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That annoying little tag stitched into your clothing garments is actually a care label. And it can keep you from ruining your clothes. Printer Ribbon
Here's your ultimate guide to those tricky laundry symbols.
Those tags sewn into every one of your clothing garments may be scratchy or downright irritating, but they're actually super helpful -- so don't cut them out and throw them away just yet. If you look closely on your labels, you'll find a number of little symbols. No, those icons aren't gibberish. They're a cheat code for how to properly take care of and launder your garments so they look new for longer.
These symbols can prevent shrinkage, discoloration and pilling, so it's important to decipher exactly what they mean. Here's what the most common laundry symbols mean on your clothing's care label. (And for more laundry tips, explore these popular laundry products you need to ditch and the most energy-efficient way to do your laundry to save money.)
The wash basin symbol has a lot of variations, and they all mean something different.
The wash basin icon is a diagram of a tub with water, which means your garment can be washed in the washing machine. While that seems simple enough, there are several different variations of this icon as shown in the illustration above.
Let's break all of those extra markings down:
We'll help you figure out what these dryer icons on your clothing tags mean.
If you see a circle inside of a square on your care label, this icon breaks down drying instructions. If the dryer icon is crossed out, don't dry in the machine and instead opt to line or air dry. This is important to note to prevent shrinkage or heat damage.
The dots in the center of the dryer icon indicate what temperature setting to use when machine drying. One dot means you can tumble dry using normal heat. Two dots means tumble dry on high heat, and an empty circle means you can dry using any temperature setting.
Ironing icons give you an idea of which iron temp is safe for your garment.
The iron symbol (as shown above) simply means you can iron the garment, while a crossed out iron icon means you can't. But like the wash bin icons, there are variations:
Just because it's white doesn't mean you can bleach it.
Here's an important tip: just because it's white, that doesn't mean it can automatically be bleached. Certain materials like spandex, wool, silk, mohair or leather will be ruined by bleach no matter the color of the item. However, most white linens and cotton garments are bleach-friendly.
The triangle icons on the care label will explain if you can or cannot bleach. An open triangle means it's safe to use bleach, but a triangle crossed out means to never use any kind of bleach. If there's a triangle icon with lines through it (like the middle icon above) then you can use specifically nonchlorine bleach, but only this type, otherwise the garment may be ruined.
Turns out there's a difference between different types of dry cleaning.
You can't just throw every garment in the washer and be done with it. Some items, especially professional clothes or garments made from luxury textiles, need to be dry-cleaned. Dry cleaning instructions are shown with circle icons.
If you see a circle (as shown above), then your garment needs to be cleaned by a professional dry cleaner. However, a circle icon crossed out means the garment can be easily damaged by solvents used in dry cleaning processes. In this case, you'd follow the machine or hand wash instructions.
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.
Double Layer Label Sticker China For better or worse, laundry is part of our weekly, if not daily, routine. So it's important to do it right. We've got more laundry tips for you, including these nine laundry hacks that solve common problems and the best way to machine wash your sheets .