Drying symbols, and what each one means.
The square is drying, and it splits in two. A circle inside it means a tumble dryer, and dots inside that circle give the heat. Lines inside the square instead mean natural drying, on a line or laid flat.
These are the symbols the two standards draw least alike, so a label from one market can look unfamiliar in another. Vertical lines mean hang it up and horizontal lines mean lay it flat, where an American label may draw a sagging clothesline across the top of the square for the same instruction, and a solid black circle for the no-heat setting. A stroke across the top-left corner means keep it out of the sun, in both systems.
Tumble dry, reduced heat
Tumble dry on a low or mild setting.
Both draw one dot and both mean gentler, but only ISO puts a number on it: a mild process at around 60°C.
Tumble dry, normal heat
Tumble dry at a normal setting.
The trap in the whole decoder. Two dots is the hottest international setting there is, a normal load at around 80°C. On an American label the same two dots are the middle of three, marked medium, with a hotter setting above them.
Tumble dry, high heat
Tumble dry on a high setting.
American labels only. ISO's dryer scale stops at two dots, so three dots means the label was written for the United States or Canada.
Tumble dry, no heat
Tumble with air only, no heat at all.
American labels only, and the one symbol where a solid black fill means something other than a prohibition.
Line dry
Hang it up to dry.
Drawn quite differently. ISO puts a single vertical line inside the square. The American symbol draws a sagging clothesline across the top of it, which reads as a curve rather than a line.
Drip dry, on a line
Hang it up soaking wet, without wringing or spinning.
Two vertical lines internationally, three on an American label, and the American symbol does not say whether to hang it or lay it flat.
Drip dry, flat
Lay it flat soaking wet, without wringing or spinning.
International only. The American set has a single drip-dry symbol and leaves the position to you.
Dry in the shade
Keep it out of direct sunlight while it dries.
Both add the same oblique stroke in the top-left corner, and both add it to whichever drying symbol applies rather than using it alone.
Do not dry
No drying by any of these methods.
American labels only, and never alone: its own chart says it is used alongside do not wash.
Do not wring
Do not twist the water out.
American labels only. Internationally the instruction is carried in words, or by the hand-wash symbol's own guidance.
Where it sits on the label
Drying comes third 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
- Washing symbols13 symbols
- Bleaching symbols3 symbols
- Ironing symbols6 symbols
- Dry cleaning symbols10 symbols
Or search the whole set by describing what you can see on the decoder.