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Garment Care Symbols Chart: ISO 3758 Wash, Bleach, Dry, Iron and Professional Care

A wrong care label means returns, claims and failed buyer audits. This reference lists the standard wash, bleach, dry, iron and professional care symbols in plain words so merchandisers and quality teams can check labels quickly.

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Group	Symbol description	Meaning	Note
Washing	Wash tub with 30	Machine wash, maximum 30 C	Number is the maximum water temperature in C
Washing	Wash tub with 40	Machine wash, maximum 40 C	Most common setting for everyday garments
Washing	Wash tub with 50	Machine wash, maximum 50 C
Washing	Wash tub with 60	Machine wash, maximum 60 C	Typical for white cotton and bed linen
Washing	Wash tub with 70	Machine wash, maximum 70 C
Washing	Wash tub with 95	Machine wash, maximum 95 C	Boil wash for robust cotton
Washing	Wash tub with one bar underneath	Mild process, reduced agitation	Applies to the temperature shown
Washing	Wash tub with two bars underneath	Very mild process, strongly reduced agitation	For delicate items
Washing	Wash tub with hand	Hand wash only, maximum 40 C	Do not machine wash
Washing	Crossed-out wash tub	Do not wash
Bleaching	Empty triangle	Any bleaching agent allowed	Includes chlorine bleach
Bleaching	Triangle with two diagonal lines	Non-chlorine bleach only	Oxygen-based bleach
Bleaching	Crossed-out triangle	Do not bleach
Tumble drying	Square with circle and one dot	Tumble dry at low temperature
Tumble drying	Square with circle and two dots	Tumble dry at normal temperature
Tumble drying	Crossed-out square with circle	Do not tumble dry
Natural drying	Square with curved line at top	Line dry
Natural drying	Square with vertical lines	Drip dry
Natural drying	Square with horizontal line	Dry flat	Prevents stretching of knits
Ironing	Iron with one dot	Iron at low temperature, sole plate up to 110 C	Steam may damage the fabric
Ironing	Iron with two dots	Iron at medium temperature, sole plate up to 150 C
Ironing	Iron with three dots	Iron at high temperature, sole plate up to 200 C
Ironing	Crossed-out iron	Do not iron
Professional care	Circle with P	Professional dry cleaning with specified solvents	Tetrachloroethylene and hydrocarbon solvents
Professional care	Circle with F	Professional dry cleaning with hydrocarbon solvents
Professional care	Circle with W	Professional wet cleaning
Professional care	Crossed-out circle	Do not dry clean

Based on the ISO 3758 symbol system (as used under the GINETEX scheme). North American labeling follows different rules, such as ASTM D5489 symbols and the written instructions required under the US Care Labeling Rule. Check the destination market requirements before you finalize labels.

Style and label data review

Optional: a review of how care instructions and style revisions are linked to your bill of materials.

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How to use the table

Filter by group to see only washing or only ironing symbols, or search for a number such as 40 or a word such as bleach. Use the table to proofread care label artwork before approval and to translate symbols into the text a buyer's tech pack requires. Export the rows to Excel if you keep a master care label library by style.

Washing tub number is maximum temperature in C
Bars under a symbol mean a milder process
Dots on an iron or dryer mean low, medium or high heat
Circles refer to professional cleaning, not home care

Choosing the right instruction

The care instruction must be the most severe treatment the product, including trims, linings and prints, can survive, tested against the matching wash and dry test method. If a garment passes at 40 C but its interlining bubbles at 60 C, the label says 40. Specify the care symbols for each component in the tech pack and run wash tests on the finished garment, not only the fabric, so that dimensional change, color transfer and trim failures show up.

Common mistakes

Reading the order of the five symbols wrongly is common: the sequence is wash, bleach, dry, iron, professional care. Another mistake is printing symbols without the local-language text some markets expect. Finally, labels copied from an old style often outlive a fabric change, so tie the care label to the bill of materials revision.

Symbol order is wash, bleach, dry, iron, professional care
Check whether the destination needs text as well as symbols
Update the label when the fabric or trim changes

Frequently Asked Questions

What do the numbers in the wash tub mean?

The number inside a wash tub is the maximum water temperature in degrees Celsius for that wash. A tub with 40 allows a machine wash up to 40 C. Bars under the tub mean the machine should use a milder, lower-agitation program.

What do the dots on an iron symbol mean?

The dots show the heat setting. One dot is low, with a sole plate up to about 110 C. Two dots is medium, up to about 150 C. Three dots is high, up to about 200 C.

What do the letters in the dry cleaning circle mean?

P means professional dry cleaning with specified solvents including tetrachloroethylene and hydrocarbon solvents. F means hydrocarbon solvents only. W means professional wet cleaning. A crossed-out circle means do not dry clean.

Are these symbols used in the United States?

The ISO symbols are used across Europe and many other markets. In the United States, care labels follow ASTM D5489 symbols with the Care Labeling Rule requirements, so confirm what your destination market requires before you print labels.

If care labels, wash tests and style revisions are managed in separate files, we can show how to tie them to your ERP bill of materials and item revisions.

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