Fabric & Care
Fabric care symbols, decoded
Five basic shapes, a handful of modifiers, and a system almost nobody has ever been taught. The labels are more informative than they look, and one of them is routinely misread.
Care symbols follow international standards — GINETEX in Europe and much of the world, ASTM in the United States, with minor differences. Once you know the five base shapes, the rest is modifiers.
The five shapes
A tub — washing.
A triangle — bleaching.
A square — drying.
An iron — ironing.
A circle — professional cleaning.
A cross through any symbol means do not do it.
The tub: washing
A number inside the tub gives the maximum temperature in Celsius — 30, 40, 60, 95. Dots do the same job in the American system: one dot 30°C, two 40°C, three 50°C, and so on.
A hand in the tub means hand wash only.
A line under the tub means a reduced, gentle cycle. Two lines means very gentle or delicate.
A crossed-out tub means do not wash in water at all.
A crossed-out tub does not mean dry clean only. It means the garment must not be washed in water — which may mean dry cleaning, or may mean spot cleaning only. Look at the circle symbol to find out which.
Conversely, a plain circle with no letters means professional cleaning is permitted, not required. A great many garments labelled with a circle can be hand washed carefully — and manufacturers frequently apply the most conservative label to avoid complaints rather than because water would damage the garment.
The triangle: bleaching
An empty triangle — any bleach may be used.
Two diagonal lines inside the triangle — oxygen or non-chlorine bleach only.
A crossed-out triangle — no bleach.
Chlorine bleach should never be used on wool, silk, spandex or most coloured fabrics regardless of the label.
The square: drying
A square with a circle inside — tumble drying permitted. Dots inside the circle give heat: one dot low, two dots normal, three dots high.
A crossed-out square with a circle — do not tumble dry.
A square with a horizontal line inside — dry flat.
A square with a vertical line inside — drip dry, hanging.
A square with three vertical lines — drip dry without wringing.
A square with a diagonal line in the corner — dry in shade.
The iron
Dots give the temperature. One dot is 110°C, for synthetics, silk and wool. Two dots is 150°C, for polyester blends and wool. Three dots is 200°C, for cotton and linen.
Lines under the iron with a cross — do not use steam.
A crossed-out iron — do not iron.
The circle: professional cleaning
Letters inside indicate which solvent the cleaner should use.
P — perchloroethylene and hydrocarbon solvents. Standard dry cleaning.
F — hydrocarbon solvents only. Gentler.
W — professional wet cleaning, a water-based process.
A — any solvent.
A line under the circle means a mild process.
A crossed-out circle means do not dry clean.
When to override the label
Care labels are legally required and manufacturers are conservative, which means the label frequently understates what a garment will tolerate.
Reasonable to override: a "dry clean" circle on a simple garment in a washable fibre — a plain wool jumper, a cotton dress, a silk scarf — where hand washing with appropriate detergent is usually fine and considerably gentler than dry cleaning.
Do not override on structured tailoring, where the interlinings and canvas will shrink at different rates from the outer fabric and permanently distort. Anything with leather trim, sequins, beading or delicate embellishment. Anything with a fabric you cannot identify. Anything you would be upset to ruin.
Test first. Wet a small hidden area — inside a seam allowance, the inside of a hem — with cold water and blot with a white cloth. If colour transfers, hand washing will bleed.
The label's other information
Fibre composition is more useful than the symbols. Country of origin says relatively little about quality. And the presence of a spare button or a length of spare yarn attached inside a seam tells you a manufacturer expected the garment to be repaired — which is a better quality signal than most of what is printed on the front.
