Three Common Laundry Symbols And How To Read Them

We are all familiar with the round and square symbols on our clothing tags. However, how many of us really pay attention to them? You may have been dumping your clothes into the washing machine for years and besides a few mishaps, things seem to go right most of the time. The truth is that to prolong the lifespan of your clothes and keep them in the best possible condition, the laundry symbols on your clothing tags can shed light on how to best care for them.

Washtub Symbol

The washtub symbol is one of the most common ones you will find on a tag, and it tells you how to wash your garment. Very often, there is a number printed in the washtub which tells you about the optimal temperature at which to wash your apparel. If there are dots in the washtub symbol, it simply indicates the best temperature to wash your garment at: one dot for cold water, two for warm, and three for hot. The lines underneath the washtub indicate the wash cycle: one for permanent press and two for gentle. If there are no lines, you can use any wash cycle.

Drying Symbol

Did you know that the way a garment is dried can cause damage to it as well? This is where the drying symbol comes in to provide you with some valuable insights. If you see two diagonal lines in the corner of a square-shaped symbol, this means your garment should be air dried away from harsh sunlight. A horizontal line that cuts through the center of the square-shaped symbol means that the garment should be laid out on a flat surface to dry to prevent stretching. If there’s a circle in the square, you can tumble dry your garment. The number of dots in the circle indicates the heat setting: one for low, two for medium, and three for high.

Iron Symbol

After washing and drying your clothes, the next step for many people is ironing. Here is where the iron symbol comes in. An ‘X’ printed on the iron symbol means that the garment should not be ironed. If there are dots on the symbol, this indicates the heat setting at which the garment should be ironed: one for low heat, two for medium heat, and three for high heat. 

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