The clothing tags feature symbols that guide how to maintain your garments, and it’s essential to understand how to interpret them. The American Society for Testing and Materials introduced a set of universal symbols in 1997 to replace written label instructions.
These symbols are now employed by global industries such as detergent, textile, apparel, and appliance manufacturers. Articles of clothing may have up to five symbols to help consumers wash them correctly.

Four Categories

Laundry symbols belong to one of four categories: washing, drying, bleaching, and ironing.

Washing

The wash symbols can be divided into three categories: washing method, water temperature, and suggested cycle.

Drying

Shrinkage usually occurs during drying, so pay close attention. Clothing typically features one drying symbol indicating an acceptable method and sometimes a method(s) to avoid.

Bleaching

Bleaching symbols are straightforward. An empty triangle indicates you can use bleach, while a crossed-out triangle states you cannot.
Likewise, two diagonal lines dividing the triangle into three sections means non-chlorine bleach is permissible.

Ironing

Ironing symbols utilize the same heat markers as washing and drying symbols. A clothing article should not be ironed if the iron symbol is crossed out. Additionally, the clothing must be ironed without the steam setting when the iron’s steam symbol is crossed out.

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