Woman reveals what the symbols on washing labels actually mean – and people’s minds are totally blown
LAUNDRY seems like a straightforward task to undertake: separate your lights from your dark washing and stick it in the machine.
Everyone has their preferred degree they like to wash in and though you may not really feel like you know what you’re doing, the clothes come out clean and that’s what really matters.
…Or is it?
One woman, who is launching her own fashion brand, had no choice but to find out what the symbols on labels really mean… and it turns out, we’ve been washing our clothes all wrong.
“I really wish I knew this sooner,” she told viewers in a short clip. “I’ve been ruining my clothes for years.”
Displaying a few common symbols found on labels, she then asked: “Do you know what this means?
“Well I don’t, but because I’m launching a new fashion brand, I have to figure it out. So let’s do it together.”
She started with four symbols all of which were shaped like a large bucket with water inside.
The first one had a cross over it, which she said means “do not wash”. The next one had the same bucket with the number 30 in it, while the third had the number 60 in it.
“Washing symbol with maximum temperature,” she said, explaining what those two mean. The final one in this line showed the same symbol with a hand inside, which means “hand wash only”.
The next line she displayed were all of circles, with the first one indicating people should get this item professionally cleaned.
The second, which had a cross over it, means “do not dry clean”. The third symbol had the letter ‘P’ in it, while the fourth had the letter ‘F’ in it, which means “needs a professional to do this”.
Victoria then went on to show a new line of triangle symbols, with the first plain one meaning “bleach”.
The second one, which had the letters ‘CL’ in it, means “bleaching with chlorine”. The third, which was striped, means “non-chrome bleach”, while the fourth, which had a cross through it, means “do not bleach”.
The ironing symbols were a little easier to crack as the first symbol simply means you can iron that item of clothing.
The next three had one, two, three dots, indicating how high you can set the iron on for each item. And the final symbol means you can’t iron it.
The final line was all about drying. The first square means “dry”, the second, with a line in it, means “dry flat”.
The third, which had a circle in it, means “tumble dry” and the fourth, which had a circle and a dot inside, means “tumble dry low”. The one with two dots in it means “tumble dry high” and finally, the cross through the machine means, “do not tumble dry”.
In the caption, TikTok user @nosliv.co added: “Am I the only one who didn’t know this??”
People flocked to the comments section to share their thoughts as one person wrote: “Thank you for sharing, I think I only knew what like four of those meant”.
Another said: “I started doing this last year, my clothes have lasted longer now lol”.
And a third shared: “thanks for this bc I stare at it every time I do my laundry but never have the energy to figure it out”.
Others, meanwhile, said that despite learning the symbols, they would not be abiding by them.
“I still won’t do this because I ain’t doing tons of loads because of a couple pieces of clothing,” one person said.
A second chimed: “Ehhh toss it all in the washer!” while a third added: “eh I’m just gonna throw my clothes in the machine not decipher symbols lol”.