Laundry symbols are the small pictograms on a garment's care label that tell you how to wash, bleach, dry, iron and professionally clean it. There are five basic shapes, and once you know what each shape governs, every other marking on the label is a variation on those five.
This guide explains every care label symbol you are likely to meet, including the ones most charts skip: the letters inside the circle, the crossed-out symbols, the icons on your washing machine panel rather than on the garment, and why a label from Japan or the United States can look different from a European one.
The five basic care label symbols
Every care symbol system in use today is built on five shapes, each one covering a single treatment:
- Washtub covers washing, including water temperature and how vigorous the machine action may be.
- Triangle covers bleaching.
- Square covers drying, both tumble drying and natural drying.
- Iron covers ironing and the maximum plate temperature.
- Circle covers professional cleaning, meaning dry cleaning and professional wet cleaning.
Two modifiers apply across all five. A cross through any symbol means do not do that treatment at all. A bar underneath a symbol means use a gentler setting than normal, and two bars mean gentler still.
That is the whole system in two sentences, and it is why you do not need to memorise a hundred icons. Super Label Store prints these symbols on care labels every day, and the questions that come in are almost always about the modifiers rather than the shapes.
Image Source: Merch You
Washing symbols: the washtub
The washtub tells you the maximum water temperature and how much mechanical action the fabric can take. Everything inside or underneath the tub modifies one of those two things.
Temperature is shown in one of two ways depending on which system the label follows. A number inside the tub is the maximum temperature in degrees Celsius, so 30, 40, 60 or 95. Dots inside the tub mean the same thing in a different notation: one dot is 30°C or about 85°F, two dots is 40°C or 105°F, three dots is 50°C or 120°F, four dots is 60°C or 140°F, five dots is 70°C or 160°F, and six dots is 95°C or 200°F.
The bars underneath the tub control the cycle rather than the heat:
- No bar means the normal cycle is fine.
- One bar means a reduced action cycle, usually labelled permanent press or synthetics on a machine.
- Two bars mean the delicate or gentle cycle, with the least agitation and the slowest spin.
Two variants replace the tub itself. A hand inside the tub means hand wash only, generally at no more than 40°C. A tub with a cross through it means do not wash in water at all, which usually points you to the circle symbol elsewhere on the label for professional cleaning.
Image Source: Tide Cleaners
Bleaching symbols: the triangle
An empty triangle means any bleach may be used, including chlorine bleach. That is the least restrictive version and it is rarer than people expect.
A triangle with two diagonal lines inside it means non-chlorine bleach only, which in practice means an oxygen-based product. Chlorine bleach on that garment will strip colour or weaken the fibres. A triangle with a cross through it means do not bleach at all, with any product.
If a garment carries no triangle at all, treat that as do not bleach rather than as permission. Care labels list what is allowed, not what is forbidden.
Image Source: The Craft Yarn Council
Drying symbols: the square
A square on a care label always concerns drying, and what is inside it tells you whether a machine is allowed.
Tumble drying
A circle inside the square means tumble drying is permitted. Dots inside that circle set the heat: one dot is low heat, two dots is normal or medium heat, three dots is high heat. As with washing, one bar under the square means the permanent press setting and two bars mean delicate.
A circle inside a square with a cross through the whole thing means do not tumble dry. This is the single most ignored symbol on any label, and it is the one that shrinks garments.
Image Source: Swash Laundry Detergent
Natural drying
When the square contains lines rather than a circle, it is telling you how to dry the garment without a machine:
- One vertical line means line dry, so hang it on a washing line or a hanger.
- Two vertical lines mean drip line dry, so hang it wet without wringing or spinning it first.
- One horizontal line means dry flat, which is what you want for knitwear that would stretch under its own weight.
- Two horizontal lines mean drip dry flat.
- A diagonal stripe in the top left corner, added to any of the above, means dry in the shade and out of direct sunlight.
Image Source: Facts.net
Ironing symbols: the iron
The dots on the iron symbol set the maximum plate temperature, not the number of passes or the pressure.
- One dot is a maximum of 110°C or 230°F, for synthetics such as acrylic, nylon and polyester. Steam is usually not advised at this setting.
- Two dots are a maximum of 150°C or 300°F, for wool and polyester blends.
- Three dots are a maximum of 200°C or 390°F, for cotton and linen.
An iron with a cross through it means do not iron. An iron with a crossed-out steam symbol underneath means you may iron it but not with steam.
Professional care symbols: the circle and its letters
The letter inside the circle is a solvent code for the dry cleaner, not an instruction for you. This is where most laundry symbol charts get it wrong, so it is worth being precise.
- P in a circle means dry clean with tetrachloroethylene, also called perchloroethylene or PCE, and with hydrocarbon solvents.
- F in a circle means dry clean with hydrocarbon solvents only. PCE is too aggressive for that garment.
- W in a circle means professional wet cleaning, a water-based process done by a specialist rather than by you at home.
The same bar rule applies. One bar under the circle means a mild process, two bars mean a very mild process. A circle with a cross through it means do not dry clean, and a crossed-out W means do not professionally wet clean.
You do not need to act on the letter yourself. You do need to leave the label intact, because the cleaner reads it.
Image Source: Filtered by PlanetCare
The do-not symbols, collected in one place
Every prohibition on a care label is expressed the same way: a cross through the symbol for that treatment. Gathered together, the crossed-out family looks like this:
- Crossed washtub: do not wash.
- Crossed triangle: do not bleach.
- Crossed square with a circle in it: do not tumble dry.
- Crossed square: do not dry, in any way, which appears mainly on items meant to be cleaned professionally.
- Crossed iron: do not iron.
- Crossed circle: do not dry clean.
- Crossed W in a circle: do not wet clean.
- Crossed hand in a tub: do not hand wash.
- Crossed twisted shape: do not wring.
A crossed symbol is absolute. Unlike the temperature markings, where going lower is always safe, there is no gentler version of a treatment that has been ruled out.
Washing machine symbols are a different thing entirely
The icons on your washing machine panel are not care label symbols and they are not standardised. This is the reason so many people search for one and find the other.
Garment care symbols follow an international standard, so a triangle means bleaching on a label from any brand in any country. Appliance icons do not. Each manufacturer draws its own, which is why the cotton programme is a cotton boll on one machine and a plain word on the next.
A few conventions are common enough to be worth knowing:
- The dryer symbol on a washer dryer is usually borrowed straight from the care label system: a circle inside a square, sometimes accompanied by a sun or fan icon for the drying programmes.
- The prewash icon is normally a tub or tray marked with a single dash or the roman numeral I. On the detergent drawer, compartment I is prewash, compartment II is the main wash, and the flower or star compartment is fabric softener.
- A spiral is the spin cycle, and a spiral with a cross through it means no spin.
- A flower or a hand marks the delicates or hand wash programme.
- A leaf is the eco programme, which usually runs longer at a lower temperature rather than faster.
- A clock or a rabbit marks a quick wash.
If your panel icon does not match any of these, the manual is the only reliable source. There is no international standard to fall back on.
Why symbols differ between countries
There are three symbol systems in common use, and they overlap without being identical.
The ISO system, set out in ISO 3758, is used across Europe and in most of the world. It puts a number inside the washtub for the maximum temperature.
The American system is set out in ASTM D5489. Its symbols look similar but use dots rather than numbers for the wash temperature, and the bleach triangle is drawn differently. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission's Care Labeling Rule allows symbols to replace written care instructions only if they are the ASTM versions.
Japan moved to JIS L 0001 in December 2016, which aligned Japanese labels with the ISO system. Garments made before that date carry the older Japanese symbols, which look noticeably different: the previous system used its own tub shapes and included Japanese text alongside the pictograms. If you are reading a Japanese care label that does not match any chart, its age is the likely explanation.
For anyone selling clothing rather than washing it, this matters practically. A garment sold in more than one market often needs more than one set of symbols, or symbols plus written instructions. Super Label Store produces custom care labels in all three systems, printed on soft satin with welded edges so there is no cut edge against the skin.
Care label symbol chart
Use this as a quick reference. The prose above explains each family in more detail.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Washtub with a number | Maximum wash temperature in °C |
| Washtub with dots | Maximum wash temperature: 1 dot 30°C, 2 dots 40°C, 3 dots 50°C, 4 dots 60°C, 5 dots 70°C, 6 dots 95°C |
| One bar under a symbol | Reduced action, permanent press setting |
| Two bars under a symbol | Delicate or gentle setting |
| Hand in a washtub | Hand wash only, generally up to 40°C |
| Empty triangle | Any bleach may be used |
| Triangle with two diagonal lines | Non-chlorine bleach only |
| Circle inside a square | Tumble dry. 1 dot low, 2 dots medium, 3 dots high |
| Square with one vertical line | Line dry |
| Square with one horizontal line | Dry flat |
| Diagonal stripe in the corner of a square | Dry in the shade |
| Iron with dots | Maximum plate temperature: 1 dot 110°C, 2 dots 150°C, 3 dots 200°C |
| P in a circle | Dry clean with PCE or hydrocarbon solvent |
| F in a circle | Dry clean with hydrocarbon solvent only |
| W in a circle | Professional wet cleaning |
| Any symbol with a cross through it | Do not carry out that treatment |
In plain text, for anyone who wants to save it: a washtub is washing and the number or dots inside it are the maximum temperature, a triangle is bleaching, a square is drying with a circle inside it meaning tumble dry, an iron is ironing with dots for the temperature, a circle is professional cleaning with P, F or W naming the solvent, bars underneath mean use a gentler setting, and a cross through anything means do not do it.
Image Source: ihateironing
Where care instructions are found on a garment
Care instructions are usually on a separate care label stitched into the left side seam, roughly at hip height, rather than on the branded label at the neck.
That split is deliberate. The neck label carries the brand and often the size, so it is designed to be seen. The care label carries washing instructions, fibre composition and country of origin, so it is placed where it will not show through a thin fabric or scratch the back of the neck.
On some garments the two are combined into one longer label at the neck, and on underwear and activewear the information is sometimes printed directly onto the fabric instead. If you cannot find a label at the neck, check the side seam before assuming there isn't one.
This also explains a common mistake when rebranding blank garments: cutting out the neck label removes the brand, but on many blanks it removes the legally required information along with it. Our guide on what has to appear on a clothing label covers what must stay on the garment.
Frequently asked questions about laundry symbols
What does the triangle mean on a care label?
The triangle governs bleaching. An empty triangle means any bleach is allowed, two diagonal lines inside it mean non-chlorine bleach only, and a cross through it means do not bleach.
What does a square with a circle in it mean?
It means the garment can be tumble dried. Dots inside the circle set the heat: one dot low, two dots medium, three dots high. The same symbol with a cross through it means do not tumble dry.
What do the dots mean on laundry symbols?
Dots always indicate temperature, but the scale depends on the symbol. In a washtub they run from 30°C for one dot up to 95°C for six. In a tumble dryer circle they mean low, medium and high heat. On an iron they mean 110°C, 150°C and 200°C.
What does P in a circle mean on a clothing label?
It is an instruction to the dry cleaner, not to you. P means the garment can be dry cleaned with tetrachloroethylene, also called perchloroethylene or PCE, and with hydrocarbon solvents. F means hydrocarbon solvents only, and W means professional wet cleaning.
What does a crossed-out symbol mean?
A cross through any care symbol prohibits that treatment entirely. Unlike temperature markings, where a lower setting is always safe, there is no milder version of a treatment that has been crossed out.
What is the dryer symbol on a washing machine?
On a washer dryer, the drying programmes are usually marked with a circle inside a square, borrowed from the care label system, sometimes with a sun or fan icon. Appliance icons are not standardised between manufacturers, so the manual is the only reliable reference for an icon you do not recognise.
What does the prewash symbol look like?
Usually a tub or tray marked with a single dash or the roman numeral I. On the detergent drawer, compartment I is prewash, compartment II is the main wash, and the compartment marked with a flower or star is for fabric softener.
Are laundry symbols the same in every country?
No. The ISO system used in Europe puts a number in the washtub for temperature, the American ASTM system uses dots instead, and Japan only aligned with the ISO system in December 2016, so older Japanese garments carry a different set of symbols.
Is it safe to wash at a lower temperature than the label says?
Yes. Care labels state the most severe treatment a garment can survive, so anything gentler is permitted. A label that allows 60°C can be washed at 40°C or 30°C. The one exception is the crossed-out symbols, which are absolute.
Can I put care symbols on my own clothing labels?
Yes, and in many markets you are required to provide care information in some form. Super Label Store prints care symbols on custom care labels from 100 pieces per design, in the ISO, ASTM or Japanese system. Note that the internationally used care symbols are trademarks, so check the licensing terms that apply in the markets you sell into before putting them on a commercial product.
Putting care symbols on your own labels
If you make or sell clothing, the care label is the part of your labelling that customers actually act on. Get it wrong and the garment gets damaged in a way that reads as a quality problem with your brand rather than a laundry accident.
Super Label Store produces custom care labels from 100 pieces per design, printed on soft satin with welded edges, with care symbols, fibre composition, size and country of origin laid out on a single label. You can set them up in the online designer and see the layout before you order.
For the branded label that goes at the neck, see our custom woven labels, which are woven from colored yarn rather than printed, so the design does not fade with washing.