How to Read Laundry Care Symbols: A Simple Guide to Washing and Drying Clothes

The small pictures on a clothing label tell you which cleaning methods a garment can tolerate. A tub stands for washing, a triangle for bleaching, a square for drying, an iron for ironing, and a circle for professional textile care. Marks inside or beneath those shapes add limits. Read the whole label before choosing a setting, especially on garments that shrink, fade, or lose their shape easily.

Start with the five basic shapes

The shape is only the beginning. A cross through a symbol means that treatment is prohibited. One bar under a washing or professional-care symbol indicates a milder process; two bars indicate a very mild process. Do not assume that a plain symbol and a crossed-out symbol mean the same thing.

Washing symbols: temperatures and cycles

A wash tub containing a number gives the maximum washing temperature in degrees Celsius. For example, 30 means no hotter than 30°C (86°F), and 40 means no hotter than 40°C (104°F). The number is a ceiling, not a requirement to wash that hot. Some label systems use dots instead of numbers to indicate a temperature range. A hand in the tub signals hand washing, while a crossed-out tub means do not wash.

If a washing symbol has one line beneath it, select an appropriately gentle or permanent-press cycle; two lines call for a particularly mild cycle. The exact names vary by machine. Keep a reduced spin speed in mind for delicate fabrics. For practical loading and sorting checks, see Laundry Preparation: Must-Have Zipper and Pocket Checks.

Bleaching and drying instructions

An empty triangle generally means bleaching is permitted. A triangle crossed out means do not bleach. A triangle with two diagonal lines indicates that only nonchlorine bleach is allowed. Use the actual product label to check which fabrics and colors a bleach is suitable for; do not assume every oxygen-based treatment is safe for every garment.

A square containing a circle means tumble drying. One dot usually signals low heat, and two dots signal normal heat. A cross through the tumble-dry symbol means do not tumble dry. Squares containing horizontal or vertical lines indicate natural drying methods such as laying flat or hanging to dry; diagonal lines in a corner indicate drying in shade. Heat-sensitive elastic, wool, or decorated fabrics deserve extra care even if a machine has a gentle setting.

Ironing and professional cleaning

Dots within an iron mark the maximum heat setting: one for low, two for medium, and three for high. A crossed-out iron means do not iron. A separate crossed-out steam mark means avoid steam. Professional-care circles may contain letters such as P, F, or W that specify processes for cleaners; they are not home-laundry cycle instructions. A crossed-out circle means professional dry cleaning is prohibited under that symbol system.

What to do when the label is missing or unclear

First check a matching garment, the manufacturer’s product page, or the fabric-care information that came with the item. If none is available, test a hidden area for color transfer, wash conservatively when the material is washable, and avoid high heat until you know how the fabric behaves. Do not wet-clean an unknown structured jacket, delicate trim, or a garment marked dry-clean-only simply to experiment.

A fiber label and a care label answer different questions. Cotton can be machine washable, but a cotton garment with a lining or embellishment may need different treatment. When care instructions conflict, follow the most restrictive applicable direction or ask the manufacturer. Additional fabric-specific advice appears in How to Care for Delicate Fabrics at Home.

A practical label-reading example

Suppose a sweater label shows a tub marked 30 with two bars beneath it, a crossed-out triangle, a crossed-out tumble-dry symbol, and an iron with one dot. That means a very mild wash at no more than 30°C, no bleach, no tumble drying, and low-temperature ironing if appropriate. Reshape and air-dry the sweater as directed by any accompanying natural-drying marks. The combination of symbols matters more than a single favorite laundry setting.

Because symbol standards and regional labels vary, use the actual garment label as the final instruction. Save a photograph of unfamiliar symbols before the printing fades.