Care Labelling
This domain tests whether you can read the five basic care symbols and translate them into a safe washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and dry-cleaning decision.
Core rules
- ISO 3758 is the international symbol system. The five families are wash tub, triangle, square, iron and circle.
- A number in the wash tub is the maximum wash temperature in Celsius. A bar underneath means a mild cycle; two bars mean very mild. A hand in the tub means hand wash only. A cross means do not wash.
- The triangle covers bleaching. A crossed triangle means no bleach; diagonal lines mean non-chlorine bleach only.
- The square covers drying. A circle inside means tumble dry; dots give heat level. A line means line dry; a curved line means drip dry.
- Iron dots: one dot 110 C, two dots 150 C, three dots 200 C.
- The circle covers professional dry cleaning. P, F and A indicate solvent groups; a cross means do not dry clean.
Worked example
A label shows a wash tub at 40 with one bar, a crossed triangle, an iron with two dots and a circle marked P. Reasoning: wash at 40 C or below on a mild cycle, do not bleach, iron at up to 150 C, and professional dry cleaning with solvent P is permitted. The lowest restriction governs the care decision.
Traps that cost marks
- Reading iron dots as temperature numbers.
- Ignoring the bar under the wash tub and using a normal cycle.
- Treating a crossed triangle as permission to use oxygen bleach.
- Mixing up the dry-cleaning letters P, F and A.