I’m a mother of two and I was shocked to learn that my kids’ “freshly laundered” socks were far from clean

A mother was disgusted to discover the truth behind her children’s “clean” socks – and wondered what she had been doing wrong all her life.

Nisha, from Queensland, couldn’t get “crust” and “hardness” from her kids’ socks no matter how many times she put them through the machine.

The working mom finally decided to use one of her weeknights to deep clean and scrub each pair to see if she could figure out what was wrong, only to find mounds of grime washing out of the socks.

She took a few pairs and soaked the “clean” garments in Aldi’s Di-San stain remover for an hour and scrubbed it — using just water on another batch to see if it made a difference.

Nisha eventually figured out that it was a mixture of her kids wearing their socks on dirty surfaces, an outdated top loader and too much detergent – which can build up on clothes and trap dirt.

The mother was extremely frustrated with her inability to keep the socks clean and shared everything she had tried so far.

Nisha tried washing the socks on hot cycles, cold cycles, and even took the drum out of her washing machine and cleaned it.

‘Why! I have a Simpson top loader (he’s seven years old) and I don’t understand why I have to scrub and soak all my clothes before washing them,” she shared alongside photos in a popular online community.

“It’s like the machine isn’t cleaning. I’ve tried boosters, different detergents, Di-San added to the wash, Lectric soda, everything.’

The mother begged others to help her figure out what was wrong, since she had two small children and didn’t have time to soak and scrub socks.

“The dirt and the feel of it is just awful,” she said.

Some other moms had theories about what the problem might be.

“It can be an arousal problem — small items tend to get wrapped in bigger ones (towels, T-shirts, sheets) and then they don’t get cleaned properly,” one mom suggested.

She added, “Have you tried washing only small things together?” It can be difficult to load the machine, but collect all your underwear, socks, facial cleansers and children’s clothes and do a ‘small’ wash once a week.’

“Maybe the water isn’t hot enough,” said another. ‘The fibers relax in warm/hot water, making it easier for the dirt to wash out.’

“Detergent and fabric softener build up on clothes and trap dirt. If you use a poor quality detergent and fabric softener, it will make things worse,” another suggested.

“You need longer (and possibly warmer) washes and less detergent,” one man repeated.

Many suggested that she look at different washing machines that might work better.

“Front loaders are good at cleaning, in my experience, as I have both a top loader and a front loader,” one father wrote.

“I recommend the German-made front loader from Bosch. Long warm/hot washes. Turn the socks right off and they come out pure white,” shared another.