Washing Laundry Symbols Explained: A Complete Guide

Do washing laundry symbols ever confuse you?

It is because you do not read the washing care label stitched to the clothes. All clothes (pants, tops, undergarments, etc.) are made up of different fabrics, so have different cleaning and washing requirements mentioned in the form of washing laundry symbols.

All laundry signs have different meanings. Being a Laundry Expert for the past 5 years, I know about all those silenwashing-laundry-symbols-explained-a-complete-guidet signs that are directly linked with your clothes’ cleaning requirements and increase the clothes-wearing life if properly followed.

Dry Cleaning Symbols

Dry cleaning garments have specific symbols. For example;

• A small hollow circle in the center of a square indicates “Dry Clean the Cloth Only.”

• A cross over the circle indicates “Do not Dry Clean”

• A little letter inside the circle specifies the “Chemical to Use to Dry Clean.” For example, the letter “P” inside the circle means “Professional Dry Cleaning in any chemical except Trichloroethylene while the letter “F” means “Flammable Solvent.”

• A bar underneath the circle shows the “Level of Precaution the Dry Cleaner must Consider”

Ironing Symbols

Ironing the clothes at different heat levels is mostly labeled according to the type and heat tolerance level of that fabric. For example,

• An Iron symbol with no dots and cross means that the item or fabric can be ironed at any temperatures

• The presence of dots in iron symbolizes the temperature of heat that the item can tolerate. For example, a “Single Dot” in the iron is for “Delicate Clothes”, 2 Dots are for “Synthetics”, and 3 Dots are for “Linen & Cotton”

• A Cross Over the Iron symbol shows to “Not Iron the Item”

Drying Symbols

Drying clothes is a bigger challenge than washing them because you have to be conscious of the dryer’s effect on clothes. The dryer shrinks the clothes if the instructions given by the manufacturer are not followed.

Following are the commonly labeled signs of Drying:

• A Circle inside a Square allows for tumble drying the clothes

• A Cross Over the Circle in a Square means not to tumble dry the cloth

• A single dot inside the Circle says “Tumble Dry on low heat”

• Double Dots inside the Circle saying “Tumble Dry on medium heat”

• Three Dots inside the Circle saying “Tumble Dry on high heat”

• A Dash inside Circle says “Dry Flat the Clothes Only”

• 3 Vertical Lines are the symbol of “Drip Drying”

• A filled Circle shows “Tumble Dry only, No Heat”

• shows “Line Dry” the clothes

Hand Washing Symbols

Hand washing is recommended for delicate items such as silk, cashmere, wool, etc. The following are the commonly assigned washing symbols:

• A hand in a tub shows that the cloth can be hand-washed or machine-washed on a delicate cycle

• A Twisted symbol allows the user to wring the cloth after hand washing

• A Cross over the twisted symbol means Don’t Twist

Synthetic Washing Symbols

Synthetic Washing means that “A medium agitation and a low speed spin wash.” It is recommended for non-cotton garments that cannot withstand the high agitation and pressure of washing machine.

Following are some of the Synthetic Washing symbols:

• A tub symbol allows for washing the cloth in the washing machine

• A dot inside the tub allows washing at delicate cycles (at <30°C)

• 2 Dots inside the tub allows washing at <40°C

• 3 Dots inside the tub allow washing at <50°C

• 4 Dots inside tub allows washing at <60°C

• A cross-over tub indicates “Don’t wash the item or Dry clean only”

• Number of bars underneath the tub indicates a reduction of rinsing and spinning

• No bar says the item can be spun and rinse as normal

• 1 bar shows reduced spinning

• 2 bars show mild wash with normal spinning and rinsing

All-In-One Laundry Symbols

Laundry symbols can be a huge help in not only improving your laundry skills but also saving your clothes from color bleeding and lengthening their wearing life.

Final Verdict:

Winding up today’s discussion here about the “Washing Laundry Symbols”, I want to say that don’t panic if you cannot digest all those little gestures at once, it happens with time! You can take print of All-in-One Laundry Symbols and use it as a reference in the future.

However, if you think that laundry is not your thing, you can avail of our “laundryservice.ae” services. We deliver freshly washed and absolutely clean clothes with fabulous and refreshing smells.