WHAT ARE YOUR LAUNDRY SYMBOLS TELLING YOU?

Laundry symbols can be a little confusing. What do those lines and dots mean and how do you use them to keep clothes looking their best? First, check your clothing label to find the fabric information followed by a series of symbols. Be careful to distinguish between the washing and drying symbols. If your item is stained, browse our stain removal guide before deciding how to wash.

The chart below breaks down the most common clothing care symbols — from washing to drying, dry cleaning and even ironing.

washing symbols

When figuring out how to wash an item, look for the wash tub icon as well as what's inside and below it. Black dots indicate water temperature and one or two lines beneath the tub represent cycle choice. An X means your item shouldn't be machine washed: look for a hand symbol indicating hand washing or a circle for dry cleaning. If you want to use bleach, look for a triangle symbol to determine if it's safe for your fabric.

Drying symbols

Look for a square on your item's care tag when deciding how to dry. A circle inside the square means it can be tumble dried in the dryer, while straight or curved lines mean it should be air dried. Just like washing symbols, black dots represent heat and lines beneath the square indicate cycle choice.

Ironing symbols

The ironing symbol isn't hard to spot—it looks just like an iron. Black dots will indicate heat while X's will tell you whether or not to use steam or skip ironing altogether. If you want to skip this step, select a wrinkle fighting setting on your dryer like the Wrinkle Prevent option with Steam by Maytag that tumbles your clothes with steam for up to 150 minutes after the cycle ends.

Dry Cleaning symbols

If you see a plain circle on your tag, that means your item is best left to a dry cleaning professional.