Care labels look like a secret language, but the system is genuinely simple once you know the trick: there are only five base shapes, and everything else is a modifier layered on top.

Learn the five shapes and you can decode a label you've never seen before.

The five shapes#

Then three universal modifiers:

• Dots mean temperature — more dots, more heat
• Lines underneath mean gentleness — more lines, gentler cycle
• An X through anything means don't

That's the entire system.

The wash tub#

Dots inside the tub give the temperature. One dot is roughly 30°C/cold, two is 40°C/warm, three is 50°C, and it climbs from there. Some labels print the number directly instead.

Lines under the tub tell you the cycle. No line is normal. One line means permanent press. Two lines mean delicate or gentle.

A hand in the tub means hand wash only. A crossed-out tub means do not wash at all — this garment is solvent-clean or spot-clean only.

The bleach triangle#

An empty triangle means any bleach is fine. Diagonal lines inside mean oxygen (non-chlorine) bleach only. A crossed-out triangle means no bleach of any kind.

That middle one matters more than people realise. Chlorine bleach dissolves elastane outright, so anything with stretch — most modern jeans, all activewear — should be treated as no-chlorine even when the label is vague.

The drying square#

This one carries the most information.

A circle inside the square means tumble drying. Dots give the heat: one dot low, two medium, three high. A filled black circle means tumble dry with no heat at all. A crossed-out circle-in-square means do not tumble dry.

Without a circle, the lines tell you how to air dry:

• A vertical line means hang to dry
• A horizontal line means dry flat — this is the one for knitwear, which stretches under its own weight when hung wet
• Three diagonal lines in the corner mean dry in shade, away from direct sun

The iron#

Dots again: one for low (synthetics), two for medium (wool, blends), three for high (cotton, linen). A crossed-out iron means don't. An iron with an X through the steam lines beneath it means dry iron only, no steam.

The circle#

This one is for the dry cleaner, not for you. A letter inside — P, F, or W — tells the professional which solvent system to use. W means professional wet cleaning is appropriate. A crossed-out circle means do not dry clean.

If you see a plain circle with no letter, it just means dry cleanable.

What labels don't tell you#

Two things worth knowing.

First, the label is the manufacturer's most conservative guess. "Dry clean only" is frequently liability insurance rather than a genuine requirement — plenty of silk and cashmere hand washes beautifully. Our delicates guide covers which exceptions are real.

Second, the label assumes average water. Des Moines water is hard, which means detergent underperforms at any given temperature. If clothes seem dingy despite following the label exactly, the water is the variable, not your technique — our hard water guide explains the fix.

When in doubt#

Go cooler and gentler than the label allows. You can always rewash something. You cannot unshrink a sweater, and you cannot restore elastane once heat has killed it.

Every machine in our stores lets you set wash temperature and dryer heat independently, so following a label precisely is straightforward. Find your nearest store on the locations page.