Laundry symbols logo by GINETEX Laundry care symbols with instructions in Japanese. There is the odd time something is labeled incorrectly or an item may not turn out if it’s cleaned using the recommended method.Pictograms providing clothing care recommendations In Canada, clothing manufacturers are required to label your clothes with a way to safely clean them. An X through the circle means do not dry clean. The letter helps your dry cleaner determine which type of solvent to use to dry clean the item. Sometimes there is a letter in the circle. If there is steam coming from the bottom of the iron, it’s referring to steaming the garment rather than putting an iron directly on it. More dots mean you can put the iron at a higher temperature and an X means do not iron. The iron is similar to the other symbols. (There are many other types bleaches out there!) An X through the triangle means do not bleach. If the triangle is black it means do not use chlorine bleach. I think you can start to see where I’m going with these!

An X through the dryer means, do not dry. If there is a half circle at the top of the box, it means hang to dry and a line in the box means to lay flat to dry. The more dots in the dryer mean the hotter the dryer can be.

If there’s a hand in the bucket, it means hand wash and if there’s an X over the bucket, it means don’t wash. The more dots there are, the higher the temperature you can use. If there is a number inside the bucket this tells you what temperature you can use. This little bucket with water in it lets you know if you can wash your garment. Breaking down what they mean can be tough! Have you looked at the tag inside your clothes and felt like you were reading another language? Care labels are a great tool to explain the best method for taking care of your clothing.

Lay flat to dry symbol