What do the laundry symbols mean?

Laundry symbols, or care symbols, are icons which represent a wide variety of washing, drying and ironing methods, which are commonly found on clothing labels and tags. Their purpose is to instruct consumers on how a particular item of clothing should be cleaned, dried and ironed so as to avoid damage being caused to the fabric.

Because there are a variety of laundry symbols out there, it can get very confusing and it can be difficult to work out what each laundry symbol means without clarification. Luckily we have provided below a picture of the most important European laundry symbols and an explanation of what they represent, so that you are able to easily recognise them the next time you check the label on your clothing items.

Laundry symbol Explanation
Machine wash normal
Machine wash permanent press
Machine wash gentle or delicate
Wash at or below 30°C
Wash at or below 40°C
Wash at or below 50°C
Wash at or below 60°C
Wash at or below 70°C
Wash at or below 95°C
Hand wash only
Do not wash
Iron at any temperature
Iron at a low temperature
Iron at a medium temperature
Iron at a high temperature
Do not iron
Chlorine and non-chlorine bleach allowed
Use non-chlorine bleach
Do not bleach
May be tumble dried
Tumble dry at a low temperature or delicate setting
Tumble dry at a normal temperature or setting
Tumble dry at a high temperature or setting
Line dry
Dry flat
Drip dry
Do not tumble dry
May be dry cleaned
Do not dry clean

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