Laundry Care Symbols – What Do These Symbols Mean?
What is Laundry Symbols?
Laundry symbol, also called a care symbol, is a pictogram which represents a method of washing, for example – drying, dry-cleaning and ironing clothing. Such symbols are written on labels, known as care labels or care tags, attached to clothing to indicate how a particular item should best be cleaned. Standard symbols for these care labels differ by region. In some standards, pictograms coexist with or are complemented by written instructions.
– Wikipedia
Laundry symbols can be pretty confusing – they’re almost like different languages in themselves! And if you want to avoid laundry accidents, it’s a language you should get clued-up on. There are 5 main laundry care symbols –
- Washing symbols
- Tumble dry symbols
- Ironing symbols
- Dry cleaning symbols
- Bleach Symbols
- Do not wash – Cloths with this symbol should not be washed at home. Instead, they may need to be dry cleaned.
- Permanent press – Permanent press clothes are those that must be treated to prevent wrinkles and any shape-distortion. They don’t usually need to be ironed.
- Gentle cycle – Garments that demand a gentle cycle are usually made from delicate fabrics such as wool or silk, or those that have details that could be damaged by a normal cycle.
- Hand Wash – Cloths labelled with hand wash symbols should never put in the laundry machine. Instead, wash them by hand in a small sink with some special detergent like milder detergent.
- Dots – Each dot signifies a different temperature of water to be used for washing.
- Drip dry – Synthetic clothes are usually nice to be hung up straight out of the wash, even when dripping wet. They normally dry without wrinkles when hung up to ‘drip-dry’ and therefore don’t need ironing either.
- Hang to dry – items that are labelled with the ‘hang to dry’ symbol can be popped over a drying rack stand or hung up to dry on hangers.
- Dry flat – Garments that need to be dried flat are normally relatively heavy, and therefore shouldn’t be hung in case the weight alters their shape. Place on flat surfaces or flat across drying racks to dry.
- Do Not Tumble Dry – When an item is marked as ‘Do Not Tumble Dry’, leave that garment to drip-dry on a drying rack, in an airing cupboard, or outside on your washing line rather than putting it in the dryer.
- Dots – Each dot signifies a different temperature of water to be used for washing.
- One dot – One dot means that it can be ironed on low.
- Two dot – Two dots mean that it can be ironed on medium.
- Three dot – Ironing symbols also employ the same dot system for heat levels, which should be adjustable on your iron: three dots mean that the item can be ironed on high.
- Cross out circle – A crossed-out circle means that you should not dry-clean the item.
- Letters inside circle – This means your garment could be damaged in the wash and should be laundered professionally.
- Letters inside triangle – This letter inside triangle allows the bleaching with chlorine or non-chlorine bleach.
- Triangle filled with diagonal lines – It means only non-chlorine bleaches should be used. Check the ingredients on your bleach to see if it contains chlorine.
SHOP COTTON BED SHEETS
Leave a Reply