People sometimes take all their dirty clothes and only sort them by color. They forget to pay attention to washing symbols that are attached on the clothes’ tags. When you skip this step, you’ll probably have to deal with damaged, discolored, and shrunken clothes. That’s not something that you want to happen. We’ve written all the laundry symbols and their meanings, so you’ll know what to do on your next laundry day!
1. Washing Symbols
Go ahead and check the washing symbols on your favorite clothes. When you see the tub icon, it tells you how to clean a piece of clothing properly. Here are a few things you should look out for:
- When your garment has a tub symbol, it means that you will not have any trouble when you machine wash it.
- When the tub symbol has an X on it, machine washing is not appropriate.
- When the tub symbol has a hand, hand washing is necessary.
- If the tub symbol has a number on it, it indicates the maximum water temperature that can be applied to the garment. Other garments don’t have a number but have black dots that also indicate the temperature.
- When your garment has a triangle symbol, it means that it’s okay to bleach it. An X over the triangle means bleaching is not appropriate.
- If the tub symbol has a horizontal bar underneath, it indicates the appropriate spin and rinse cycle. No bars indicate that the garment can be rinsed and spun normally. One bar means that you should reduce the spin speed.
2. Ironing Symbols
Another laundry symbol that you’ll see on your garment’s tag is the ironing symbols. Here’s a cheat sheet for you:
- When the garment has an iron symbol with no dots, it means that it can be ironed at any temperature.
- The dots on the iron symbol indicate the temperature that should be applied when ironing. One dot means low temperature. This applies to wool and silk. Two dots mean medium temperature which is perfect for synthetics. Three dots mean high temperature for cotton and linen.
- An X over the iron symbol means that ironing is not appropriate.
- You’ll also see if steam is an option if the iron symbol has tiny diagonal lines. If it has an X over it, it means that steam is not applicable.
3. Drying Symbols
Next on the list of laundry care symbols are the drying symbols.
- When a garment has a circle inside a square, it means that it can be tumble dried.
- The temperature applied depends on the dots inside the circle. The more dots, the higher the temperature.
- If there is an X over the tumble dry symbol, it means that you cannot tumble dry the garment.
- When the circle inside the square is darkened, it means the garment requires no heat.
For air-drying laundry symbols, take note of the following:
- When there’s a square with three vertical lines in the center, it indicates that you should allow the garment to drip dry.
- If the square has two diagonal lines in the upper left corner, the garment should dry in an area with a shade.
- When the square has an upside-down curve, you should just let the clothes hang dry.
- If it has one horizontal line in the middle, it means that you should let the clothes flat dry.
4. Dry Cleaning Symbols
Last but not least among the laundry symbols are the dry cleaning symbols:
- When your garment has a circle symbol, it means that it should be dry-cleaned.
- If it has an X over it, dry cleaning isn’t necessary.
- If the circle has an A in the middle, it is an indication that any solvents can be used to clean the garment.
- If it has a W in the middle, the garment requires wet cleaning.
- When the symbol is a blackened circle with a big X, it means that wet cleaning is not appropriate.
- When it is a darkened triangle with a big X, bleaching is not advisable.
Now that you know the meaning of laundry care symbols, you’ll be able to do the necessary care that your clothes require. But if you don’t have the time to do all this, you can always ask professionals to do it for you.
If you are on the lookout for laundry services in Durango, CO, you can drop by Kelly’s Dry Cleaners. You won’t have to worry one bit. We make sure that we follow the laundry care symbols indicated in your clothes. What are you waiting for? Drop your dirty clothes at our shop and we’ll do the work for you!
