Home·Laundry symbols

86 laundry symbols — dots are heat, bars are gentleness, a cross is a no

The pictures on a care label are a rule to read, not a table to memorise. The base shape sets the treatment — tub for washing, triangle for bleaching, square for drying, iron for ironing, circle for professional care — the dots set the temperature, the bars set how gentle, and a cross means do not. All 86 combinations are laid out here from that rule.

The base shape says which treatment

A tub is washing, a triangle is bleaching, a square is drying, an iron is ironing, and a circle is professional care at a cleaner. Inside the square, a circle means a tumble dryer while plain lines mean drying in the air. Labels usually run these five left to right in that order, so the position alone hints at which treatment you are looking at.

The dots are the temperature

For washing, one dot is 30 °C, two 40, three 50, four 60, five 70 and six 95. For ironing, one dot is 110 °C, two 150 and three 200. For tumble drying, more dots simply mean more heat. That single mapping replaces the chart: count the dots and you have the temperature.

The bars are how gentle

No bar is the normal process, one bar is gentle, two bars are very gentle. In a washing machine that means less agitation and a slower spin; in a dryer, less tumbling. Bars only ever appear under washing, tumble drying and professional care — bleaching, ironing and natural drying have no place for them.

A cross means do not

A cross laid over any shape rules that treatment out. This is the one reading you cannot afford to get backwards, so on this site every forbidden cell carries an explicit "do not" in its name and its meaning, and no permitted cell ever does — which is why a symbol that bars steam is written "without steam" instead.

The standards do not fully agree

ISO 3758, GINETEX and JIS L 0001 write the temperature as a figure inside the tub; North America (ASTM D5489) writes it as dots. The same instruction therefore appears as two different pictures, and both are listed here. Japan switched to the ISO set in 2016, so a garment bought before that carries different pictures. Tumble-dry dots differ too: ISO gives one dot as 60 °C and two as 80 °C, while three dots belong to the North American set. Anything we could not pin down is left out rather than guessed.

By family

Washing42

Washing, max 30 °CWashing, max 30 °C, gentleWashing, max 30 °C, very gentleWashing, max 40 °CWashing, max 40 °C, gentleWashing, max 40 °C, very gentleWashing, max 50 °CWashing, max 50 °C, gentleWashing, max 50 °C, very gentleWashing, max 60 °CWashing, max 60 °C, gentleWashing, max 60 °C, very gentleWashing, max 70 °CWashing, max 70 °C, gentleWashing, max 70 °C, very gentleWashing, max 95 °CWashing, max 95 °C, gentleWashing, max 95 °C, very gentleWashing, 1 dot, max 30 °CWashing, 1 dot, max 30 °C, gentleWashing, 1 dot, max 30 °C, very gentleWashing, 2 dots, max 40 °CWashing, 2 dots, max 40 °C, gentleWashing, 2 dots, max 40 °C, very gentleWashing, 3 dots, max 50 °CWashing, 3 dots, max 50 °C, gentleWashing, 3 dots, max 50 °C, very gentleWashing, 4 dots, max 60 °CWashing, 4 dots, max 60 °C, gentleWashing, 4 dots, max 60 °C, very gentleWashing, 5 dots, max 70 °CWashing, 5 dots, max 70 °C, gentleWashing, 5 dots, max 70 °C, very gentleWashing, 6 dots, max 95 °CWashing, 6 dots, max 95 °C, gentleWashing, 6 dots, max 95 °C, very gentleWashing, no temperature givenWashing, no temperature given, gentleWashing, no temperature given, very gentleHand washingDo not washDo not wring

Bleaching3

Any bleachOxygen bleach onlyDo not bleach

Drying21

Tumble drying, no temperature givenTumble drying, no temperature given, gentleTumble drying, no temperature given, very gentleTumble drying, low heatTumble drying, low heat, gentleTumble drying, low heat, very gentleTumble drying, medium heatTumble drying, medium heat, gentleTumble drying, medium heat, very gentleTumble drying, high heatTumble drying, high heat, gentleTumble drying, high heat, very gentleLine dryLine dry in the shadeDrip line dryDrip line dry in the shadeDry flatDry flat in the shadeDrip dry flatDrip dry flat in the shadeDo not tumble dry

Ironing9

Ironing, no temperature givenIroning, no temperature given, without steamIroning, max 110 °CIroning, max 110 °C, without steamIroning, max 150 °CIroning, max 150 °C, without steamIroning, max 200 °CIroning, max 200 °C, without steamDo not iron

Professional care11

Dry cleaning, perchloroethylene solventDry cleaning, perchloroethylene solvent, gentleDry cleaning, hydrocarbon solvent onlyDry cleaning, hydrocarbon solvent only, gentleDry cleaning, any solventWet cleaningWet cleaning, gentleWet cleaning, very gentleDry cleaningDo not dry cleanDo not wet clean

Worth knowing

  • The base shape sets the treatment: tub for washing, triangle for bleaching, square for drying, iron for ironing, circle for professional care.
  • The dots set the temperature: washing runs from one dot at 30 °C to six at 95 °C, ironing is 110 °C, 150 °C and 200 °C for one, two and three dots.
  • The bars set how gentle: none is normal, one is gentle, two is very gentle.
  • A cross means do not. Read a ban as permission and one wash is enough to finish the garment.

Common questions

Q. How do I read a care label?

The base shape tells you which treatment, the marks on it tell you how far. Tub is washing, triangle is bleaching, square is drying, iron is ironing, circle is professional care. Dots give the temperature, bars give how gentle, and a cross means do not do it at all.

Q. What temperature is each dot?

For washing, one dot is 30 °C, two 40, three 50, four 60, five 70 and six 95. For ironing, one dot is 110 °C, two 150 and three 200. For tumble drying, more dots mean more heat, though the number of steps and the actual degrees vary between standards.

Q. Do the symbols differ by country?

ISO 3758, GINETEX and JIS L 0001 put the temperature in the tub as a figure; North America (ASTM D5489) uses dots instead. Japan moved to the ISO set in 2016. The same instruction therefore has two pictures, and both are listed separately here.