Heather Todd from County Durham is reeling from shock after she discovered her husband Michael not only reading the washing instruction label on a jumper, but also adjusting the washing machine to the correct temperature.

She told us, “I was horrified. I really couldn’t believe that the man I love would suddenly take an interest in how clothes should be washed properly. Between sobs she went on, “Looking back I ignored the signs. He began commenting on the smell and softness of his jumpers and worse still I caught him sorting lights from darks in the laundry basket”.

Since her terrifying discovery she has had to fit padlocks to the utility room door and cut off the washing instructions from all the family’s clothing.

A Social scientist stated that if other men began checking these instructions it could cause chaos in families across the UK.

She said, “Men are programmed to bung items in the washing machine unsorted and to never alter any washing cycle configurations.  If they start thinking they know how to wash clothes then they could cause household fires, floods, pestilence, plague and famine.”

Heather has had her husband committed to a DAPR unit (domestic appliance psychological rehabilitation unit) where Michael will receive treatment.  “They said it was unlikely they could completely cure Michael,” Heather gasped, “but hopefully after a few years he’ll be back home washing the dog blankets with my bras again.”

This incident is one of a number of men doing things they shouldn’t in the north-east during the last week. Other incidents have involved a Newcastle man folding a duvet and a man in Darlington was killed adjusting the temperature of an iron.