---
title: "Laundry Care Symbol Decoder: Read Any Label | Wild Linen Lab"
description: "Tap the symbols on a clothing care label and read what they mean: European (ISO/GINETEX) and US dot symbols, explained in plain language, step by step."
url: https://wildlinenlab.cfd/
---

Entry 01 · care labels

# Laundry care symbol decoder

Tap the symbols on your clothing label, or search for them, and read what each one means and what the whole label asks you to do.

## Your whole label, read in order

1. Wash Machine wash at no more than 40 °C (104 °F) on a normal cycle, with full washing action (a cottons programme).
2. Bleach Only oxygen (non-chlorine) bleach, when needed; no chlorine bleach.
3. Dry Tumble dry at low heat (exhaust air up to 60 °C (140 °F)), on a gentler, shorter programme.
4. Iron Iron at medium heat, sole plate up to 150 °C (302 °F).
5. Professional care Can be professionally dry cleaned in tetrachloroethene (perchloroethylene) or any solvent listed for F, normal process.

- Every symbol sets a maximum: a cooler wash, a gentler cycle or a lower iron setting is always fine.

## How to read a care label

Care labels use five basic symbols, nearly always in the same order: a washtub for washing, a triangle for bleaching, a square for drying, an iron for ironing and a circle for professional cleaning. Dots, bars, numbers and letters refine them, and a cross through any symbol means "do not".

**Using the decoder.** First choose the label style. A number inside the tub (30, 40, 60) means the international system, ISO 3758, which GINETEX maintains and Japan has used since December 2016. Dots inside the tub mean the US and Canadian system, ASTM D5489. Then tap the symbols on your label, one from each row, or type into the search box: "40", "line dry", "P" and "no steam" all work. The card explains the symbol you tapped, and the panel below reads the whole label back in order as plain instructions, with a note on anything missing.

**What the marks mean.** A number is the hottest water allowed, in °C. Under the tub, one bar asks for a gentler cycle and two bars for a very gentle one. Dots stand for heat: one dot is cool or low, and each extra dot is hotter. In the circle, the letter tells the dry cleaner which solvent is safe, and W means professional wet cleaning.

**Worked example.** A cotton T-shirt shows a tub with 40, a triangle with two lines, a square with a circle and one dot, an iron with two dots and a circled P. Read in order: machine wash at up to 40 °C on a normal cycle; oxygen bleach only; tumble dry on low; iron at medium heat; can be dry cleaned. Copy the result, print it as a care card to go with a handmade gift, or copy the link to share exactly these symbols.

## Where European and US labels differ

The two systems share the five shapes, but some details mean different things. Japan's standard, JIS L 0001, adopted the ISO symbols in 2016, so read Japanese labels as "Europe & world".

| Symbol detail | Europe & world (ISO 3758, GINETEX) | USA & Canada (ASTM D5489) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wash temperature | A number: the maximum °C | Dots: 1 = 30 °C, 2 = 40 °C, 3 = 50 °C, 4 = 60 °C, 5 = 70 °C, 6 = 95 °C; an empty tub means any temperature |
| Bars under the tub | 1 bar: mild process; 2 bars: very mild | 1 bar: permanent press; 2 bars: delicate or gentle |
| Do not bleach | Crossed triangle | Solid black triangle, crossed |
| Tumble-dry heat | 1 dot: low (60 °C exhaust); 2 dots: normal (80 °C) | Empty circle: any heat; 1, 2, 3 dots: low, medium, high; filled circle: no heat |
| Natural drying | Vertical line: hang; horizontal: flat; two lines: drip dry; one corner line: shade | Curve at the top: line dry; three vertical lines: drip dry; horizontal line: flat; two corner lines: shade |
| Ironing | Always 1–3 dots (110, 150, 200 °C); since 2023 also "no steam" | Same dots; a plain iron means any temperature; crossed steam lines: no steam |
| Professional care | P or F tells the cleaner the solvent; W: wet cleaning; bars: milder process | Empty circle: any solvent; P: not trichloroethylene; F: petroleum solvent only; W: wet cleaning |
| Only on US labels | None | Do not wring; do not dry |

## Sources

- GINETEX, [Care symbols](https://www.clevercare.info/en/care-symbols) (clevercare.info): the meaning of each international symbol, temperatures and suggested fabrics.
- GINETEX, [ISO 3758:2023 standard has been published](https://ginetex.net/article/GB/iso-37582023-standard-has-been-published) (December 2023), and Bureau Veritas, [Update: ISO 3758:2023](https://www.cps.bureauveritas.com/newsroom/update-iso-37582023-textiles-care-labelling-code-using-symbols): the new hand-wash-at-ambient-temperature and no-steam ironing symbols.
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, [Guide to apparel and textile care symbols](https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/office-consumer-affairs/en/product-safety-recalls-and-labelling/guide-apparel-and-textile-care-symbols): the North American dot temperatures, tumble-dry and iron limits.
- US Federal Trade Commission, [Clothes Captioning: Complying with the Care Labeling Rule](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/clothes-captioning-complying-care-labeling-rule): what US labels must say, and what an unstated temperature or bleach instruction means.
- ASTM International, [D5489 Standard Guide for Care Symbols for Care Instructions on Textile Products](https://store.astm.org/standards/d5489).
- Consumer Affairs Agency of Japan, [clothing care labelling changed to the international symbols in December 2016](https://www.caa.go.jp/en/policy/future/project/project_006).

## More from the notebook

Four more tools for looking after fabric, and for colouring it.

- [Stain removal guide](https://wildlinenlab.cfd/stain-removal-guide/): Step-by-step methods for 22 common stains, plus a routine for unknown ones, adjusted for wool, silk and dry-clean-only fabric, with the safety rules.
- [Natural dye calculator](https://wildlinenlab.cfd/natural-dye-calculator/): Weigh your fibre and get the mordant, dyestuff and water amounts at published % WOF figures.
- [Washing temperature guide](https://wildlinenlab.cfd/washing-temperature-guide/): The right temperature for whites, darks, wool, towels or a sick household, capped by the care label.
- [Fabric shrinkage calculator](https://wildlinenlab.cfd/fabric-shrinkage-calculator/): Wash a test swatch, measure it and find out how much extra fabric to cut or buy.

## Recommended

Two free services for the online side of buying and caring for clothes.

Temporary email · no sign-up

### CleanTempMail

Fabric shops, detergent brands and craft suppliers often ask for an email address before they send a care guide, a pattern or a discount code. CleanTempMail gives you a free disposable inbox at once, with no registration, a random or custom address on hundreds of domains, and messages deleted automatically after three days.

[Open a temporary inbox](https://cleantempmail.com/)

Disposable cloud browser · free lookups

### WebTraceCheck

Some swing tags and labels now carry QR codes, and bargain fabric shops turn up in search results every day. If a link or a shop looks unfamiliar, WebTraceCheck opens it in a disposable cloud browser on an isolated desktop that is deleted after the session, and its free domain lookup shows the details behind a site.

[Try WebTraceCheck](https://webtracecheck.com/)

## Questions

**Why do some labels have dots in the washtub instead of a number?**

Dots are the North American way of showing water temperature, from the ASTM D5489 guide used in the USA and Canada: one dot is 30 °C (cool), two dots 40 °C, three 50 °C, four 60 °C, five 70 °C and six 95 °C. European and most other labels print the temperature in °C instead. Choose "USA & Canada" in the decoder to see the dot symbols.

**What does a bar under the washtub mean?**

A gentler wash. On international labels one bar means a mild process, like a synthetics or easy-care programme, and two bars a very mild one, like a wool programme with a small load. On US labels one bar means the permanent-press cycle and two bars the delicate or gentle cycle. Either way, use less agitation and a slower spin.

**Can I wash something that has a dry-cleaning symbol?**

Look at the washtub. If it shows a temperature or a hand, washing is allowed too, and the circle simply adds a professional option. If the tub is crossed out, washing at home risks shrinkage, colour loss or a ruined shape. In the USA, the FTC allows "Dryclean only" on a label only when the maker has evidence that washing would damage the item.

**Do Japanese care labels use the same symbols?**

Yes, for clothes made since December 2016. Japan's standard JIS L 0001 was aligned with ISO 3758, so choose "Europe & world" in the decoder. Older Japanese garments carry the previous symbols with Japanese words inside them, which this decoder does not cover.

**What does it mean when a symbol is missing?**

On US labels a missing instruction often means there is nothing to worry about: under the Care Labeling Rule, a label that never mentions bleach means every bleach is safe, and no temperature means hot water is fine. International labels give no such promise, so when a symbol is absent, choose the gentler option.

**Are the temperatures on the label exact settings?**

They are maximums. A 40 °C label means 40 °C or cooler, a two-dot iron means medium heat or lower, and a normal cycle can always be swapped for a gentler one. Going hotter or rougher than the label allows is what causes shrinking, felting and fading.