How to Read Laundry Symbols

Oh, laundry symbols. For something meant to be so helpful, those tiny little icons sure can cause a lot of confusion if you’ve never been taught how to read them. Even if you can figure out which icons are meant for basics like washing and drying, the little dots indicating things like heat levels can sometimes be the most important part and are often overlooked.

Unfortunately, many a laundry disaster could have been avoided by understanding and following the garment’s clothing care instructions. These really aren’t suggestions meant to rain on your shopping parade. They are expert instructions for how to keep your favourite items looking their best for as long as possible based on the fabric and on how the item has been sewn. Standard cycles on home washing machines can be great for socks and sheets, but if you really stop to think about it, would you treat your silk cami the same way you would your gym socks? We didn’t think so.

If you’re now reading the tag on your favourite sweater and panicking about whether or not you are going to shrink it, rest assured. The kind folks at Love2Laundry over in England have created a handy infographic to help decode clothing care tags and we’re happy to share it with you.  

Also, if you don’t yet have a dry cleaner in the GTA, we’d love for you to consider Parkers Custom Clothing Care. We have been serving the wonderful people of Toronto and surrounding areas for over 100 years!