What the drying symbol on your clothes means

When it comes to washing our clothes, we’d like to think we know how to wash them properly; on the correct setting, temperature and cycle.

No matter how many times you look at clothing tags, there will always be a different variation of symbols letting you know that your top should be washed at 30° not 40°, or should avoid tumble dryers at all costs.

They may be confusing, but washing labels – once you know what the symbols mean – are very straightforward.

According to Ariel, each and every clothing label should tell you what fabric the item is made from, including up to five symbols that let you know how to care for it.

To prevent your clothes from shrinking or becoming misshapen when drying, there are a number of symbols on the care label, informing you of the most surefire way to dry your clothes without causing any damage to the fabric.

You may be familiar with the tumble dry allowed symbol – a square with a blank circle inside – but do you know what the same symbol with one added dot means?

If you thought the pair meant the same thing, you’d be wrong.

The square with a circle inside means the clothes can be safely tumble dried.

The additional dots inside the tumble dry symbols indicate what temperature they should be dried at.

One dot stands for tumble drying on a low heat.

These then go up to three: two for medium heat, and three for high heat.

No dot means that you can tumble dry your clothes on any heat, but be careful not to be overzealous with it.

For anyone unfamiliar with the symbols, if your clothes display the symbol which is crossed over, forget about tumble drying your garment, let it dry naturally instead.