Laundry Tongue

So you've finally got around to gathering that heap of clothes that were lying on yr bedroom chair, floor etc. You stuff them all in the washing machine, put in copious amounts of powder, and off it goes.

An hour-and-a-bit later you come back to the machine. You spend a couple of minutes impatiently tugging the handle, before the devilish automaton finally sees fit to release yr garments for the next stage of the process, technically known as 'drying'.

You place yr basket or bag beneath the open door of the machine, place yr hand inside the void within, and start pulling things out. At first, everything goes according to plan, as clothes cascade into the awaiting receptacle.

But then things get out of control, and the tangled mesh of trousers, shirts and underwear hurls a sock out onto the floor. As you try to retrieve the sock before it picks up the grime from its resting-place, more clothes hang down out of the awful gaping mouth of the appliance, tantalisingly close to the floor. It's as if they can't stand being so clean and want to dirty themselves, like a hippopotamus at a business function.

Herald the arrival of the laundry tongue. This handy attachment clips on to the lower lip of the washing machine's mouth, and is a wide, deep slide which allows the sweet-smelling clothes - with a helping hand from you - to descend at a dignified and gracious pace, into whatever container you see fit.