Put an Empty Plastic Bottle in the Washing Machine: The Simple Trick Most People Don’t Know

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Throwing an empty plastic bottle into your washing machine is a surprisingly popular internet laundry and maintenance hack. Depending on how it’s used, it usually refers to one of two main tricks:

1. The Laundry Booster Trick (In the Drum)

Placing a tightly capped, empty plastic bottle directly into the washing drum along with heavy loads (like towels, jeans, or bedsheets) serves a few specific purposes:
  • Prevents Tangling: Large items like fitted sheets and pants tend to twist, knot, and ball up during a cycle. The floating bottle acts as a physical agitator that helps keep items moving independently.
  • Reduces Lint and Friction: By keeping clothes separated and moving freely, it reduces heavy fabric-on-fabric friction, which can help cut down on lint formation and wear-and-tear.
  • Improves Agitation: For top-loading machines without a central agitator, a floating plastic bottle can help break up dense loads to allow water and detergent to circulate more effectively.
Important Safety Rules for This Trick:
  • Check the Cap: Ensure the cap is screwed on extremely tight so water doesn’t leak inside, altering the bottle’s weight and buoyancy.
  • Avoid Delicates: Never use this hack with delicate fabrics (like silk, lace, or fine knits), as the hard plastic edges can snag or tear delicate weaves.

2. The Plumber’s Drain Filter Trick (Maintenance)

Another viral trick involving a plastic bottle isn’t actually put inside the wash during a cycle, but rather used when cleaning the washing machine’s drain pump filter.
  • When you open the lower service flap to drain residual water from the machine filter, water typically floods out onto the floor.
  • Ingenious DIYers cut the side out of a plastic bottle to slide right underneath the drain nozzle, creating a custom, low-profile funnel and catch-basin that channels every drop of trapped water cleanly into the bottle without spilling a mess on your laundry room floor.
Have you seen this trick shared online for tumbling clothes, or were you looking for a clever maintenance fix for cleaning out your machine?

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