Picture this; you're folding your washing and you notice there's something in the pocket of your jeans. Curious, you pull it out. Lo and behold, it's your headphones. “Darn” you think, “now I need new headphones.” Then, out of shear curiosity, you plug them in and test them anyway, only to discover that they still work!
Tl;dr: these may or may not survive in the wash for you, but they did for me. Also, something about them sounding good or whatever…