Reading clothing care labels: what every symbol means

Most clothes that go wrong in the wash were not badly made. They were simply washed too hot, tumble dried when they should have been laid flat, or ironed at a setting meant for cotton. The answer is almost always printed on the little label sewn into a side seam. The trouble is that the label speaks in pictograms, and few of us were ever taught to read them.

In Europe, the symbols follow a shared system known by the name of the association that registered them, GINETEX, and set out in the international standard ISO 3758. Once you know the five basic shapes and the way they are modified, every label becomes easy to read.

The five basic shapes

Every care label is built from the same five symbols, always in the same order:

Two modifiers apply across the system. A cross over a symbol means “do not”: do not wash, do not bleach, do not tumble dry, and so on. Bars underneath a symbol ask for a gentler treatment, and dots stand for temperature levels, where more dots means more heat.

Washing: the washtub

The washtub tells you whether a garment can go in water and how hot that water may be.

• A number in the tub is the maximum temperature in degrees Celsius, for example 30, 40 or 60. It is a ceiling, not a recommendation: washing at a lower temperature is always allowed.
• No bar under the tub means a normal wash cycle.
• One bar means a mild process, such as a synthetics or easy-care programme with reduced spinning.
• Two bars mean a very mild process, typically a wool or delicates programme.
• A hand in the tub means hand wash only, in lukewarm water.
• A crossed-out tub means the item should not be washed in water at home.

If a label says 40 with two bars, you can use a delicate programme at 30 or 40 degrees, but not a standard cotton cycle. For knitwear in particular, our guide to washing and de-pilling knitwear explains how to hand wash without felting.

Bleaching: the triangle

• An empty triangle means any bleaching agent may be used.
• A triangle with two diagonal lines inside means only oxygen-based, non-chlorine bleach is allowed.
• A crossed-out triangle means no bleach of any kind.

This matters more than people think: many stain removers and “whitening” laundry boosters contain bleaching agents. On coloured or delicate fabrics, check the triangle before using them.

Drying: the square

The square covers every way of drying, and it has two families of symbols.

Tumble drying

A circle inside the square means the item can go in a tumble dryer.

• One dot in the circle: low temperature.
• Two dots: normal temperature.
• A crossed-out square with a circle: do not tumble dry.

Natural drying

Lines inside the square, without a circle, describe air drying:

• One vertical line: hang to dry, on a line or a hanger.
• Three vertical lines: drip dry, hung up while still wet, without spinning or wringing.
• One horizontal line: dry flat.
• Two short diagonal lines in the top-left corner: dry in the shade.

The “dry flat” symbol is the one to respect on heavy knits. Hung on a line, a wet jumper stretches under its own weight and rarely recovers.

Ironing: the iron

• One dot: low temperature, for fibres such as acrylic, nylon or acetate.
• Two dots: medium temperature, for wool, silk and polyester.
• Three dots: high temperature, for cotton and linen.
• A crossed-out iron: do not iron.
• An iron with crossed lines underneath: ironing is allowed, but without steam.

When a garment mixes fibres, follow the lowest setting on the label, and iron a hidden area first. Dark fabrics are best ironed on the reverse to avoid shine.

Professional care: the circle

The circle is meant for dry cleaners rather than for you, but it is worth knowing what it says.

• A letter P in the circle: dry cleaning with the usual solvents is allowed.
• A letter F: dry cleaning with hydrocarbon solvents only.
• A letter W: professional wet cleaning, a water-based method used by some cleaners.
• A bar under the circle: a mild process is needed.
• A crossed-out circle: no dry cleaning.

If you take a garment to a cleaner, there is no need to interpret these yourself: the cleaner reads them. But a crossed-out circle combined with a crossed-out washtub is a warning sign at the shop. That garment will be difficult to clean at all.

What the label does not tell you

The symbols describe the maximum treatment the fabric can take. They do not tell you the best treatment. A few habits make clothes last longer than the label alone would suggest:

1. Wash at the lowest temperature that gets the item clean. Most everyday clothes only need 30 degrees.
2. Turn printed T-shirts, dark denim and embellished pieces inside out.
3. Close zips and fasten hooks so they do not snag other items.
4. Wash less often. Many jumpers, jeans and coats only need airing between wears. Our piece on giving old jeans a fresh hem is a reminder that denim ages best when it is washed gently and rarely.

Keep the labels

It is tempting to cut out scratchy labels, but once they are gone you lose the information for good. If a label irritates your skin, unpick it carefully along the seam and keep it in a small envelope, or take a photo of it before removing it. Combined with a little knowledge of the five symbols, that photo will save more than one favourite piece. And when the season changes, the same labels guide how to clean things before storing seasonal clothes.

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