Laundry symbols: you know they are supposed to tell you what to do, but you have no idea what they mean. Of course, you can ignore them, but you are bound to see the sad effect on your favourite new shirt, and then sorry will come too late. Perhaps the very reason why you have searched for this article? So, especially for you, we have prepared a summarised list of the meanings of those laundry symbols on your laundry label!
Laundry symbols
- Items bearing this symbol are made of delicate fabrics and require careful handling. You should rather wash them by hand, then they will stay beautiful for longer.
- Clothing bearing these laundry instructions must absolutely NOT be washed in the washing machine!
- Yup, this garment can be washed in the washing machine! But please note the number that appears in the label, this is the maximum degrees °C at which you may set your washing machine.
- This label indicates that you should rather send this item to the dry cleaners. So don’t wash this garment yourself if you want to keep it beautiful.
Ironing symbols
- This ironing symbol indicates that this item is NOT suitable for ironing.
- This ironing symbol means you can iron the garment, and the dots indicate the ideal temperature. One dot means you must set your iron at a low temperature, two dots – a medium temperature, and three dots indicate you may use the maximum temperature. In general, the more delicate the fabric the garment is made of, the lower the recommended temperature.
Sorting ensures a good start
With a good start you are already half way there. If you sort your laundry properly before you start washing, you have passed your first hurdle. Thus you avoid colours from ‘bleeding’ into each other, or finer fabrics from being damaged. Sorting is simple:
- Keep your white items apart, never mix them with coloured items;
- Separate dark colours from lighter colours;
- Keep your hand washing (finer fabrics) apart.
So basically you have a pile of white washing, a pile of dark colours, a pile of lighter colours, and a pile for hand washing.
Tip! Use different laundry baskets or a laundry basket with divisions for easy sorting.
