Laundry symbols, or care symbols, are icons which represent a wide variety of washing, drying and ironing methods, which are commonly found on clothing labels and tags. Their purpose is to instruct consumers on how a particular item of clothing should be cleaned, dried and ironed so as to avoid damage being caused to the fabric.
Because there are a variety of laundry symbols out there, it can get very confusing and it can be difficult to work out what each laundry symbol means without clarification. Luckily we have provided below a picture of the most important European laundry symbols and an explanation of what they represent, so that you are able to easily recognise them the next time you check the label on your clothing items.
Laundry symbol |
Explanation |
---|---|
|
Machine wash normal |
|
Machine wash permanent press |
|
Machine wash gentle or delicate |
|
Wash at or below 30°C |
|
Wash at or below 40°C |
|
Wash at or below 50°C |
|
Wash at or below 60°C |
|
Wash at or below 70°C |
|
Wash at or below 95°C |
|
Hand wash only |
|
Do not wash |
|
Iron at any temperature |
|
Iron at a low temperature |
|
Iron at a medium temperature |
|
Iron at a high temperature |
|
Do not iron |
|
Chlorine and non-chlorine bleach allowed |
|
Use non-chlorine bleach |
|
Do not bleach |
|
May be tumble dried |
|
Tumble dry at a low temperature or delicate setting |
|
Tumble dry at a normal temperature or setting |
|
Tumble dry at a high temperature or setting |
|
Line dry |
|
Dry flat |
|
Drip dry |
|
Do not tumble dry |
|
May be dry cleaned |
|
Do not dry clean |