50 Wash and Care - Laundry Symbols - Explained
Looking over the label of your clothes and accessories, you see circles, squares, and triangles with numbers, letters, lines, or dots. This can be confusing, especially for the first time, or if you come across a symbol you have never seen before.
But if you understand these laundry symbols, you can avoid problems like shrinking, pilling, color runs, and wrinkles, and you can enjoy your favorite items for a longer time by expanding their life.
We’ll teach you how to read and understand each symbol by deconstructing the icons into simple elements.
But if you want to jump to a desired section, click on one of the below titles:
1. Washing symbols2. Bleach symbols
3. Dry cleaning symbols
4. Drying symbols
5. Ironing symbols
The base symbols for all wash and care instructions
Thankfully there are common symbols that are understood worldwide. These icons are composed of a base symbol with or without another element like numbers, dots, and lines.
If we take the icons apart and understand what they generally mean, then when joining a base symbol with an element, we can easily decipher what every icon means.
| Base Symbol | Looks like |
It refers to |
| Washtub |  |
washing |
| Triangle |  |
bleaching |
| Circle |  |
dry clean |
| Square |  |
drying |
| Iron |  |
ironing |
And now that we got the base symbols explained, we can take it a step further and see what some of the other elements might mean.
| When you see | Example | It refers to |
| Numbers | 30°C/85°F; 40°C/105°F; 50°C/120°F; 60°C/140°F | Water temperature |
| Dots |  |
Low, Medium, High Temperature (for Water, Dryer, Iron) |
| Letters inside a circle | A, F, P |
Solvent type to use for dry clean |
| Horizontal line under washtub or square |  |
1 line - permanent press; 2 lines - delicate |
| Black circle inside a square |  |
No heat |
| X over any of the base symbols |  |
DO NOT wash, bleach, iron, etc. |
And there are a couple of more elements, like lines inside a square, that need a bit more explaining, but overall, reading a wash and care label is pretty easy if you remember what each base symbol and element means.
And now let’s join them together.
Washing symbols
1. Wash tub – the item can be machine washed
2. Wash tub with hand – the item needs to be washed by hand
3, 4, 5. Wash tub with numbers (30ºC/85ºF; 40°C/105°F; 50°C/120°F; 60°C/140°F etc.) – wash item at or below indicated temperature
6, 7, 8. Wash tub with 1, 2, or 3 dots – 1 dot means machine wash cold 30ºC/85ºF; 2 dots mean machine wash warm 40°C/105°F; 3 dots mean machine wash hot 60°C/140°F
9. Wash tub with 1 horizontal line underneath– use permanent press cycle
10. Wash tub with 2 horizontal lines underneath– use a gentle/delicate washing cycle
11. Wash tub with an X over – Do Not wash the item
12. A twisted symbol – the item can be wrung/can be twisted to dry out excess water
13. A twisted symbol with an X – the Do Not wring item / Do Not twist item to dry out excess water
Bleach symbols
1. Triangle – you can use bleach on the item
2. Triangle with two angled lines inside – use oxygen/non-chlorine bleach only
3. Triangle with an X over – Do Not bleach item
Dry Cleaning symbols
1. Circle – the item needs to be dry cleaned
2. Circle with letter A inside – an indication for the dry cleaner to use any solvent
3. Circle with letter F inside – an indication for the dry cleaner to use any solvent except Trichloroethylene
4. Circle with letter P inside – an indicationfor the dry cleaner to use only Petroleum solvents
5, 6, 7, 8. Circle with an angled line outside, on top or bottom, left or right – indication for the dry cleaner to use reduced moisture, low heat, no steam, or a short cycle
9. Circle with an X over – Do Not dry clean the item
Drying symbols
1. Square – natural air dry the item
2. Square with 2 angled lines inside – item needs to be naturally air dried in the shade
3. Square with 1 horizontal line inside – dry flat the item in natural air
4. Square with 3 vertical lines inside – drip dry the item in natural air
5. Square with a curved line inside – hang the item to dry in natural air
6. Square with 2 angled lines and 1 horizontal line inside – dry flat in natural air and in the shade
7. Square with 2 angled and 3 vertical lines inside – drip dry in natural air and in the shade
8. Square with 2 angled lines and a curved line inside – hang to dry in natural air and in the shade
9. Square with circle inside – the item can be normal tumble dry
10. Square with black circle inside – no heat tumble dry the item
11. Square with circle inside and an X over – Do Not tumble dry the item
12. Square with circle and 1 dot inside – low heat tumble dry the item
13. Square with circle and 2 dots inside – medium heat tumble dry the item
14. Square with circle and 3 dots inside – high heat tumble dry the item
15. Square with black circle inside and 1 horizontal line underneath – permanent press tumble dry with no heat
16. Square with a circle, 1 dot inside and 1 horizontal line underneath – permanent press low heat tumble dry the item
17. Square with a circle, 2 dots inside and 1 horizontal line underneath – permanent press medium heat tumble dry the item
18. Square with black circle inside and 2 horizontal lines underneath – gentle dry the item with no heat
19. Square with a circle, 1 dot inside, and 2 horizontal lines underneath – gentle dry the item with low heat
20. Square with a circle, 2 dots inside, and 2 horizontal lines underneath – gentle dry the item with medium heat
Ironing symbols
1. Iron with 1 dot inside – iron the item at cool/low heat
2. Iron with 2 dots inside – iron the item at warm/medium heat
3. Iron with 3 dots inside – iron the item at hot/medium heat
4. Iron with bursts of dots or lines underneath – you can steam the item as needed
5. Iron with bursts of dots or lines underneath and an X over – Do Not steam the item
6. Iron with an X over – Do Not iron the item
Now that you’ve learned what all these 50 washing, bleaching, dry cleaning, drying, and ironing symbols mean, and you have finally cracked the code, your laundry day became a lot easier.
No more shrunken clothes, pilled-up fabrics, and hard wrinkles on your clothes, including on your favorite GOT® items.
Just follow our guide and remember to bookmark the page or print it to have it handy in the laundry room, and send it to your family as well.
Continue reading about...
Tags clothing, symbols and icons, wash and care -