Why do duvet covers swallow other laundry? (continued)

When you wash a duvet cover, why does other washing end up in it? (continued)

Jill Breivik, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, Ireland

I believe the answer to this puzzle is in the washing machine, not the duvet cover or even the socks.

My late washing machine – a famous sock-eater – often turned the duvet cover inside out and, in the process, engulfed every other item in the drum. The result was a huge lump of fabric that was almost impossible to get out.

When that machine finally passed away, it was replaced with a new electronic one that has utterly failed to…