Your Best Guide to Laundry Symbols: Easy and Complete

Learn how to wash, dry, bleach, and iron your garments with this quick and complete guide to washing machine and care label symbols.

Washing machines were created to make your laundry work a breeze. However, if you are not familiar with your washing machine’s symbols, you cannot maximise the benefits of your laundry appliance. To better understand your washer and dryer, here are some common washing machine symbols that you should know.

What are the Five Basic Wash Symbols?

Washing machines in Singapore follow internationally recognised wash symbols that are presented in five categories:

These laundry symbols follow a pattern to make it easy to understand their meaning. They generally include lines or dots to indicate the same thing but for a different process. Let’s dive into the more specific definitions.

General Wash Symbols

General wash symbols indicate what laundry methods are safe for your clothes. Some clothes and bedding accessories are machine washable, while others are recommended for hand washing or dry cleaning only.

Wash Temperature Symbols

If the clothes are washing machine-safe, you will see some temperature instructions to indicate the safest temperature applicable for your wash cycle. These are represented by a washtub symbol with dots on the inside.

Wash Cycle Symbols

The lines under the wash tub symbols represent the ideal washing machine cycle for your clothes. Ultimately, the more lines under the wash tub are drawn, the gentler the washing machine cycle must be.

Drying Symbols

Drying your clothes can be done with the help of a washer-dryer combo or by air drying your garments. The drying symbols are represented by a circle within a square or lines within the square. Clothes with a circle within a square symbol are dryer machine safe.

Drying Temperature Symbols

Dryer-safe fabrics also follow the right drying temperature to preserve their quality for a longer period. Like washing machine temperatures, more dots drawn within the symbol will mean higher temperature requirements.

Tumble Drying Cycles

If you are tumble drying your clothes and linens, you will have the option of doing a regular tumble drying cycle, a permanent press cycle, or a gentle drying cycle.

Bleaching Symbols

The triangle symbols indicate whether your clothes can be bleached or not.

Ironing Symbols

General ironing symbols indicate the right temperature that you should use when ironing your clothes. More dots within the iron symbol also means that a higher temperature is needed.

Dry Clean Symbols

Dry cleaning your clothes should be left to professionals to ensure the preservation of your fabric’s quality. There are separate symbols to indicate the right chemicals that should be used when dry cleaning fabrics.

Why Is It Important to Understand the Washing Machine Symbols?

Whether machine washing or hand washing your clothes, it’s important to be familiar with the washing machine symbols to prevent laundry accidents and inconveniences. Remember, when washing your clothes, it’s important to make them clean, but it’s also crucial to preserve their quality.

Choose Innovative Washing Machines with Specialised Machine Cycles

Innovative washing machines in Singapore can now handle various fabric types, including delicate ones. To score the best washing machine, make sure to choose a model with easy-to-understand settings to help you make the most out of your home appliance investment.