You probably have noticed that when you look at the care label on an article of clothing that quite often you only see symbols now and no instructions in writing.  Basically what you see is something that looks like a cup of water to represent WASH, a triangle to represent BLEACH, a circle in a square to represent TUMBLE DRY, an outline of an IRON and a circle to represent DRY CLEAN.  Dots are added to represent heat.  The more dots you see on a symbol the more heat you can use to wash and dry your clothes.  Lines are added to represent how to handle your clothes.  More lines means you must use a more delicate cycle.  An X over a symbol obviously means that you should not use that method to care for your clothes.

Here is a more detailed explanation of the symbols that are used to help you take care of your clothing as recommended by the manufacturer.

MACHINE WASH SYMBOL

The first symbol that you normally see is something that looks like a cup of water.  It indicates whether or not an item can be machine washed, the temperature that should be used and what cycle to be used.  One dot in the symbol means it should be washed in cold water, two dots means warm water and three dots means hot water.  In terms of what cycle to be used no lines means normal cycle, one line means permanent press and two lines means delicate cycle.  An X through the symbol means you should not machine wash the item.  A hand in the cup means that the clothing should be washed by hand. 

BLEACH SYMBOL

A triangle symbol represents bleach and whether or not it should be used.  A plain triangle means that it is okay to use bleach when needed.  A triangle with lines through it means that you should only use non-chlorine bleach when needed.  A black triangle with an X through it means that you should not use bleach on this item.

TUMBLE DRY SYMBOL

A circle in a square is the symbol for tumble dry.  Additions to this symbol indicate heat settings, cycle and whether or not it can go in the dryer.  Regarding heat settings:  a black circle means no heat, one dot in the circle means low heat, two dots means medium heat, three dots means high heat and no dots means any heat setting.  Regarding cycle:  a plain circle in the square means a normal cycle, one underline means permanent press and two underlines means delicate cycle.  An X through the symbol means you should not put it in the dryer.

DRY SYMBOL

A plain square is the basic symbol for how to dry your item.  A curved line at the top means that your item should be line dried.  Three vertical lines means it should be drip dried.  One horizontal line means it should be dried flat.  Two diagonal lines means the item should be dried in the shade.  An X through the square means it should not be dried.  An X through a twisted square means that you should not wring out your item.

IRON SYMBOL

The iron symbol is a basic outline of an iron.  To indicate what temperature to use one dot means low heat, two dots means medium heat and three dots means high heat.  An X under the iron means do not use steam.  An X through the iron means you should not iron this piece of clothing.

DRY CLEAN SYMBOL

The dry clean symbol is a plain circle.  A plain circle means that it is okay to dry clean your item.  An X through the circle means that you cannot dry clean it.

Hope that this guide helps you to take proper care of your clothing.