What do the dots inside care symbols mean?

Dots indicate temperature or heat level. Inside the ironing symbol one dot is low (~110 °C), two is medium (~150 °C) and three is high (~200 °C). Inside the tumble-dry circle, one dot is low heat and two dots is normal heat.

What does a cross through a symbol mean?

A cross (X) over any care symbol means do not perform that action. A crossed-out basin means do not wash, a crossed triangle means do not bleach, and a crossed iron means do not iron or steam.

What do the bars under the wash basin indicate?

Bars beneath the washing basin reduce the mechanical action. One bar means a mild or synthetics cycle, and two bars mean a very mild cycle such as the wool or delicate programme, both with gentler agitation and spin.

What is the difference between the P and F letters in the dry-clean circle?

The letter inside the professional-care circle tells the cleaner which solvent to use. P means perchloroethylene or hydrocarbon solvents, F means hydrocarbon (petroleum) solvent only, and A means any solvent is acceptable.

Are these symbols the same worldwide?

The ISO 3758 / GINETEX symbols shown here are used across the EU, UK and much of the world. North America uses a closely related ASTM set with the same shapes, though the US system sometimes adds extra dots or words.

Clothing Care Symbol Reference

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Read any laundry label without guessing

Garment care labels use a compact set of pictograms instead of words so they work in every language. This reference decodes the ISO 3758 / GINETEX symbols across all five care groups — washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and professional cleaning — and lets you filter to the exact icon on your label.

How it works

The symbols are organised by a fixed shape per care action, always read in the same left-to-right order:

Basin    -> washing       (number/dots = max temperature, bars = gentleness)
Triangle -> bleaching      (empty = any, two lines = oxygen only, X = none)
Square   -> drying         (circle inside = tumble; lines = line/flat dry)
Iron     -> ironing        (dots = heat level 1/2/3)
Circle   -> professional   (letters A/P/F = permitted dry-clean solvent)

Three modifiers recur across every group: dots raise temperature or heat, bars reduce mechanical action, and a cross forbids the action entirely. Once you know the shape and the modifier, any label decodes unambiguously.

Tips and notes

When in doubt, follow the gentlest instruction on the label — symbols set maximums, not requirements.
“Hand wash” (basin with a hand) means do not put the item in a washing machine at all.
A crossed-out tumble-dry square does not forbid all drying — line dry or dry flat instead.
Dry-clean letters are aimed at the cleaner, not you; just hand the garment over and let them read the solvent code.