Guide and explanation of all washing symbols

Washing instructions symbols

Each garment or textile you buy comes with a note that describes how to best take care of your textiles. It can be anything from your favorite jeans or a winter jacket, to curtains and bedding. The symbols are what we call washing advice and sometimes there are written recommendations in addition to the symbols. It may say something like "wash with similar colors" or "wash inside out".

Some of the most common symbols include:

• Water washing
• Ironing
• Drying
• Dry cleaning

Water wash symbol

This symbol is found on all textiles, but in different designs. The symbol looks like a tub of water and inside there is a number. 30, 40 and 60 are the most common. They indicate the temperature of the water you should have. Sometimes there is instead a hand in the tub, which indicates that the garment should be hand washed. Some garments such as outer garments have a tub with a cross over it. This means that the garment in question must not be washed in water.

If we iron our textiles, we avoid wrinkled garments and get neat curtains, tablecloths and bed linen. However, not all garments can withstand ironing. The symbol for ironing is a simple iron with dots in it. The dots indicate the heat, the more dots, the higher the heat. If, on the other hand, there is a crossed iron, it means that this garment or textile cannot be ironed at all.

Drying symbol

When the laundry is done, it naturally needs to be dried. In general, everything that is washed can be hung to dry or laid flat to dry. Many textiles can also be tumble-dried, which is practical because there is not always room to hang laundry.

The tumble dryer symbol is a square with a circle in it. Sometimes there are dots inside the circle, which indicate the heat of the tumble dryer. If the circle is empty, the garment can withstand tumble drying, if the circle is completely filled, the garment should be dried without heat. If, on the other hand, the symbol is crossed out, the garment cannot be tumble-dried at all.

Sometimes there is instead a vertical or horizontal line, which means you can either drip dry or flat dry the fabric. If the line is bent, it can instead be hung to dry over the washing line.

Dry cleaning symbol

This is a common symbol on many garments, mainly outerwear or garments with a different material. The dry cleaning symbol is a circle with a letter in it. The letters are A, F and P. They have different meanings, which your dry cleaner knows about. If the circle is crossed, the garment must not be dry cleaned at all.

Fabric softener

There are no washing symbols for fabric softener in the washing instructions for clothes and textiles. However, manufacturers themselves sometimes have special instructions that they do not recommend using fabric softener on their products. It is primarily a manufacturer of functional garments and terry towels. The fabric softener clogs the pores in the functional garments and impairs the absorbent capacity of the towels.

Washing machine symbols

Now that you have a little more insight into what the different laundry symbols on the labels mean, it's time to move on to the washing machine. Namely, there are symbols on the washing machine that show what should be in which compartment.

On the washing machine, you need to know the following washing symbols in the compartment:

• Pre-wash
• Main wash
• Fabric softener

Pre-wash symbol

On the compartments we again find the tub that is on the laundry advice for water washing. Prewash washing symbol no fabric softener marks a section with an "I" where detergent can be placed.

Main wash symbol

This compartment is usually next to the prewash compartment, and has a similar symbol. It is a similar compartment, but with the designation "II". There is also a liquid detergent symbol that resembles a bottle whose contents are poured out. Some machines cannot handle liquid detergent, so pay attention to what it looks like in your washing machine or look in the instruction manual.

Facilitate symbol

The fabric softener symbol looks like a small flower or a star. The fabric softener makes the laundry soft and adds an extra fragrance to the clothes. Remember to use the right amount of fabric softener because too much does not improve the results.

More smart laundry tips

It's a bit of a jungle with all the symbols and what they mean. In fact, it's not the whole world if it goes wrong once, as long as you don't wash stretchy clothes at 90 degrees or woolen socks in a regular washing program. Then you can ruin the clothes. But for everyday clothes, sheets and curtains, it's not the whole world if you wash at 40 degrees instead of 30 degrees.

There are some other smart tips you can keep in mind when doing laundry. For example, you can choose to rinse the laundry an extra time to get all the detergent and fabric softener out if you have sensitive skin. Choose a program specifically for half machine if you do not wash that much. In addition, you can often choose a shorter quick program if your laundry is not very dirty.

We help you with the rest

Hopefully, you have now gained a little more clarity on how you can wash as gently and efficiently as possible. Of course, you can let us help you with the rest of your home cleaning so you don't have to spend energy on it. We also offer other types of cleaning such as moving cleaning and property showing cleaning.

Our cleaning is only carried out with Swan-labelled products and we actively think about the environment. In addition, we use microfiber cloths at Freska. Because the microfiber cloths can be used again and again, they are also good for the environment. They are of course completely clean before we come and clean at your place!

You can easily book a trial cleaning from us, so that you can see with your own eyes exactly what we are going for. Once you've seen for yourself how our service works, you can customize it however you want. How often and what you want done, for example.

Freska not only takes responsibility for the environment, but we also take good care of our staff. We use collective agreements and ensure that everyone feels seen and safe in their workplace. In this way, you can focus on the laundry in peace and quiet.