The Ultimate Guide for Clothes Tag Symbol Meanings

It’s really great that our clothes all have tags that tell us exactly how to take care of them and the rules we need to follow when washing them. There’s just one small problem. What do any of those tiny, little symbols mean? 

Our clothing outlet has put together a laundry and washing symbol guide to answer any and all of your questions about your clothes tags. We also have a washing symbol chart below for a quick reference!

The laundry care symbols you see on your clothes tags each fall under one of four main categories: washing, drying, bleaching, and ironing. There is a basic symbol to represent each category, and there are subtle details that change about its appearance to tell you specific information about its category. Thankfully, to make it a bit easier, certain details maintain a similar meaning across the various categories. For example, more dots within a symbol indicate a higher heat level is recommended for that particular activity. Or, an X drawn through any symbol in a laundry symbol guide always means, “Don’t do that!”

Washing Symbol Guide

The primary washing care symbol looks like the outline of a narrow basin with one squiggly line of water near the top. As seen in our washing symbol chart, this clothes tag symbol means washing instructions are normal. 

With one additional line underneath this symbol, the meaning is changed: You will need to use the permanent press cycle. Adding two lines underneath the washing symbol indicates that these garments must be washed on a delicate cycle. 

There is also a version of this symbol with a small hand reaching into the basin, meaning you should hand wash this piece. Some outfits will have this basin symbol with an X through it.

There is a laundry symbol in our guide that almost looks like a piece of candy in a wrapper with an X through it. This clothes tag symbol means to mimic the way clothes look when being wrung. As you can infer from the X, this symbol indicates do not wring. You’ll likely find this symbol on more delicate materials, such as a cashmere sweater, that can be permanently stretched or otherwise warped when being wrung. Instead, you can usually dry these materials by laying them flat between two towels, and then rolling the towels smoothly.

The water temperature symbols are easy to recognize: they are just dots. Six dots indicate the highest temperature allowed: 200 degrees F (95 C). The clothes tag symbol meaning of one dot is for garments that should be washed in water that’s only 65-85 degrees F (30 C). Unfortunately, the dots themselves don’t refer to a specific degree, so you’ll either have to memorize every symbol or refer back to this washing symbol chart and guide whenever needed.

Drying

There are three sets of drying symbols: a square for machine instructions, a circle for temperature instructions, and a rectangle for air drying instructions. The machine instructions follow the same meanings as the washing symbol guide. The drying temperature symbols also use dots within a circle but don’t refer to specific temperatures. The clothes tag symbol meaning of a solid-colored circle indicates that no heat should be used to dry the garment.

The air-drying symbols are more complex. A rectangle with a curved line near the top means to line dry the clothes. Three vertical lines within the rectangle indicate a drip-dry garment, and one horizontal line tells you to dry the garment flat. Two diagonal lines in the upper left corner mean this piece should be air-dried in the shade.

Ironing

The iron needed symbol is easily recognizable in our laundry symbol guide. The presence of dots within the iron tells you the temperature setting to use, with more dots on a clothes tag symbol meaning higher heat. An iron with an X through it means the garment shouldn’t be ironed, and an iron with an X below it means not to steam.

Bleaching

The bleach symbol is the triangle in our washing symbol chart. If the triangle is just an outline with no solid fill, then you can use any bleach on that particular garment. If the bleach triangle has two stripes inside of it, but otherwise has no solid fill, then you can only utilize non-chlorine bleach when washing the garment. The washing symbol in our guide with a solid fill and an X means do not bleach.

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Now that you know the meanings to common clothes tag symbols, you can take proper care of your clothes! Upgrade your style with our designer deals, shopping for high-end clothing at a discount, all with free shipping. Find your perfect piece!