Care Label Symbols Explained: Meanings, Order and Printing Tips

Care symbols are the most widely read part of any garment label. A shopper in Lisbon, a laundry in Copenhagen and a dry cleaner in Bucharest all read the same five pictograms, without a word of translation. That is exactly why they must be right: a wrong temperature or a missing bar leads straight to shrinkage, colour loss and returns. This guide explains each symbol of the international system, how the modifiers work, and how to choose and print a symbol line that holds up for the life of the garment.

One system for Europe: ISO 3758 and GINETEX

The care symbols used across Europe come from GINETEX, the international association for textile care labelling, and are defined in the standard ISO 3758, currently in its fourth edition, ISO 3758:2023. The standard covers domestic washing, bleaching, drying and ironing, plus professional dry cleaning and wet cleaning. Industrial laundering, typical for hospital textiles and some workwear, uses a separate standard (ISO 30023).

The symbols are also registered trademarks owned by GINETEX, registered internationally through WIPO and protected in most European markets. GINETEX states that they may not be used without a licence agreement, which is handled by its national member organisations, and that licensees must apply them correctly. If you sell under your own brand, check your licence position with the GINETEX member in your country. Never redraw, restyle or combine the symbols in your own way.

The five basic symbols and their order

Every care line is built from five basic shapes, always in the same order from left to right:

1. Washtub – domestic washing, by machine or by hand.
2. Triangle – bleaching.
3. Square – drying: tumble drying (circle inside) or natural drying (lines inside).
4. Iron – domestic ironing and pressing.
5. Circle – professional textile care: dry cleaning and wet cleaning.

Each symbol gives the most severe treatment the garment tolerates without irreversible damage. Milder treatment is always allowed. A garment labelled for 40 °C may be washed at 30 °C; the reverse is not true.

The modifiers: numbers, bars, dots and crosses

Numbers in the washtub

In the ISO and GINETEX system, the figure inside the tub is the maximum water temperature in °C: 30, 40, 60, 70 or 95. A hand in the tub means hand wash only, at a maximum of 40 °C; the version added in 2023 means hand wash at ambient temperature (around 20–30 °C). Dots inside a washtub belong to other labelling systems used outside Europe; for EU products, use numbers.

Bars under the symbol

Bars reduce the mechanical action. Under the washtub, one bar means a mild (easy-care) cycle and two bars a very mild cycle, typical for machine-washable wool. Under the professional-care circle, one bar means a mild process and two bars, used with the wet-cleaning symbol, a very mild process.

Dots for heat

Dots set the temperature level for tumble drying and ironing. In a tumble-dryer symbol, one dot means a mild process at reduced heat (GINETEX gives about 60 °C) and two dots a normal process (about 80 °C). On the iron, one dot means low, two dots moderate and three dots high temperature; GINETEX guidance gives maximum sole-plate temperatures of 120, 160 and 210 °C.

The St Andrew's cross

A diagonal cross over any symbol means the treatment is not allowed: do not wash, do not bleach, do not tumble dry, do not iron, do not dry clean.

Care symbols table

Because this page has no images, every symbol below is described in words, as you would brief a designer.

Professional-care symbols are written for cleaners, not consumers. When both dry cleaning and wet cleaning are permitted, the wet-cleaning symbol is placed below the dry-cleaning symbol.

How to choose the right symbols for a garment

Care symbols are a promise about the whole product, not about one fabric. The weakest component decides: a cotton shirt with a printed transfer, a polyester lining or a leather patch is only as washable as its most sensitive part.

• Test, do not guess. Wash, dry and iron a finished sample at the temperatures you plan to declare, then check shrinkage, colour fastness, seam twisting and trims. Accredited textile laboratories run these tests to recognised ISO methods.
• Check every component: shell, lining, interlining, prints, embroidery, buttons, zips and the labels themselves.
• Be realistic, not over-cautious. Declaring "do not wash" or "dry clean only" on a product that can be washed shifts cost to the consumer and invites complaints of a different kind.
• Keep text and symbols consistent. If you add words such as "wash inside out" or "wash with similar colours", they must not contradict the symbols.
• Use one symbol set per product across all markets; the same line works in every EU country, which keeps your care labels simple even when the composition text runs to many languages.

The legal side, including which information is mandatory and which is voluntary, is covered in our EU care label requirements guide.

Printing care symbols that survive washing

A care label has to stay readable after the garment has been through exactly the treatment it describes. That decides the base material, the ink and the size.

Tape choice

• Polyester satin – soft, smooth, sharp print; the usual choice for fashion, kidswear and underwear.
• Nylon or polyester taffeta – firmer, very wash-resistant, ideal with resin thermal-transfer print for workwear and outerwear.
• Cotton tape – natural hand for cotton and organic lines; print is slightly less crisp, so keep symbols a little larger.

Our label materials page compares these bases in more detail, and the printed labels range shows the finishes we produce.

Size and legibility

The 2023 edition asks for the main symbols to be equal in size and aligned. In practice, a symbol height of about 4–5 mm reads well on a 25–35 mm wide tape; going much below 3.5 mm makes dots and bars blur, especially on cotton or after repeated washing. Leave clear space between symbols so that a crossed-out iron cannot be mistaken for something else. For tape widths and lengths, see the label size guide.

Finishing

Ultrasonically cut edges stay soft and do not fray, so consumers are less tempted to cut the label out – and with it the care information. Before bulk, we wash-test printed samples on the chosen tape so you can see the symbols after real laundering.

Common mistakes

• Symbols in the wrong order, or professional care placed first.
• Redrawn, rounded or "brand-styled" symbols that no longer match the registered drawings.
• Dots in the washtub instead of a temperature number on EU products.
• A tumble-dry symbol on garments that shrink, copied from a previous style.
• Symbols chosen for the shell fabric only, ignoring prints, trims or lining.
• Symbols printed so small that bars and dots merge after a few washes.
• Outdated artwork that predates ISO 3758:2023.

Frequently asked questions