LAUNDRY SYMBOLS GUIDE

When it’s time to do laundry or fight a tough stain, we’re always told to first check the care label on our garment for cleaning instructions. How many of us know how to read a care label beyond checking the wash cycle, water temperature, and dryer setting?

For those professional laundry-doers in the know, a garment’s care label is jam packed with lots of information about the clothing and how to properly care for it within the unique set of laundry symbols. For example, did you know that the Triangle symbol stands for bleaching? By understanding the wash symbols on your garment’s care label, you’ll know exactly how to wash, if the garment is machine-wash safe, how to dry it, and even what to do when bleaching or ironing.

In this article, we’ll take at some of the common laundry symbols you can expect to see when washing your next load of dirty laundry, what laundry symbols mean, and how to use them to get your laundry as clean and fresh as possible.

Washing Machine Symbols

Having the proper water temperature and wash cycle selected is the biggest element to getting your clothing as clean as possible while also preserving their fresh scent, bright color, and integrity of the fabric. Understanding the clothes symbols below will help you know exactly what temperature water the fabric needs (the number of dots in the tub of water symbol), whether it’s machine-wash and machine-dry safe, and what other laundry aids (like bleach) it can tolerate.

Wash Cycle Symbols

The three-sided cup shape on care garments is meant to represent the washer tub and they indicate what types of washing practices are safe for the garment.

Machine Wash: These symbols (tub with two, one, or zero lines under it) are meant to indicate the proper wash cycle for the garment. The tub with no lines means the garment is safe for regular wash cycles, a single line means permanent press, and double lines means wash on a delicate cycle.

Hand Wash: A hand-wash laundry symbol (tub with a hand over it) means the garment isn’t safe for machine washing and should be washed in a clean basin by hand. You’ll see this symbol most on fabrics like linen or silk. While some machines do have a delicate or hand-wash cycle, they still may not be safe for delicate garments unless they’re placed inside a mesh bag. If your garment is too precious or delicate, you should take it to a professional cleaner.

Do Not Wash: This symbol (tub with an X over it) means the fabric shouldn’t be washed in a machine at all. Instead, you should take these fabrics to a professional dry cleaner when they’re dirty and in need of a clean.

The water temperature will be indicated by a tub with water and either the numerical temperature or a series of 1-6 dots, 1 dot being about 85 degrees and 6 dots being 200 degrees.

Wash Temperature Symbol

Water temperature can be indicated in various ways on a garment but is usually represented by the wash tub symbol filled with water. Inside this symbol, temperature is represented numerically or in a series of 1 to 6 dots—1 dot being about 85 degrees and 6 dots being 200 degrees— will be listed to indicate maximum water temperature. Exceeding the recommended temperature on a garment’s care label could fade colors or damage fabrics.

Bleaching Symbols

Bleach symbols on a garment’s care label are represented by a triangle. A regular triangle means that it’s safe to use bleach on the garment whereas a triangle with an X through it means bleach shouldn’t be used. A triangle with diagonal lines through it means the garment is safe for bleach if it’s non-chlorine.

Dryer Symbols

Dryer symbols are represented by a square with symbols inside that indicate everything from the appropriate drying temperature to whether a garment should be hung to dry, dried in the shade, and more. For many garments, the drying process represents the biggest threat to a fabric’s integrity because heat can shrink or damage threads, permanently altering the garment.

Dryer Cycle Symbols

Tumble Dry: The tumble dry symbol is a square with an empty circle in the middle. Garments with this symbol should be tumbled dry with no heat applied

Permanent Press: The permanent-press cycle is represented by a tumble dry symbol with a single line under it.

Delicate: The delicate cycle is a tumble dry symbol with a double line underneath it

Dryer Temperature Symbol

Low Heat: The low heat symbol is a tumble dry symbol with a single dot. Garments with this symbol should be tumbled dry on a low or no-heat setting.

Medium Heat: The medium heat symbol is a tumble dry symbol with two dots. Garments with this symbol should be tumbled dry on a setting no higher than medium.

High Heat: The high heat symbol is a tumble dry symbol with three dots. Garments with this symbol should be tumbled dry on a high heat setting or lower.

Low Heat: The low heat symbol is a tumble dry symbol with a single dot. Garments with this symbol should be tumbled dry on a low heat setting.

No Heat: The no-heat symbol is a tumble dry symbol with the center circle filled in black. Garments with this symbol shouldn’t be dried with any heat applied.

Ironing Symbols

Even outside of the washing and drying process, our garments’ care labels contain instructions on how to keep them looking fresh and sharp the next time we want to pull them out to wear. They’ll even tell you how to iron! That’s right—represented by a flat iron outline, the iron symbols let you know how hot to set the iron before you freshen up those creases.

Low Temperature: The low temperature ironing symbol is an iron with a single dot inside.

Medium Temperature: the medium temperature ironing symbol is an iron with two dots inside.

High Temperature: The high temperature ironing symbol is an iron with three dots inside.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do the wash symbols mean?

The care label on your garment will contain a series of wash symbols designed to let you know whether a piece of fabric is safe for machine washing, what water temperature to use when washing, and whether or not laundry aids like bleach are safe to use. Additionally, these labels will let you know if a clothing item needs to be taken to a professional dry cleaner when it becomes dirty.

What are the three modes in a washing machine?

The settings on your washer do a number of different things to affect the behavior of your machine as it washes your clothes. You can control the water temperature, the length of time your machine runs, and how forcefully the washer drum agitates the load as it is cleaning. By using your washing machine’s settings in accordance with your garments’ care labels, you’ll get your clothing as clean as possible while preventing damage to your fabrics.

It’s important to keep your laundry products up, closed and safe – away from children. If at any time you have difficulty closing your package, please reach out directly to our team.