Washing symbols, decoded
Every standard care label symbol drawn out and explained in plain English. Search them, learn the five-shape system in a minute, and print the cheat sheet for the utility room door.
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Nothing matches that. Try a word from the label, like tumble, iron or bleach.
Washing
The tub. The number is the hottest water the garment can take; bars underneath mean go gentler.
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Wash at 30
Machine wash, 30 degrees or cooler.
The default for most everyday clothes, and the cheapest cycle you can run.
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Wash at 40
Machine wash up to 40 degrees.
Cottons and hard-wearing everyday fabric.
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Wash at 60
Machine wash up to 60 degrees.
Bedding, towels and anything that needs a proper hygienic wash.
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Wash at 95
Machine wash up to 95 degrees.
Rare now. Heavy cotton whites and some workwear only.
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Gentle wash
The bar under the tub means a mild cycle at the shown temperature.
Reduced spin and agitation. Synthetics and delicates.
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Very gentle wash
Two bars mean a very mild cycle, usually the wool programme.
Wool and silk settings. Half loads, slow spin.
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Hand wash only
Wash by hand, no warmer than about 40 degrees. No machine.
Or use a machine hand-wash programme at your own risk; the label says hand.
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Do not wash
No water washing at all.
Professional cleaning only; check the circle symbol on the same label.
Bleaching
The triangle. Whether the garment tolerates bleach.
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Any bleach allowed
The empty triangle means bleach may be used when needed.
Increasingly rare on modern labels.
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Non-chlorine bleach only
The two diagonal lines mean only oxygen or colour-safe bleach.
Most stain removers sold for colours fall in this class.
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Do not bleach
No bleach of any kind.
Includes many stain removers, so read their labels too.
Tumble drying
The circle in a square. Dots set the heat.
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Tumble dry, low heat
One dot means tumble dry on the low temperature setting.
Synthetics and anything with elastane.
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Tumble dry, normal
Two dots mean the normal temperature setting is fine.
Cottons and towels.
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Do not tumble dry
The crossed circle-in-square. No tumble dryer at all.
The most expensive symbol to ignore in the whole system: shrinkage lives here.
Drying naturally
The square. How the garment should air dry.
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Line dry
The drooping line means hang it on a line or hanger to dry.
The default for most things.
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Dry flat
The horizontal line means lay it flat to dry.
Wool jumpers. Hanging them stretches the shoulders out of shape.
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Drip dry
The vertical lines mean hang it dripping wet, without wringing or spinning.
Lets gravity pull creases out. Shirts and viscose.
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Dry in the shade
The diagonal lines in the corner mean keep it out of direct sun.
Sun fades the colour; usually combined with line or flat drying.
Ironing
The iron. Dots set the sole-plate temperature.
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Iron, low
One dot: cool iron, up to about 110 degrees.
Synthetics, silk. Steam can mark at this setting, so go easy.
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Iron, medium
Two dots: up to about 150 degrees.
Wool and polyester blends.
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Iron, hot
Three dots: up to about 200 degrees.
Cotton and linen, the fabrics that actually need it.
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Do not iron
The crossed iron. No ironing, no steam.
Prints, coatings and membranes that heat would destroy.
Professional cleaning
The circle. Instructions for the dry cleaner, not for you.
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Dry clean (P)
Professional dry cleaning in standard solvents.
The everyday dry-clean symbol. The letter guides the cleaner.
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Dry clean (F)
Professional dry cleaning in petroleum solvent only.
A gentler process; the cleaner knows what to do with it.
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Professional wet clean
Professional water-based cleaning.
Not the same as home washing, even though water is involved.
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Do not dry clean
The crossed circle. No solvent cleaning.
Often appears alongside washable-at-home instructions.
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The whole system in five shapes
Care labels look like hieroglyphics until someone tells you there are only five base shapes. The tub is washing. The triangle is bleach. The square is drying. The iron is, mercifully, an iron. The circle is the professional cleaner. Everything else is a modifier: dots mean heat, bars under a symbol mean be gentler, and a cross through anything means do not. Learn that in the minute it took to read this paragraph and you can decode any label in Europe, because the UK uses the same standardised system as the rest of the continent.
The artwork on this page is our own drawing of the standard symbols, which is why it may look a touch friendlier than the microscopic versions stitched into your collar. The meanings are the standard ones.
The two symbols that ruin clothes
Nearly every laundry disaster we hear about in fifteen years of cleaning homes traces back to two ignored symbols. The crossed tumble dryer, because heat is what shrinks wool and warps anything stretchy; a jumper does not care how careful the wash was if the dryer finishes the argument. And the flat-dry line, because hanging a wet wool jumper stretches the shoulders into coat-hanger points that never quite recover. When in doubt: wash cool, dry flat or on the line, iron inside out.
The ironing pile can be someone else’s
Our regular cleaning visits take an ironing add-on at £12 an hour on top of cleaning time, same cleaner each week, labels read properly. The rest of the house gets cleaned while the basket empties.
Questions people ask about washing symbols
What do the dots on washing symbols mean?
Heat, always. On the iron one dot is cool, two is medium, three is hot. Inside the tumble-dry circle one dot is the low setting and two is normal. The dots never mean anything else, which is what makes the system quick to learn.
What does the circle symbol on clothes mean?
The circle is an instruction for a professional cleaner, not for your machine. A letter inside (P, F or W) tells the cleaner which process to use, and a crossed-out circle means no dry cleaning. If the label also shows a wash tub, you can wash it at home as normal.
What is the do not tumble dry symbol?
A circle inside a square with a cross through it. It is the most expensive symbol on the label to ignore, because tumble heat is what shrinks wool, warps elastane and melts prints. If in doubt, the drooping-line symbol (line dry) is the safe default for nearly everything.
Is washing at 30 as good as 40?
For everyday wear, usually yes, and it is cheaper and kinder to colours. Modern detergents are built for cool water. The places 60 still earns its keep are bedding, towels and anything you specifically want hygienically clean.
What if a garment has no care label?
Treat it as delicate until proven otherwise: cool wash, gentle cycle, no tumble drying, cool iron inside out. Test anything stronger on an unseen corner first, the same rule we use for stains.