Laundry Symbols Chart Meaning Guide Instructions

Laundry Symbols Chart Meaning Guide Instructions with PDF. We provide an important PDF for laundry symbols.

Laundry Symbols Meaning

Laundry symbols also called washing symbols and care symbols are pictogram that shows the manufacturer’s suggestions regarding laundry, washing, drying, dry-cleaning, bleaching and ironing methods.

Laundry Symbols are laundry instructions. Such symbols are written on labels, known as care labels or care tags, attached to clothing to indicate how a particular item should be cleaned.

While there are internationally recognized standards for care labels and pictograms, their exact use and form vary by region. In some standards, pictographs coexist with or complement written laundry instructions.

Laundry symbols help you avoid accidentally ruining a favorite article of clothing by washing, drying, or mishandling.

The Laundry Symbol Guide provides proper laundry care for your clothing and how to read laundry symbols on clothing care labels.

Types of Laundry Symbols

Here are types of laundry symbols. You can read all types of laundry symbols below.

Dry cleaning symbols
Ironing symbols
Bleaching symbols
Drying symbols
Hand washing symbols
Synthetic washing symbols
All-in-one laundry symbols

Laundry Symbols Chart

You can find out the meaning of all laundry symbols from one chart.

This guide to laundry symbols allows you to understand what the two-dot wash symbol and the square circle dot laundry symbol mean as well as many other symbols.

A laundry symbols chart is important to make your laundry perfect for you and your family.

A chart that describes each wash symbol for machine-to-wash clothes and other household laundry shows a small bucket or bucket of water.

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Printable Laundry Symbols

Here are printable laundry symbols. You can print these laundry symbols and use these for your soap, home, garden, form house, and anywhere.

Printable laundry symbols make your laundry very easy to understand. If you have any doubts or missing any laundry symbols, you can comment below in the comment box.

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Read about, laundry quotes.

Laundry Symbols Washing

This is the first symbol on the care label. Dots 1-7 on the inside of the bucket indicate the temperature of the water you should use.

The more points inside the bucket, the higher the water temperature should be. The numbers refer to the temperature of the water in Celsius and Fahrenheit.

If the care label has a hand tub, your item can be hand washed or placed in a delicate wash cycle of 40°C/104°F, or less. Reading laundry jokes.

Hand washing is preferable for delicate items such as cashmere or silk, as washing prevents shrinking or breaking.

If the care label has a folded sign, your item may be incorrect.

If the care label has a cross over the folded sign, you should not be writing on the item. Know about, Non-alkaline detergent.

Washing
	A bucket of plain water with no lines underneath or dots inside means the garment can be machine washed on a normal setting with agitation, using any detergent and the hottest water available.
	A single dot inside the bucket indicates machine wash on cold, not exceeding 26.67°C or 80°F.
	Two dots washing symbol indicates machine wash on warm, not exceeding 40°C or 105°F.
	Three dots indicate machine wash on hot, not exceeding 50°C or 120°F.
	Four dots indicate machine wash on hot, not exceeding 60°C or 140°F.
	Five dots indicate machine wash on hot, not exceeding 70°C or 160°F.
	Six dots indicate machine wash on hot, not exceeding 95°C or 200°F.
	30°C (86°F) There are two horizontal lines underneath the bucket. Very mild temperature for fine wash.
	30°C (86°F) There is one line underneath the bucket. Mild fine wash.
	30°C (86°F) This laundry symbol features just the bucket with 30 inside. It indicates a fine wash.
	40°C (104°F) The bucket has two horizontal lines underneath it. It indicates a very mild wash.
	40°C (104°F) The bucket has one horizontal line underneath it. It indicates a mild wash.
	40°C (104°F) This laundry symbol features just the bucket and 40 inside. It indicates the setting for colored wash.
	60°C (140°F) The bucket has one line underneath it. It indicates an Easy Care colored wash.
	60°C (140°F) This laundry symbol features just the bucket with the number 60 inside it. It indicates a colored wash.
	70°C (158°F) This laundry symbol features just the bucket with the number 70 inside it. It indicates a boil wash.
	95°C (203°F) This laundry symbol features just the bucket with the number 95 inside it. It indicates a boil wash.

Washing Machine Symbols and Meaning

Lines underneath the bucket of water tell you which machine cycle to use. More lines mean a more gentle cycle. Therefore, no lines means using the normal cycle.

Washing Machine
	One line underneath the bucket indicates to use the permanent press cycle, with a cold rinse before the spin.
	Two lines indicate to use the gentle or delicate cycle, with gentle machine agitation and a shorter wash cycle.

No Machine Washing

If you see the following symbols, do not put the garment in the washing machine.

No Washing Machine
	A hand over or inside the bucket indicates you should hand wash the item with a gentle detergent and water.
	A bucket that is crossed out means you shouldn’t machine wash and is usually followed by dry cleaning or hand washing instructions.

Symbols for Laundry Instructions

The care label must remain permanently attached to the clothing item throughout its life expectancy. The Federal Trade Commission requires U.S. care labels to present the laundering symbols in a specific order:

Washing instructions include temperature and machine cycle.

Bleaching instructions only include no bleach or non-chlorine bleach. No symbol is needed if any type of bleach can be used.

Drying instructions include temperature and machine cycle or air-drying method.

Instructions for ironing include temperature and when not to steam or not to use the iron at all. The emblem is generally not required for items that are not ironed.

Dry cleaning instructions include cycle and solvent. Always follow the dry-cleaning laundry symbols for clothes perfect laundry.

The safe cleaning methods shown on the care label serve as the care warranty.

If you follow the clothing care label’s instructions and the garment is damaged during the cleaning or drying process, return it to the store where you purchased it and ask for a refund or exchange.

If the store doesn’t help, ask for the manufacturer’s name and contact information. An explanation of the problem in writing will help solve the problem.

A guide that contains laundry symbols can make caring for your clothes simple. You can use the laundry symbol chart to decipher any care labels to ensure the safety of your clothing and other textile items.

Laundry Symbols for Bleaching

The symbol used for bleaching is a triangle. According to Textile Industry Affairs, about 98% of all washable fabrics are bleached safe in some form of bleach—usually, color safe or oxygen bleach.

If bleach is not mentioned or represented by the symbol, it may indicate that any type of bleach may be used.

However, to reduce the risk of damaging the garment, the American Institute of Cleaning recommends doing a small patch test first. Know about, mild soap.

Mix a small amount of bleach with water, using the ratio recommended by the manufacturer.

Dip a cotton swab in this mixture and dab it on the inner seam. If there is no change in color, it should be safe to use.

If you want to use bleach, you may want to take a look at your garment’s fabric care label to see if there is a bleach symbol denoted by a triangle or, more importantly, the do not bleach symbol, a triangle.

By recognizing these signs, you can prevent your garment from being permanently damaged by chlorine bleach.

Bleaching
	An empty triangle indicates to bleach when needed with any type of laundering bleach.
	A triangle with diagonal lines inside indicates to use color safe, non-chlorine bleach only.
	A triangle that is crossed out means do not use any type of bleach. The garment is not colorfast, or the material is unable to hold up to bleach.

Laundry Symbols on Clothes

Laundry Symbols on Clothes are important. Because laundry symbols on clothes always instruct us to care for that cloth.

How to Read Laundry Symbols

In this article, we tell you about all of the laundry symbols. You can print a complete chart of laundry symbols and use this in your laundry room when you do laundry.

It helps you to learn laundry symbols. This is the best and easy way of reading laundry symbols.

Laundry Symbols Drying

If the care label has a circle inside a square, your item may be dry-dried.
The more dots on the iron symbol suggest the temperature of the heat that can be applied:
1 point = Low temperature
2 point = medium temperature
3 point = High temperature
If there is a cross on the tumble dry symbol, you should not tumble dry the item.

Both the machine and air drying symbols are represented by a square. Like washing, the temperature is indicated by the number of points.

Drying is an important part of the clothing care process, but we’ve all heard those horror stories of cashmere sweaters that are three sizes too small by washing. Get information about, In-Unit laundry.

Knowing your dryer symbols, such as the square with a circle in the middle, which indicates that tumble drying is allowed, can help you avoid putting the wrong garment in the tumble dryer.

Other symbols can give you additional information, such as a square with a horizontal line in the middle that means you should dry the item flat, or the cross-out twisted symbol telling you not to fold the garment.

The temperature is given by the increasing number of points inside a circle. Know about, non-detergent soap.

Dryer Cycles
	A square with circle inside symbol and a single dot indicates normal machine drying on a low setting.
	A square with circle inside symbol that has two dots indicates normal machine drying on a medium setting.
	A square with circle inside symbol that has three dots indicates normal machine drying on the high setting.
	A square circle dot laundry symbol that features a large, solid or filled-in circle dot indicates normal machine drying with no heat or the air only cycle.

Dryer Machine Settings

Lines underneath the square instruct which cycle to use on a machine dryer:

Dryer Settings
	A square with a large, empty circle inside indicates tumble dry normal.
	One line underneath a square with a large circle inside indicates to tumble dry on the permanent press setting.
	Two lines underneath the square with a large circle inside indicate to tumble dry on the gentle cycle.

No Machine Drying

If you see the following symbols, do not put the garment in a machine dryer.

No Machine
	A square with a large circle inside that is crossed out means do not tumble dry.
	A square that is crossed out means do not machine dry.

Air Drying

The following symbols instruct methods for air drying.

Air Drying
	A square with a semicircle at the top indicates to line dry either indoors or outdoors.
	A square with three vertical lines inside indicates to drip dry, usually by hanging a dripping wet garment on a line.
	A square with a single horizontal line indicates to lay the garment flat for drying.
	A square with two diagonal lines in the upper corner indicates to dry the garment in the shade, out of direct sunlight.
	A crossed out symbol of a twisted towel indicates you should not wring or twist the garment to remove excess water.

Laundry Symbols Poster

Here is a complete laundry symbols poster. We provide all of the laundry symbols in this laundry symbols poster.

Laundry Symbols Circle P

A circle with a P (circle P) means dry-clean with any solvent except trichloroethylene. The meaning of the laundry symbols circle P is Dry Clean.

Laundry Symbols Ironing

Your item can be ironed at any temperature if the care label does not have a dot in the iron symbol.
The more dots on the iron symbol suggest the temperature of the heat that can be applied:

Point 1: Delicate i.e. silk and wool.
Point 2: Synthetics.
Point 3: Linen and cotton.
If there is a cross over the iron sign, you should not iron the item. Know about, What kills C. diff in the laundry?

Some fabrics look great after ironing but others, such as more delicate materials, can be damaged. There are some fabrics that require special care while ironing.

For example, if you want to iron your new dress shirt and you want to know if it can be ironed safely, look for the iron symbol on your garment, which is the iron with dots in the middle.

K is represented by a small symbol indicating the temperature setting, as shown below. Also read about, on-site laundry.

An ironing symbol is represented by a small figure that looks like an iron with a handle on top. It also looks similar to a slightly flattened, square-shaped, lowercase “a.”

	An empty iron symbol indicates you can iron at any temperature, with or without steam.
	An iron with one dot indicates a low setting, 110°C or 230°F, with or without steam.
	Two dots inside the iron indicate a medium setting, 150°C or 300°F, with or without steam.
	Three dots inside the iron indicate a high setting, 200°C or 390°F, with or without steam.
	An iron with crossed out lines underneath means do not use steam when ironing.
	A crossed out iron means do not iron.

Laundry Symbols Synthetics

Your item can be washed in the washing machine if your care label has a tub symbol.

The number on the tub symbol indicates the maximum temperature that can be applied.

More frequent spinning and washing at the bottom of the tub indicate a decrease in:
No bar: The item can be spun and washed as normal.

1 bar: The spin speed should be low.
2 bars: Mild wash but can be spun and rinsed as normal.

If the tub sign has a cross, you should not wash the item. Get information about, How to remove clothing sensor tags?

laundry symbols chart

Laundry Symbols Square With Vertical Line

The laundry symbols square with vertical lines is drip dry. A square with three vertical lines inside indicates drip dry, usually by hanging a dripping wet garment on a line.

Laundry Symbols Explained

We explained to you laundry symbols and keep continue your reading to understand laundry symbols completely. Know, Where to get quarters for laundry?

Laundry Symbols Dry-Cleaning

For home laundering, you only need to pay attention to the following two dry-cleaning symbols.

Dry-cleaning symbols with letters tell professional cleaners what type of solvent to use and diagonal lines indicate when to use low heat, low humidity, short cycle, or steam.

If the care label has a small circle, the manufacturer is saying that you should dry clean this item.

If there is a small letter inside the circle, it indicates to the dry cleaner which chemical to use.

The number of bars at the bottom of the circle indicates how careful the dry cleaner should be.

If there is a cross above the circle mark, you should not dry clean the item. Get information about, laundry starch.

	An empty circle indicates to dry clean only.
	A circle with an A means dry-clean with any solvent.
	A circle waith a P means dry-clean with any solvent except trichloroethylene.
	A circle with an F means dry-clean with petroleum solvent only,
	An empty crossed out circle means do not dry clean.
	A circle with a lower left diagonal line means short cycle.
	A circle with a lower right diagonal line means low heat.
	A circle with an upper left diagonal line means reduce moisture.
	A circle with an upper right diagonal line means no steam.

Laundry Symbols Wet Cleaning

You will probably hear professional cleaning referred to as dry cleaning. Chances are if you see a letter on the label of your garment, it is intended to be professionally cleaned.

The letters ‘F’ and ‘P’ are used to describe chemical washing and the letter ‘W’ means wet clean. The more stripes you find under your laundry symbols, the more gentle the wash is. Know about, the Best time to do laundry.

Professional wet cleaning
Gentle wet cleaning
Very gentle wet cleaning
Do not wet clean

Laundry Symbols Chemical Cleaning

Chemical cleaning

The letters P and F in a circle are for the different solvents used in professional dry cleaning.

Professional cleaning symbol
Dry clean, hydrocarbon solvent only (HCS)
Gentle cleaning with hydrocarbon solvents
Very gentle cleaning with hydrocarbon solvents
Dry clean, tetrachloroethylene (PCE) only
Gentle cleaning with PCE
Very gentle cleaning with PCE
Do not dry clean

Laundry Symbols PDF

Here is a complete pdf of laundry symbols. You can download it and use it anywhere.

Laundry Symbols PDF Download

Laundry Symbols Image Complete

All Laundry Symbols in one Image. Laundry Symbols Image Complete

History of Laundry Symbols

GINETEX, the France-based European Association for Textile Care Labeling, was formed in 1963 to define international standards for the care and labeling of textiles.

By the early 1970s, GINETEX was working with ISO to develop international standards for textile labeling, eventually leading to the ISO 3758 standard, Textiles – Labeling codes using symbols.

ISO 3758 was supplemented in 1993, revised in 2005 and again in 2012 with a review of the standard conducted on a five-year cycle.

In North America, the Canadian Standards Council adopted CAN/CGSB-86.1-M87, a color-based textile care labeling system, in 1987, where green indicated “proceed”, yellow “beware”, and red “stop”. Get information about, mild detergents.

In 2003, this system was withdrawn in favor of a picture-based system compliant with North American and international standards.

In 1996, ASTM International published a system of pictorial care instructions as the D5489 Standard Guide for Care Instructions on Textile Products, with revisions in 1998, 2001, 2007, 2014, and 2018.

Additional textile care labeling systems have been developed for Australia, China and Japan.

Around the world, all of these systems use similar pictograms or labeling to express laundry care instructions.

As of 2021, pictograms are not encoded in Unicode. Know about, Brown flakes in the washing machine.

Final Words

There are laundry symbols to guide you, so your clothes get the care they deserve. Make sure you use the right laundry detergent for the wash cycle you choose.

We give you complete information about laundry symbols. If you do not get any information on laundry symbols, You can comment below. Thanks for reading our article.