How to read laundry care symbols

The symbols split into five families

Care labels follow an international standard, so the shapes are nearly identical across countries. A tub, a triangle, a square, an iron and a circle stand for washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and dry cleaning respectively. Once you can tell the shapes apart, the numbers and dots inside, any cross through the symbol and any bars beneath it do the rest. The symbols are usually printed in that order, so you can read left to right: how to wash, whether to bleach, how to dry, how hot to iron, and whether it needs a professional cleaner. Older garments and some local labels also carry written words alongside the symbols, but they are read the same way.

• Tub: washing. The number is the maximum temperature (°C); a hand means hand wash
• Triangle: bleaching. Empty means allowed; striped means oxygen-based only
• Square: drying. A circle inside means tumble drying
• Iron: ironing. The number of dots is the heat setting
• Circle: dry cleaning and other professional care

A cross forbids, an underline means gentler

A cross through a symbol means do not do that treatment. A crossed tub means no washing in water; a crossed circle inside a square means no tumble dryer. A horizontal bar beneath a symbol means reduce the intensity: one bar for gentle, two for very gentle. On a washing machine, one bar corresponds roughly to a synthetics or gentle cycle and two bars to a wool or delicates cycle. Two bars under the tub means treating the garment close to hand washing, with a short, gentle spin.

What the numbers and dots mean

The number in the tub is the maximum water temperature. A 40 means up to 40°C is fine, not that you must wash at 40°C. Lower temperatures are always allowed, and most everyday laundry comes clean at around 30°C or in cold water. Dots in the iron are heat levels: one for low (synthetics), two for medium (wool and blends), three for high (cotton and linen). Dots inside the tumble-dry circle work the same way: one dot for low heat, two for normal. Ironing a one-dot garment on a hot setting can melt or leave a shine on synthetic fibres.

Air-drying symbols differ too

A square without a circle means natural drying rather than a machine, and the lines inside tell you how. A vertical line means hang to dry on a line or hanger; a horizontal line means dry flat. Knitwear often carries the horizontal line because the wet weight stretches it when hung. A diagonal line in the corner of the square means dry in the shade, and is common on dark colours that fade easily and on silk.

• Vertical line: hang to dry
• Horizontal line: dry flat
• Diagonal line in the corner: dry in the shade
• Two lines: drip dry without spinning

Why clothes really shrink

Shrinkage usually comes from heat and tumble drying. Wool and cotton react strongly to hot water and dryer heat. In wool, heat and agitation in water make the scales on the fibre surface lock together so they cannot return to their original state; in cotton, yarn that was stretched during manufacture relaxes back under heat and becomes shorter. Ignoring a no-tumble-dry symbol often causes irreversible damage in a single cycle. Cold water and air drying are safe for almost every garment.

When you see a dry-cleaning symbol

The letter inside the circle tells the cleaner which solvent to use, so what you as the owner need to know is essentially that home washing may not be safe. If a washing symbol appears alongside it, both are allowed; if the tub is crossed out, take it to a cleaner. A crossed-out circle means no dry cleaning either, so check the washing symbol again. Some circle symbols indicate professional wet cleaning instead, so when in doubt, show the label to the cleaner.

A pre-wash checklist

You do not need to memorise every symbol to avoid most accidents; a few checks before loading the machine are enough. First look for anything crossed out. Then use the tub number and bars to choose the temperature and cycle, and if you plan to use the dryer, check the square separately. If the label is missing or unreadable, treat the garment by its most delicate fibre: cold water, gentle cycle, air dry. For expensive items or dark new clothes being washed for the first time, dab a hidden spot with water to check whether the colour runs.

• Check for crossed-out symbols first
• Choose temperature and cycle from the tub number and bars
• Check the square before using the dryer
• No label: cold water, gentle cycle, air dry
• Wash dark new clothes separately and test for colour run