Why do clothes turn inside out when in a washer or dryer?

Answer 1

the agitator in the washer is designed to do that so both sides of the garment get washed and nto simply one side get washed and the other side get wet.

Answer 2

After reading Maralyn Vos Savant's answer, I decided to test out the theory. I deliberately put all my clothes in the laundry inverted. If she is right, that that's the natural state, then none of the clothes should invert back to right-side-out, eh? Here are my results:
14 of 40 short-sleeve shirts' sleeves returned to normal state
9 of 14 Jockey briefs returned to normal
7 of 21 boxer shorts returned to normal
0 of 9 totally inverted T-shirts and only 1 of 10 A-shirts returned to normal; maybe that was too much material to invert?
I didn't collect stats on how often these clothes go from normal to inverted, but I don't think it's any more frequently than the above. And if your theory had been correct nothing should have inverted.
So in conclusion, it's the random motion, not how they are sewn.

Answer 3

Marilyn vos Savant gave an answer to that question in one of her parade columns that made sense to me. Clothes are sewn together with the seems inside, but this is done by sewing them inside out and then turning them right side out to wear. In a way, their natural state is what we call inside out. As a result the clothes are always pulling a little bit when the seems are inside and random agitation will tend to bring the seems back outside where the cloth can rest smoothly with no pulling at all.

Well, I can't put it into words as well as she did, but I hope you get the idea. Anyway, it made sense to me when I read it.

Answer 4

Two things I can think of:

1) Items go in inside out and people forget.

2) pressures created by the agitator hit the garmet just right to turn it inside out.

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1) A lot of times people pull off socks from the top, and "peel" them down, thus turning them inside out. Same with shirts like t-shirts, if yuo peel from the bottom.

2) If you intentionally fold them right side out to test (and inspect to make sure you didn't screw up), and it still happens that some come out inside out, perhaps it's that things get crumpled up and flipped over in the washer, and waves of pressuregenerated by the agitator and the walls of the washer, may hit clothes at just the right angle that certain structures get pushed inside out.

Consider a plastic bagt, if you crumple it up vertically so the walls are crumpled up by tou can see the bottom, and can get a hold of the lip of the bag, try turning it in different directions and blowing on it, to see if it ends up right-side out, or inside out. The pressureof blowign on it will move the bottom of the bag and thus corresponding "walls" or sides of the bag in that direction. If you blow on it enough times in the right direction, I'm pretty sure it'll turn inside out... Same thing probably happens in the washer. I'd expect that pants themselves don't get turned inside out, since their materials arem uch less flexible. But pockets which ARE more flexible will tend to get turned inside out (this happens to mine all the time, and I have to tuck them back in after I take them out of the dryer).

So, I suspect it's simply the pressures involved in the washre and dryer catchign flexible fabric and applying enough pressure to flip it the other way. Less flexible things it will tend not to happen to, or at least a LOT less often.

Kinda' the same reason that when Marilyn Monroe walked over the infamous sewer grate, ther dress flipped up (aside from it being in the script). Pressure underneath caught the flexible fabric, and flipped it inside out. And all the men gawked...

(ohh wait, we weren't supposed to see that...!)

Answer 5

Don't know that answer, but I surely know the agitator does not turn each leg and long sleeves inside out.

Answer 6

:o i think its a coincidence..try putting everything in the washer inside out...maybe it will undo itself :o

Answer 7

I often end up posting the same question on other sites

Answer 8

They don't, when you take them off and toss in the hamper(or floor), they are already inside out.

Pay attention next time, you'll see.

Answer 9

I have never had ones that have done that...but I guess it could be possibe with the agitation.

Answer 10

I'm working on that for my Ph.D., I'll let you know when I get some results...