The age-old mystery of where disappearing socks go has just been solved.

Let's face it—losing socks is one of life's great unsolved mysteries, right up there with "where do all the bobby pins go?" You put two socks in the wash and only one makes it out.

The other? Gone without a trace. Are they sneaking off to some secret sock party? Hiding somewhere in the house, quietly mocking us as we tear through the laundry basket in a desperate hunt?

Well, one Aussie mum just cracked the case of the sock gremlins—and her discovery is equal parts hilarious and jaw-dropping. Turns out, those sneaky little sock thieves were hiding right under our noses (or rather, in our washing machines) all along.

Watch: Where do all my socks go? One Aussie mum found out. Article continues after video.

Rachel, like many of us, had been on the hunt for her toddler's missing socks, and the answer finally revealed itself in the depths of her washing machine.

In a now-viral TikTok video, she shows us what she found: a mountain of tiny socks, wedged into the machine's hidden crevices.

"Oh… my… God," she gasped as she opened up the front panel of the machine.

"Look at all those socks – oh my God that's where they go? That's why I always lose in Emmett's freaking black socks… There must be a hundred socks in there."

Image: TikTok/@renduh

Turns out, they'd all slipped out of the drum and got sucked into the machine's inner workings.

Rachel's video didn't just answer the question—it sparked a wave of very relatable confessions and comments.

"Wait, they actually eat the socks? How does it do that?" one baffled viewer asked. Another joked, "I'm sending this to my husband because how dare he accuse me of losing all the socks!"

"Omg it was the washer, not the dryer. We need to apologise," another wrote, hilariously addressing the long-standing blame game between washers and dryers.

One practical user offered a tip that's starting to sound like solid advice: "This is why I always use a mesh bag when I wash socks... especially baby socks!"

Why are washing machines devouring our socks?

Appliance repair technician Renae, who shared her TikTok wisdom on the sock-stealing phenomenon, said the sock saga starts when people "just dump all of [their] laundry in instead of being careful about how [they're] putting it inside."

The problem? The washer's drum sits inside "this big metal box," and if you're not careful, smaller items—like socks—can slip right over the edge, disappearing into that sneaky space between the drum and the machine itself.

Image: TikTok/@renduh

"If you're just dumping all of your clothing in what can happen a lot of times is smaller items, especially like socks, can kind of find their way over the edge of the drum into the space between that metal body and the drum itself," she explained.

And if you've got a front loader? You might want to check your machine's filter because that's a favourite sock-hiding spot too.

So, there you have it—your washer may have been moonlighting as a sock thief all along!

How to keep your socks safe from the wash.

We get it—sock loss is the eternal laundry struggle. But if you're ready to stop sending your favourite pairs off to the sock abyss, here are some tricks to outsmart your washing machine's appetite for socks.

First up, you could go old-school and pin those socks together. Yes, it sounds a bit extra, but if you're as attached to those cashmere cozies as we are, it might be worth it.

Just grab some safety pins or sock clips, attach each pair, and watch your washing machine's hunger for socks decline dramatically.

Now, if pinning each pair sounds like a bit much, mesh laundry bags might just be your new best friend.

"I always recommend putting small items in a mesh laundry bag to wash them for front loaders," Renae suggests in her TikTok video. Simply throw your socks in one of these handy bags, toss the whole thing in the washer, and boom—no more solo socks emerging from the wash.

Plus, it's great for those with little ones whose sock drawers seem to rival Houdini's disappearing act.

So, next time you do laundry, remember: it's not you, it's the washing machine's sneaky sock buffet. Now go rescue those poor, lonely socks before they vanish into the spin-cycle void forever.

Image: Getty.