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The Wash Guide

Bleaching symbols, and what each one means.

Three symbols, and the first is the one most often misread. An empty triangle does not mean bleach it. It means bleach is survivable, which is a permission rather than an instruction.

Two diagonal lines inside the triangle narrow that to oxygen bleach only, which rules out household chlorine bleach and is the setting most colour-safe products are sold for. A crossed-out triangle rules out both, and on that label a bleach-free detergent matters as much as skipping the bottle.

Both

Any bleach allowed

Chlorine and oxygen bleach are both survivable.

Both

Only oxygen bleach

Oxygen bleach only. No chlorine bleach.

Both

Do not bleach

No bleach of any kind. Use a bleach-free detergent.

Older American charts fill the triangle solid black instead of leaving it open. It is the same instruction, and the crossed outline shown here is the form both standards now use.

Where it sits on the label

  1. Washing
  2. Bleaching
  3. Drying
  4. Ironing
  5. Professional care

Bleaching comes second of the five. A label is always written in this order and simply leaves out whatever does not apply, so a tag carrying only three symbols is not missing anything.

The rest of the label

Or search the whole set by describing what you can see on the decoder.