Laundry symbols offer valuable instructions on the proper way of washing an item of clothing. They provide accurate information on washing and drying clothes, as well as instructions on ironing and bleaching them if appropriate. Here are some details on reading laundry symbols.
Washing Symbols
Washing symbols are the most important laundry symbols because they indicate the appropriate temperature and wash cycle for a garment. Some clothes get damaged from being washed on too high of heat. Therefore washing on the right temperature is incredibly important. One dot means wash cold, three dots means wash warm and six dots means to wash with hot water. Additionally, a symbol with a hand means to hand wash while one with an “X” through it means to never wash. Knowing how to read laundry symbols ensures your laundry comes out as clean as can be and prevents damage to clothes.
Drying Symbols
Drying is the next essential step in the laundry process. For example, a plain circle indicates that a garment can be dry cleaned and a circle inside of a square means to tumble dry. This prevents damage to an item you might try to dry yourself. Additionally, other information represented by these laundry symbols includes instructions for hang drying, tumble drying and what temperature to dry with.
Ironing Symbols
Some fabrics make clothes look better after ironing while others are too delicate and become damaged. Look for an iron symbol on your garment tag to see the best temperature for ironing your clothes. Common indications given by iron symbols include iron on high, iron on medium, iron on low and do not iron. Furthermore, they’re represented by the number of dots present.
Bleaching Symbols
Bleach either ruins your favorite clothes or makes your whites look whiter. The symbols determine the most appropriate way to bleach your clothes. Bleach symbols let you know if bleaching is allowed and what bleach is the safest to use on the garment. For example, a plain triangle means bleach is safe, a triangle with an X means don’t use bleach and a triangle with three diagonal lines means only use color-safe bleach.
Laundry symbols are simple to understand and critical to know to ensure the best wash and care for your clothes. For a professional clean, bring your clothes to Zoom Express Laundry and we’ll wash and dry them for you. Find a location near you.