Washing instructions symbols and their meaning

All of us have seen these, sometimes confusing, symbols on any garments in our wardrobe, including sheets, towels and other textile items. Everybody knows these are washing and drying instructions. However, sometimes there are mysterious symbols on garments you have never seen before. Let’s try to sort these care symbols out.

For example, on VeryAndVery garments you may see these pictures on the label:

These symbols mean

	Regular ironing, steam or dry, may be performed at High setting
	Garment may not be commercially drycleaned
	Garment should be hanged damp garment from line or bar, in or outdoors and away from direct sunlight
	Machine wash, warm. Water temperature should not exceed 105F
	No bleach product may be used. The garment is not colorfast or structurally able to withstand any bleach
	Do not tumble dry this garment. A machine dryer may not be used

For your convenience, below is a full table of care instruction symbols

Care Symbol	Written Care Instructions	What Care Symbol and Instructions Mean
WASH
	Machine Wash, Normal	Garment may be laundered through the use of hottest available water, detergent or soap, agitation, and a machine designed for this purpose.
	Machine Wash, Cold	Initial water temperature should not exceed 30C or 65 to 85F.
	Machine Wash, Warm	Initial water temperature should not exceed 40C or 105F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 50C or 120F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 60C or 140F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 70C or 160F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 95C or 200F.
NOTE: SYSTEM OF DOTS INDICATING TEMPERATURE RANGE IS THE SAME FOR ALL WASH PROCEDURES.
	Machine Wash, Permanent Press	Garment may be machine laundered only on the setting designed to preserve Permanent Press with cool down or cold rinse prior to reduced spin.
	Machine Wash, Gentle or Delicate	Garment may be machine laundered only on the setting designed for gentle agitation and/or reduced time for delicate items.
	Hand Wash	Garment may be laundered through the use of water, detergent or soap and gentle hand manipulation.
	Do Not Wash	Garment may not be safely laundered by any process. Normally accompanied by Dry Clean instructions.
BLEACH
NOTE: All (98+%) washable textiles are safe in some type of bleach. IF BLEACH IS NOT MENTIONED OR REPRESENTED BY A SYMBOL, ANY BLEACH MAY BE USED.
	Bleach When Needed	Any commercially available bleach product may be used in the laundering process.
	Non-Chlorine Bleach When Needed	Only a non-chlorine, color-safe bleach may be used in the laundering process. Chlorine bleach may not be used.
	Do Not Bleach	No bleach product may be used. The garment is not colorfast or structurally able to withstand any bleach.
DRY
	Tumble Dry, Normal	A machine dryer may be regularly used at the hottest available temperature setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, Low Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used at a maximum of Low Heat setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, Medium Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used at a maximum of Medium Heat setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, High Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used at a High Heat setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, No Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used only at No Heat or Air Only setting.
NOTE: SYSTEM OF DOTS INDICATING TEMPERATURE RANGE IS THE SAME FOR ALL DRY PROCEDURES.
	Tumble Dry, Permanent Press	A machine dryer may be regularly used only at the Permanent Press setting.
	Tumble Dry, Gentle	A machine dryer may be regularly used only at the Gentle setting.
	Do Not Tumble Dry	A machine dryer may not be used. Usually accompanied by an alternate drying method symbol.
	Do Not Dry	A machine dryer may not be used. Usually accompanied by an alternate drying method symbol.
	Line Dry	Hang damp garment from line or bar, in or out doors.
	Drip Dry	Hang dripping wet garment from line or bar, in or out doors, without hand shaping or smoothing.
	Dry Flat	Lay out horizontally for drying.
	Dry In Shade	Usually added to Line or Drip Dry. Dry away from direct sunlight.
WRING
	Do Not Wring	Do Not Wring.
IRON
NOTE: IF IRONING IS NOT A NECESSARY, REGULAR CARE PROCEDURE IT NEED NOT BE MENTIONED.
	Iron, Any Temperature, Steam or Dry	Regular ironing may be needed and may be performed at any available temperature with or without steam is acceptable.
	Iron, Low	Regular ironing, steam or dry, may be performed at Low setting (110C, 230F) only.
	Iron, Medium	Regular ironing, steam or dry, may be performed at Medium setting (150C, 300F).
	Iron, High	Regular ironing, steam or dry, may be performed at High setting (200C, 290F).
NOTE: SYSTEM OF DOTS INDICATING TEMPERATURE RANGE IS THE SAME FOR ALL IRONING PROCEDURES.
	Do Not Steam	Steam ironing will harm garment, but regular dry ironing at indicated temperature setting is acceptable.
	Do Not Iron	Item may not be smoothed or finished with an iron.
DRY CLEAN
	Dryclean	Dry Clean, any solvent, any cycle any moisture, any heat.
	Dryclean, Any Solvent	Dry Clean, any solvent. Usually used with other restrictions on proper dry cleaning procedure.
	Dryclean, Petroleum Solvent Only	Dry Clean using only petroleum solvent. Usually used with other restrictions.
	Dryclean, Any Solvent Except Trichloroethylene	Any dry cleaning solvent other than trichloroethylene may be safely used.
	Dryclean, Short Cycle	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Dryclean, Reduced Moisture	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Dryclean, Low Heat	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Dryclean, No Steam	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Do Not Dryclean	Garment may not be commercially drycleaned.