Laundry care labels decoded: what all those washing symbols mean
By the Pacco Pacco Laundry team · Updated 18 September 2026 · 4 min read
The short answer
Every care label uses five base symbols: a tub for washing, a triangle for bleach, a square for drying, an iron for ironing and a circle for dry cleaning. Numbers or dots show temperature, a hand in the tub means hand wash, and a cross through any symbol means don't do it. The three warnings worth obeying every time are the crossed-out tub, the crossed-out dryer and the plain circle for dry clean only.
The five symbols that run the whole system
Care labels look cryptic, but the entire system is five pictures with modifiers. Once you know the base shapes you can read any garment in seconds.
- Tub of water: machine washing. The number inside is the maximum temperature in °C
- Triangle: bleach. Empty means bleach is fine; two diagonal lines mean non-chlorine bleach only; crossed out means none at all
- Square: drying. A circle inside the square means tumble drying; lines inside the square describe line, flat or drip drying
- Iron: ironing. One dot is cool, two is medium, three is hot; crossed out means don't iron
- Circle: professional dry cleaning. The letter inside is an instruction for the cleaner, not for you
What do the dots, numbers and bars mean?
Temperature appears as either a number or dots: 30 in the tub means a maximum of 30°C, while dots follow the same one-cool to three-hot logic as the iron. For tumble drying, one dot inside the circle means low heat and two means normal heat.
One bar underneath a tub means use a gentle or reduced cycle; two bars mean very gentle, which on most machines is the delicates or wool setting. The bars are the most commonly ignored modifier, and they're exactly why some jumpers survive machine washing and others come out doll-sized.
Which symbols can you get away with bending?
Honestly, some labels are conservative. Washing at 30°C when the label says 40°C is always safe, and many things labelled hand wash survive a proper wool cycle in a modern front loader inside a mesh bag. Ironing a dot cooler than stated just means slower going.
The rules we never bend after years of washing other people's clothes: don't machine wash anything with a crossed-out tub, don't tumble dry anything with a crossed-out dryer symbol, and treat dry clean only seriously on structured garments like suits, coats and anything with a lining or interfacing. That crossed-out dryer symbol is the single most expensive symbol to ignore.
No label, or the label has worn off?
Judge by fabric: cotton and polyester are forgiving; wool, silk, viscose and anything embellished are not. When in doubt, wash cold on a gentle cycle, skip the dryer and let it air dry. You can always wash something more aggressively next time; you can't unshrink it.
If a label leaves you genuinely unsure, add a note when you book a Pacco Pacco pickup. Reading labels and making the judgement call is part of the job, and we'll route anything risky to dry cleaning with your say-so first.
Quick questions
What does the hand in the tub symbol mean?
Hand wash only, at 40°C or below. In practice, a wool or hand-wash cycle in a modern front loader with a low spin is equivalent for most items, but use a mesh bag and gentle detergent.
Does dry clean only always mean it?
For suits, coats, lined garments and anything structured, yes. For a simple unlined viscose top, a careful cold hand wash often works, but you accept the risk. If a garment matters to you, follow the label.
What does the crossed-out triangle mean?
No bleach of any kind, including the oxygen-based whitening powders. It usually appears on colours and on fabrics like wool and silk that bleach damages.