On topic, am I the only bloke here who has had to dig out the escaped bra wire from the washing machine filter which has just caused the outhouse to flood? Three times???

Once is enough. We needed a callout from a repairman to take the machine apart.

Only a few brands seem susceptible to escaping wires. In the better ones the "wire" is a flat strip of spring steel with a couple of holes that can be stitched in place, so it won't just slide out if the end of the channel opens up.