A Working Hypothesis

It started with an observation.

Whenever I brought a laundry basket into the house, a cat took very little time to occupy it. If laundry was present in the basket, the cat would appear faster and occupy the basket longer than if the basket was empty. If the laundry was still warm from the drier, the basket was occupied moments after I set it down. This happened so often that I formed a hypothesis: my laundry basket contained something that attracts cats. I hypothesized this something was a cat magnet.

I began to conduct regular trials when I did laundry. This past Sunday, I brought in a basket of laundry and set it in the living room. It took less than 2 minutes for Piney to succumb to the draw of the laundry basket (See Exhibit A). After an approximately 30-minute nap to regain her strength, she tried to get up and leave, but only succeeded in turning around (See Exhibit B). It took another 30-minute nap before she had the strength to break free of the basket’s power. At one point, the basket pulled Goldie toward it (See Exhibit C) but failed to draw him into the basket. It wasn’t until after Piney vacated the basket was it able to pull Goldie in (See Exhibit D).

I conducted some background research through a Google search for “cats in laundry basket.” The results were shocking. Thousands of videos, photos, Reddit posts, and other websites about cats and their attraction to laundry baskets. Cats were in wicker hampers, round yellow plastic baskets, and even cylindrical canvas laundry totes. The baskets were full of towels and clothes and even empty. They all held in common that they contained at least one cat. A few contained more than one, meaning some baskets contained more powerful cat magnets than others.

I examined some of the other websites for additional information. According to Catster, cats like laundry baskets because they feel safe in them. The baskets also help cats destress and decompress. These hampers also often contain our clothes, which hold our sent. If the clothes are fresh out of the dryer, it’s the ideal temperature for a cat (between 86 and 97F). This article did not mention cat magnets, so I must be the only one who has made this observation, placing me on the pioneering edge of this research.

I am still determining who lobbied to install cat magnets in laundry baskets. Big lint roller is probably behind this to increase sales. Decreasing the stickiness of each lint roller sheet and increasing the demand could net them millions in increased profit. I must be careful with my investigation not to tip them off that I am onto their plan. My future research plans include dissecting a laundry basket to locate and identify the magnet visually. I will continue to conduct research, document my findings, and will report again in the future.