You know what? There are some myths and superstitions that are indeed based on truth. They have withstood time and been told to new generations, and in some cases, have proven themselves to be true.

One of those stories that has become deeply woven into our lives is that of socks getting eaten in the laundry. ‘Tis true! How many sock lives have been lost to your appliances with one spared to keep the legend alive? We know. It’s happened to all of us.

And now the truth can be backed up with photographic evidence. Finding new life on the internet is the picture below taken by Cathy Hinz and posted on Bored Panda. Twitter user Sarah Rose resurrected Hinz’s old post when she shared the photo and captioned it with “…so I no longer feel like a crazy person for losing random socks”.

Hinz described how her husband started tinkering with a washing machine in the community laundry room where they live. It was malfunctioning so he decided to pop it open and discovered the graveyard of single socks nestled in the bottom.

Those weren’t the only things trapped in the greedy machine. Also found were underwear, a credit card, and $7 worth of change. The Today show shared Sarah’s Twitter post and checked in with an expert about hungry washers and dryers.

GE engineer James Darmstadt said that the rubber gasket found on front loading machines is probably to blame. If there’s a hole or gap in the seam, items can slip through when it is on the spin cycle. He suggests checking for tears when you clean your washer.

With top-loaders, things could fall through the space between the wash tub and walls of the machine. Getting tossed about while spinning can contribute to their fate. To avoid either scenario, it’s recommended to watch how much you pile into the tub per load. Keep it balanced! The other thing you can do? Use mesh bags to hold tiny stuff together.

To help keep sock casualties low and your machine running right, Darmstadt says that consumers should take the time to clean out drain pump. It doesn’t take long and can save you a lot of headache. Just be sure to unplug the washer first.

From the sound of it, it seems like washers are behind all the disappearances, right? Hold on, dryers can be at fault too. According to Darmstadt, a missing or damaged lint screen in the bottom of the dryer can pose a problem for small items like socks.

They can make their way out of the tumbler and sometimes into the exhaust pipe, causing bigger problems. Make sure you maintain the lint screen to minimize missing items.

In a way, this means you and your dryer can be let off the hook. No need to start fishing for lost things in your machine if you don’t have to though – call a professional for that!

Did you know that the legends of lost socks were true? Have you made a similar discovery to the one in the photo? What was the culprit?