<human>: So Im the one that usually does the laundry (wife does it every once in a while but I have more time to do it since im on rotating shifts) anyway this TIFU was finally discovered yesterday, as usual I went to put in a load and when I was about to add the detergent the instructions on the washers lid finally won my attention and I read it... I had been throwing the detergent on top of the clothes but this washer needs it first thing at the bottom... Holy shit! I've been doing it wrong for over a year and a half, its not like my clothes had ever been dirty or smelly but now I can really tell theyre clean and the scent of detergent is present on things as it should be, I figure I was only getting 20% effectiveness out of the way I was doing it, shit im dumb sometimes.

I guess it pays to read the instructions sometimes.

Can you succinctly summarize the text in 1-3 sentences?
<bot>: I was putting the detergent last instead of first for 1.5 years because I assumed the machine was like the kind I grew up using