How to read laundry care symbols

The symbols split into five families

Care labels follow an international standard, so the shapes are nearly identical across countries. A tub, a triangle, a square, an iron and a circle stand for washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and dry cleaning respectively. Once you can tell the shapes apart, the numbers and dots inside do the rest.

• Tub: washing. The number is the maximum temperature (°C)
• Triangle: bleaching. Empty means allowed; striped means oxygen-based only
• Square: drying. A circle inside means tumble drying
• Iron: ironing. The number of dots is the heat setting

A cross forbids, an underline means gentler

A cross through a symbol means do not do that treatment. A horizontal bar beneath it means reduce the intensity: one bar for gentle, two for very gentle. Two bars under the tub means treating it close to hand washing.

What the numbers and dots mean

The number in the tub is the maximum water temperature. A 40 means up to 40°C is safe, not that you should wash at 40. Dots in the iron indicate heat: one for low (synthetics), two for medium (wool and blends), three for high (cotton and linen).

Why clothes actually shrink

Shrinkage usually comes from heat — hot water and tumble drying. Wool and cotton react strongly to both. Tumble drying something labelled against it is often irreversible in a single cycle. Cold water and air drying are safe for almost everything.

When you see a dry-cleaning symbol

The letters inside the circle identify the solvent the cleaner should use, so for you the practical information is simply: do not wash this at home. A cross through the circle means dry cleaning is not allowed either, in which case check the washing symbol again.