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Meanings of Clothing Symbols, Icons and Tags For Laundry Purposes

What Are The Meanings of Clothing Symbols, Icons and Tags For Laundry Purposes?
Can we iron just any dress, wash just any dress or bleach anything white?
Are there rules for washing, ironing, bleaching and dry cleaning?

Nearly every cloth in your ward has symbols, icons, and tags attached to them on a piece of cloth, but they are not there for fun and have important meanings. Knowing what these mean can save you a lot of money and prevent mistakes when it comes to how to wash, iron, and dry these clothes.

This means that everyone of us needs to understand the essence of the tag stitched into every clothing garment. Even for those who work in laundry firms and wash clothes and everything washable, knowing the meanings of these stitched laundry care labels is even more important to avoid troubles with customers.

How to Read Laundry Symbols: What Those Icons on Clothing Tags Mean

In fact, those tags sewn into corners at the neck or sides of clothing garments are so important, and knowing the meaning of what they communicate is worth the knowledge. Let us take a look at them now.

If we know what they mean, they can help avoid shrinkage, discolouration, and pilling. There are very common symbols as well as complex ones out there, depending on the quality of the clothing and what it means for.

Washing basin symbols and washing temperature symbols

The Wash bin icon or symbol comes with different variations and each has a specific meaning. For instance, if you see the Wash Bin icon with a tub with water, it suggests that that cloth in particular can be washed using a washing machine. Let us look at other variations of the same symbol.

Where the tub is crossed, it means you are not to wash that particular dress or garment in with a washing machine. Such a cloth may have to be washed using either dry cleaning or a washing method (wash with your hands).

Where the tub comes with a number such as 30 means a water temperature of 86 degrees Fahrenheit, 40 means 104 degrees. The number indicates the temperature at which the garment must be washed. Anything beyond the number specified can destroy the garment. If your washing machine is in (in Celsius) but the number on the garment is in Fahrenheit, or vice versa, you must convert before taking a decision. If you are converting from degree Celsius to Fahrenheit, for instance, multiply by 1.8 and then add 32 (or ask Google).

In instances where the basin has dots, the meaning is this:

One dot: Wash the garment in cold water.

Two dots: Wash the garment in warm water.

Three dots: Wash the garment in hot water.

Where there are lines clearly visible under the basin, it also carries a special meaning. Lines under the basin communicate the kind of washing cycle to be used to wash.

If no lines under the basin, wash the item using the normal cycle.

One line under the basin: wash the permanent press cycle.

Two lines under the basin: Wash on the gentle cycle

Hand in the basin: The garment must be only hand-washed.

Below is an image to further enhance your understanding.

Ironing Symbols to keep in mind

Crossed-out iron icon: You cannot iron the garment. You are not to iron it.

One Dot Inside the Iron: It means the heat setting should be low on the iron when ironing the garment.

Two Dots Inside Iron: It means medium heat setting should be applied when ironing the garment.

Three Dots Inside Iron: It means high heat setting should be applied when ironing the garment.

Lines in the iron: It means the garment can be steamed, but where the lines are crossed, it means do not steam the garment.

It is important to note that not all clothes can be ironed, and every cloth must be ironed at the right temperature to prevent accidents, damage, and prolong the life span of the garment.

Bleach symbols and their meaning

There are instances where one needs or does need to apply bleach when washing. This can be determined using the symbols for bleaching found on the garment in question.

Often, we use bleach for white cloths, but it is wrong. The fact that a garment is white does not mean the producers of the garment expect the user to wash it with bleach. Not all white clothes are to be washed with bleach.

If you use bleach to wash garments made from spandex, wool, silk, mohair, or leather, your garment will be destroyed irrespective of the colour. Interestingly, a lot of garments made from white linens and cotton are bleach-friendly, but always read and understand the bleach symbol on the garment before you apply bleach.

If you see a Bleach Symbol of an Open Triangle, it is safe to use bleach on the material or garment.

If you see a bleach symbol of a crossed triangle, do not use any kind of bleach.

If you see a bleach symbol of a triangle with lines through, you are to use specifically nonchlorine bleach.

Dry Cleaning Symbols and Meaning

You will be wrong if all you think about is washing every cloth that gets dirty. There are clothes that must not be washed at all. Yes, for such clothes, dry cleaning is recommended for them. Professional clothes are a typical example of such garments. Again, those made from luxury textiles may not be washed depending on the instructions on them. Dry cleaning instructions are shown with circle icons.

A circle with a letter inside tells the dry cleaner what kind of cleaning process to use. While you may never need to know these for your own cleaning, it can be helpful to know anyway.

A capital letter “A” means the dry cleaner can use any cleaning solvent on the garment.
A capital “P” means the dry cleaner can use any solvent except anything specifically listed.
A capital letter “F” means the dry cleaner will be using petroleum-based solvents and cannot be dry cleaned by standard solvents.
A capital letter “W” indicates the garment needs to be wet cleaned.

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Now that you have learnt about all meanings of Clothing and Laundry Symbols, Icons, and Tags relating to washing, ironing, bleaching, and dry cleaning, be extra careful when doing your laundry. Do not wash all white clothes together; do not iron all clothes because they have been washed; and stop bleaching just any clothes. Always read the details on the piece of cloth attached to the garment. It may sound like needless or a lot of work, but it will save you money and time.