The observance of laundry symbols is as important as the choice of washing powder.

Do you want to keep your clothes and other fabrics as good as new? The observance of laundry symbols is as important as the choice of washing powder.

You’ve surely noticed that your clothes, bed linen and other fabrics are usually provided with labels that include information regarding brand, materials and size, as well as laundry symbols. But what do they actually mean?

First of all, laundry symbols inform you about the washing and ironing method, as well as other care. As with road signs, these symbols are based on individual shapes. You may come across shapes such as:

·         circles

·         triangles

·         squares

·         basins

·         irons

The circle symbolises cleaning, the triangle means bleaching, the square stands for drying, the basin for washing and the iron for ironing. These basic washing and care symbols also contain other important information.

Circle

In laundry symbols, a circle means cleaning. Inside it, you may also come across other signs - mainly letters such as F, P, A or W, or a crossed-out circle. The letter F means a normal cleaning procedure, P symbolises the option of using certain solvents, A informs you of the option of including trichloroethane among the chemicals, W indicates the possibility of wet cleaning only, and a crossed-out circle prohibits dry cleaning.

Triangle

A triangle is a symbol of bleaching. The abbreviation cl may be inside it, which means it can be bleached with preparations that contain chlorine. You may also see a crossed-out triangle with cl, which means bleaching is prohibited, or a triangle with two lines through it, which symbolises the use of oxygen-based bleaches only.

Square

In laundry signs, the square symbolises drying. The most common content inside these squares are circles, which can contain two dots – normal drying, three dots – higher temperature possible, or one dot – a lower temperature. You may also see a crossed-out circle, which symbolises no tumble drying. The square can also contain lines, where one line means that the garment can be dried on a clothesline, while three indicate the need to dry it flat.

Basin

The basin symbolises washing. Inside the basin, there may be numbers, an immersed hand, dots, a strikethrough or a line underneath. The numbers stand for the maximum possible water temperature when washing, and if the basin is also underlined, it means particularly gentle washing. An immersed hand indicates hand washing only, and a strikethrough prohibits washing completely.

Iron

The iron, of course, symbolises ironing. Inside this symbol, there may also be dots, numbers, a strikethrough or a steam symbol. The dots stand for the maximum temperature, where three dots indicate 200°C, two dots 150°C and one dot 110°C. Any numbers that are present also indicate the maximum temperature. A crossed-out iron symbol means no ironing, an iron with a steam symbol indicates the option of steam ironing and a crossed-out steam symbol means this is not allowed.

Just like on clothes, you can also use the individual symbols on the washing machine, iron or tumble dryer itself that will ensure that fabrics are handled gently, whether it's clothing or bed linen or something else.