Care symbols, also called laundry symbols, are pictograms which are shown on the label attached to the item. They are there to show the owner what laundry processes should be applied to the garment. There are different standards used in different regions of the world, but this section concentrates on the ones used in the UK. Some examples
There are five different types of care symbols used. The basic shapes are shown below, but each symbol has a different version depending on the laundry process.
Any symbol with a X through it, means that you should perform that operation on the garment. Do not iron, do not tumble dry etc. For washing and professional cleaning, a line or double line underneath the symbol means clean gently or very gently.
