Laundry symbols, decoded

Every tag uses the same five base shapes. Learn those and the rest is just modifiers.

The five shapes

• Tub — washing. Dots inside mean water temperature: one dot is cold (30°C), two is warm (40°C), more dots means hotter. A hand in the tub means hand wash only.
• Triangle — bleach. Empty triangle: any bleach is fine. Triangle with two diagonal lines: non-chlorine (colour-safe) bleach only.
• Square — drying. A circle inside means the dryer; dots inside the circle are heat (one is low). A curved line at the top means hang it on a line. A flat line in the middle means lay it flat.
• Iron — ironing. One dot is low heat, three dots is high.
• Circle — dry cleaning. That one is not your problem. Bag it and take it in.

The modifiers

• An X through any symbol means don’t.
• One line under the tub: permanent press (medium cycle). Two lines: gentle/delicate.
• A black-filled circle in the dryer square means tumble dry with no heat.

Dad tip: When in doubt: cold wash, hang dry. You will almost never wreck something that way.