Garment tags often include a variety of symbols that provide essential information about care instructions, fabric composition, and more. These symbols are standardized and help consumers properly care for their garments. Here’s a breakdown of some common symbols you might find on garment tags:
- Washing Symbols:
- Machine Wash: A symbol of a tub filled with water indicates that the garment can be safely machine washed.
- Hand Wash: A symbol of a hand in a tub of water indicates that the garment should be hand washed.
- Do Not Wash: A crossed-out tub symbol means the garment should not be washed.
- Bleaching Symbols:
- Bleach Allowed: A triangle symbol with lines inside indicates that the garment can be bleached.
- Non-Chlorine Bleach Only: A triangle symbol with diagonal lines indicates that only non-chlorine bleach should be used.
- Do Not Bleach: A crossed-out triangle symbol means the garment should not be bleached.
- Drying Symbols:
- Tumble Dry: A symbol of a circle inside a square indicates that the garment can be tumble dried.
- Line Dry: A symbol of a square with a horizontal line indicates that the garment should be dried on a line.
- Drip Dry: A symbol of a square with three vertical lines indicates that the garment should be drip dried.
- Do Not Tumble Dry: A crossed-out circle symbol means the garment should not be tumble dried.
- Ironing Symbols:
- Iron: An iron symbol indicates that the garment can be ironed.
- Low Heat: An iron symbol with one dot indicates that the iron should be used on low heat.
- Medium Heat: An iron symbol with two dots indicates that the iron can be used on medium heat.
- High Heat: An iron symbol with three dots indicates that the iron can be used on high heat.
- Do Not Iron: A crossed-out iron symbol means the garment should not be ironed.
- Dry Cleaning Symbols:
- Dry Clean: A symbol of a circle indicates that the garment can be dry cleaned.
- Dry Clean Only: A symbol of a circle with the letter “P” inside indicates that the garment should only be dry cleaned.
- Fabric Composition Symbols:
- These symbols indicate the types of fibers or materials used in the garment. For example, “C” might represent cotton, “W” might represent wool, and so on.
- Additional Symbols:
- There are many other symbols that provide information about things like temperature limits, wringing, use of fabric softeners, and more.
Remember that these are just general descriptions of common symbols. The specific meanings might vary slightly based on the garment manufacturer or region. When in doubt, it’s always a good idea to refer to the care label on the garment and follow the instructions provided.
