A helpful guide to get the most out of your clothes by learning to read laundry symbols
There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to taking care of your clothing. Every fabric type, construction, and color requires a different method of care to get the most wear out of them. However, there is a solution: Laundry symbols.
What are laundry symbols?
Find the fabric label on your garment—it will feature laundry symbols, little pictures that describe how to wash, dry, and iron this type of clothing. The manufacturer of the piece of clothing sets these symbols according to their suggestions and, because they’re simple symbols, they can be understood by everyone, regardless of language.
These symbols are vital to understanding how to better take care of your clothes so they last a long time. So, let’s learn how to decode the tags on your clothes—and remember, if you see any of these symbols with a big “X” through it, that means you shouldn’t do it.
Can I wash it at home?
The tub or tub with a hand symbol means you can safely wash this at home. If there’s just a tub, that means you can use the washing machine. If there’s a hand in the tub, that signifies that you should only hand wash it. At times, there might be a dot in the tub, which indicates the maximum wash temperature.
[Wash tub and wash by hand]
- One dot: 65°F-85°F
- Two dots: 105°F
- Three dots: 120°F
- Four dots: 140°F
If you see the tub with a line underneath, that means you should use the permanent press cycle. If there’s two lines underneath the tub, you should use a delicate cycle.
[Permanent press and delicate cycle]
If you see the circle symbol, that means dry clean only! We recommend going to a professional for dry cleaning needs.
[Dry clean circle]
Can I bleach this?
Look for the triangle symbol when you’re not sure if you can use bleach on an item of clothing. If there’s a triangle with lines with it, that means you should only use non-chlorine bleach.
[bleach symbol list/chart]
To tumble dry or not?
Nobody wants to put a new sweater into the dryer and have it come out tiny. That’s why the drying symbols are super important! The square means it’s okay to use the dryer. If there’s a circle within the square, that means you should use a tumble dry cycle (with one line underneath for permanent press and two lines underneath for the delicate cycle).
[Dry and tumble dry]
For tumble dry, you might see dots within the inner circle. If so, these are what the dots mean:
- Black circle: No heat, just air
- One dot: Low heat
- Two dots: Medium heat
- Three dots: High heat
- Empty circle: Any level of heat
Is it safe to iron?
If you see a symbol that looks like a little iron, that means you can iron when needed. There should be dots within the iron to indicate the maximum temperature:
- One dot: 230°F
- Two dots: 300°F
- Three dots: 390°F
Need a reference chart?
Getting the right temperature and cycle is key to get the most life out of your clothes—and to keep them looking their best. However, there are more symbols than those we talked about above. Those are simply the most common symbols, but there are others intended for less likely situations. Click here to see the entire chart[1] , and perhaps even consider printing it out for easy reference wherever you do your washing and drying.