28 March 2023 , 09:08
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If you've ever stared at the label of your clothes, not knowing what on earth the symbols mean, you're certainly not alone. But with washing our garments being a necessary part of life, it's important to know that you're treating your clothes with the TLC they deserve.
Each item that gets washed has different instructions, and they need to be adhered to if you want the garment to last, not shrink, and stay as good as new.
A fashion fan, Victoria, who posts on TikTok as @nosliv.co, admitted that she'd been "ruining her clothes for years" by not following the instructions properly as she didn't know what the symbols meant.
Victoria said she had to get to grips with washing symbols as she's making a fashion brand (nosliv.co/TikTok)
She went through the symbols to explain them to followers (nosliv.co/TikTok)She captioned the video: "Am I the only one who didn't know this?", alongside an exasperated emoji.
She explained that she didn't have a clue what the washing symbols meant, but she had to figure it out because she was launching her own fashion brand - and her mind was blown.
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The entrepreneur then went through symbols, including the symbols that look like a washing basket containing water - one has a cross through meaning do not wash, the others show maximum temperature and the other shows a hand in the basket as it needs to be hand washed.
Then she came to the circular symbols and explained the meaning of those. The plain circle means it needs professional cleaning, the circle with a cross means do not dry clean, and P and F in a circle also need professional cleaning.
The triangles are bleaching symbols, and if it says CL, you can bleach it with chlorine. A triangle with diagonal lines across it means non-chrome bleach, and if it's a triangle with a cross over it then it means you shouldn't bleach the garment in question.
She then came to the iron symbols - the iron alone means it can be ironed, and then the rest of the symbols have increasing numbers of dots inside the iron. One dot means low iron, two is medium, and three is high. And when pointing at the iron with a cross through it, she said: "Do not, under any circumstances, iron."
Finally, the last symbols she explained were in squares. A square with a semi-circle in means line dry, a square with a line through means dry flat, a square with a circle in means tumble dry, a square with a circle and one dot means tumble dry low, and two dots means tumble dry high, and a square with a cross through it means you shouldn't tumble dry.
She then left a handy screenshot-able picture for TikTokers who "didn't memorise it."
Someone in the comments joked that they'd learned more on TikTok than they "did in school."
"I always read the label", another wrote.
"Thank you for sharing, I think I only knew what like four of those meant", a TikToker praised.
Victoria is currently in the process of designing and launching the 'world's first' sweat-proof dress.
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Did you know the meaning of these symbols? Let us know in the comments.