If you're a regular user of the washing machine, you must known this. Washing clothes on a 'delicate' setting is the worst for the environment as it releases thousands of extra microfibres into the water system, warns a new research by Newcastle University. Researchers found that the 'gentle wash' mode uses more water than regular wash and that causes tiny particles of plastic to be shed. These tiny fibres drain of the washing machine and can ultimately, enter the marine environment where they can be ingested by small animals and end up in our food chain.