Why do so many socks
go missing in a household? Even in a household of one person. Two scientists have
devised a formula for predicting sock loss. Note though – the announcement of
the formula is a clever and comical advertisement strategy for the launch of Samsung’s
new innovative washing machine that has a compartment for loose socks (it’s
called the Addwash ecobubble) – so that socks can be washed during any part of
the washing cycle.
The scientists reveal
that each person loses, on average, 1.3 socks per month, which is 84 million
lost socks in the United Kingdom every month! Per person, it amounts to 1,264
socks over a lifetime, costing 2,528 British pounds in losses.
Psychologist Dr. Simon
Moore and statistician Dr. Geoff Ellis collaborated to determine the formula
for sock loss (Mirror, 24 April 2016). Factors take into account the type of
wash, laundry load, the number of people in a household, the number of socks
washed, the degree of attention to the task, and the degree to which someone
loves or hates washing clothes.
The Sock Loss Index
formula is: (L(p x f)+C(t x s))-(P x A).
L = the laundry size
p = the number of
people living in a household
f = the frequency of
washes in a week
C = washing complexity
t = how many types of
washes a household does in a week
s = the number of
socks washed in a week
P = the positivity
toward doing laundry (measured on a scale of 1 to 5)
A = the degree of
attention (how many times a person checks pockets, turns clothes the right way,
and unrolls socks).
There we have it! Also
note – knowing the formula will not prevent sock loss. But Samsung’s new
washing machine might. The Addwash ecobubble means that socks, or any clothing,
can be added to the wash during the wash, without interrupting the cycle, when
the drum temperature is below 50C. The ecobubble drawer can be opened to
quickly put any item of clothing into the wash – such as a sock that has been
found.
MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:-
The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends
(2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan
Curse (2009).
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