The real reason your washing machine fibs about having 1 minute left.

We've all been there. Standing in front of the washing machine, laundry basket in hand, staring at the timer as it mockingly displays "one minute remaining."

Perfect timing! You've arrived just in time to transfer your clean clothes to the dryer.

Except... one minute passes.

Then another.

And another.

Fifteen minutes later, you're still waiting, wondering if your washing machine has developed a personal vendetta against your schedule.

The "one minute remaining" has stretched into what feels like an eternity, leaving you questioning your sanity and your machine's basic arithmetic skills.

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It's one of modern life's little frustrations – like waiting for someone who texts "I'm five minutes away" when they haven't even left home yet. Your washing machine, it seems, is equally optimistic about its timeframes.

That single minute on the display becomes an exercise in patience as you hover nearby, unable to start another task but unwilling to walk away and miss the cycle's actual completion.

What's truly baffling is how consistent this phenomenon is. No matter the brand or how much you spent on your machine, that final minute seems universally programmed to operate in some alternate dimension where time flows differently. It's almost as if washing machine manufacturers worldwide joined a secret pact to test our patience.

But what's actually happening during that mysteriously extended "final minute"? Is it a technical glitch, a conspiracy, or something else entirely?

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The science behind the fibbing timer.

Colin Jones, an expert from Appliances Online told 9Honey, there's actually a logical explanation for this common frustration.

"When you see 'one' on the display, it means there is just one minute left in the wash/spin cycle," Jones told the publication.

But before you start questioning your machine's honesty, he clarifies that "the remaining time can vary based on the specific cycle you're using and the spin speed."

That final "minute" isn't just about spinning. Once the countdown reaches zero, your machine enters a carefully choreographed shutdown sequence.

"The machine will gradually slow down the spin and come to a stop. After a brief pause, the safety catch will unlock," Jones says.

But what about those times when that one minute seems to stretch into fifteen or more? Jones reveals it's often due to our own actions.

"Provided everything is OK, the electronics in these modern machines may pick up an error such as overloading or too much detergent, which then forces the machine to rethink how to complete the cycle due to human error."

In other words, your washing machine isn't being deliberately deceptive – it's actually working extra hard to solve problems that *we* may have created.

The most common issue is an unbalanced load, something we've all experienced when a heavy jumper accidentally gets lodged in your bedsheets.

"If the load gets off-balanced, the machine will try to balance the load itself by either adding extra water, then doing a slow spin back and forward," Jones told 9Honey.

This complex rebalancing act takes additional time that wasn't factored into the original estimate.

"It may have said one minute; however, due to the overload and trying to rebalance the load, this may take longer," he adds.

So that "fibbing" minute is actually your washing machine entering problem-solving mode – adding water, readjusting your laundry, and ensuring everything is properly balanced before completing the final spin.

After all, good things — including perfectly cleaned laundry — come to those who wait.

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