How to read the symbols on clothing labels

Not to worry, understanding clothing labels is easy with our guide. Continue reading to learn what each symbol means, whether for washing, drying, ironing, bleaching or dry-cleaning. And remember, the more you follow these instructions to the letter, the longer you will keep your clothes!

1. Washing

Hand wash, delicate wash… there are so many options, including temperatures! As a rule of thumb, if your clothes don’t smell bad or don’t have any stains, refrain from washing them so they stay in better condition. If they do need a wash, here are the instructions for washing:

2. Drying

Same rule of thumb for drying, if you can air-dry your clothes, this will always be better for the fibers, who won’t have to rub against each other in the drying machine. If that option isn’t available, make sure to follow the care labels so you don’t end up with a shrunken wool sweater.

3. Ironing

Ironing care labels are especially important, to make sure you don’t burn the fibers of your clothes.

4. Bleaching

Now, bleaching is a specific one. In general, don’t use bleach on any non-white clothes, except if you’re looking to upcycle a colored t-shirt with a tie-dyed or bleached look. Some fibers even suffer damage upon contact with bleach and thus cannot be bleached. So check your care labels especially carefully for this one.

5. Dry-Cleaning

For all your very delicate clothing, dry-cleaning will be the answer to make sure they stay in great shape. Don’t hesitate to book a cleaning service with our eco-friendly dry-cleaning service partners, they will know exactly what to do!

You should now feel confident to do your laundry while making sure your clothes look great! Have a look at last week’s blog for a look back on the way fashion has changed since the pandemic started, the way this has accelerated consumers’ downsize in consumption and how this has impacted designer Alejandra de Coss’ creativity.