The most common clothes care labels can be split into 5 groups: Washing, drying, ironing, bleaching & dry cleaning. Below we’ll show you examples of the symbols and what they mean.
Washing
When washing clothes make sure you use both the right cycle setting e.g. synthetics, cottons etc and the right temperature.
Drying
Drying clothes in the right way can make a massive difference to how long they last and how much energy is used in getting them dry. It can be tempting to throw everything in a tumble dryer for speed but they use lots of electricity and can damage some clothes.
Ironing
If you choose to iron your clothes making sure the iron is at the right temperature and steam setting can help avoid damage whilst still getting the creases out.
Bleaching
Deciding whether to bleach clothes at home can be a tricky business, look out for these symbols to guide you and remember that many stain removers are bleach free so work a little differently.
Dry cleaning
There are some of our clothes that are best left to the professionals. Dry cleaning symbols not only tell us if an item should be dry cleaned but also tell the cleaners what products are safe to use.
