how to use the trays and knowing what their little symbols mean, Sarah replied: "I'm Sarah and am 47 and I don't know either. Please share when you know."
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Daz added: "I am 52 years old and I still have no idea either. I have managed to operate a washing machine for decades without knowing, so it cannot be that important." Rebecca echoed: "I’m 50 and I’ve never known what slots to use."
Joy wrote: "Morning Roman, I’m 76 and l still haven’t a clue, but it’s all clean when it comes out." Single Lady asked: "'m 56 and never used the draw on the right ,what's it actually for anyone? Lol." Caspine put: "I’m 52 and haven’t a clue what to do here."
InTheWash.co.uk advises everyone to check the manual for their machines as confusingly, the symbols above each of the compartments which indicate what you should put in them can be in different places on different models.
But the website says the machine drawer compartments are usually labelled one, two and three/star/flower symbol. Number one, usually labelled as 'I', is the 'pre-wash' compartment, where you put detergent for a pre-wash cycle when your clothes are particularly stained or dirty.
Number two, or 'II' is the 'main wash' compartment, which you use almost every time you wash your clothes. This is where InTheWash says you put your detergent. A powder or a liquid can go in this part.
The third compartment, which usually has a flower or a star symbol on it, is where the fabric softener is supposed to go and is the smallest compartment of the three in the drawer and it usually goes in the middle.
Roman's post was shared far and wide on social media, including catching the attention of cleaning expert Laura de Barra - author of Gaff Goddess: Simple Tips and Tricks to Help You Run Your Home. She outlined her tips on Twitter to give the radio presenter, and the rest of the nation, a helping hand.
"Ok. Listen up: There are usually 3 compartments: prewash, detergent, softener. Not knowing what is what can make clothes smellier, scratchier and actually not last as long or do what they should." She said.
"Also, how doesn’t the machine wash all three down at same time?? Let’s learn… Sound manufacturers make it easy. L-R in order. So L is prewash, middle is detergent, R is softener. But as it’s not always the case… it’s also imperative that the right sh*t 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
"Many machines aren’t in order. So suss your symbols! You’ll have symbols like @romankemp image, see them above the compartments? I (sometimes 1) is prewash. II (2) is detergent and the flower (3) is softener."
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