Recently my wife and I had a
new baby boy and for one reason
or another, it became my
job to do the
laundry.
Unfortunately, though, I kept shrinking all my son's
clothes. I was using the
hottest water I could, because
sometimes they were quite
soiled. That was when I decided
to learn what the
laundry care symbols meant.
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Wash
The symbol for washing instructions is a representation of
a tub, or basin, with splashes of water in it. One, two,
or three dots within the symbol indicate Cool (up to
roughly 30 degrees Celsius), Warm (roughly, from 30 to
40 degrees Celsius), or Hot (again, roughly, 40 to 50
degrees Celsius) water, respectively. (Up to six dots may be
used but four or more are likely only to be used by
commercial launderers.) Dots are used because most washing
machines in use in North America do not enable the
operator to set the exact temperature of the water.
One or two bars below the symbol indicate Permanent
Press or Gentle Cycle settings, respectively. When
machine washing is not recommended, a symbol of a hand
dipped into the water indicates washing by hand. An X
through the tub indicates that the item not be washed; in
this case, dry cleaning instructions should be referred to.
Back in 1971, the American Federal
Trade Commission introduced the Care Labeling Rule. Its
purpose was "to assist customers in making informed
purchase decisions, and to enable customers and cleaners to
avoid product damage." The general feeling was that it was
impolite not to tell people how to clean the clothes they
bought. It's been amended and updated a few times: in
1983, among other things, to be more specific
regarding what must be included on a care instruction
either for dry cleaning or washing; in 1997, to allow that
only the symbols need appear on the care label and
not a textual description; and in 2000, to clarify
what is required of manufacturers and to further define
the terms Hot, Warm, and Cold. Despite all these changes,
the rule has been a big hit -- it's one of the FTC's
most popular rules!
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Bleach
The symbol for bleaching instructions is an equilateral
triangle. An unadorned triangle indicates any bleach may be
safely used. A triangle with two bars parallel to the
left side indicates that only a color-safe or
non-chlorine bleach may be safely used. An X through a
solid triangle indicates that no bleach of any type, or
even laundry detergent containing bleach, be used.
The care labeling system adopted by the FTC was developed
by the American Society for Testing and Materials (the
ASTM), and is the approved standard in all countries
participating in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Most European countries have adopted a system developed
by the ISO called GINETEX. Global
standardization is a goal of the FTC, but it has some
issues with GINETEX regarding the order of the symbols
(GINETEX orders ironing before drying, which is a bit of a
head-scratcher) and that they've gone and trademarked their system. Some other countries
that have instituted similar care labeling systems are
Canada, Japan, and the U.K. The usage
of redundant coloring makes Canada's system different; not
only are Do Not symbols struck through with an X, they're
also red. (Canada is part of NAFTA anyway, and so I don't
why they've bothered.) The Japanese symbols sport a bit
of a manga look and contain text. Care instructions aren't
mandatory in the U.K., they're just strongly encouraged.
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Dry
The
symbol for drying instructions is a square. A circle
inside the square refers to tumble drying. A solid
circle indicates No Heat; one, two, or three dots indicate
Low, Medium, or High Heat, respectively. One or two bars below the
square indicate Permanent Press or Gentle Cycle settings,
respectively. When tumble drying is not recommended, a
curved line between the top corners of the square
indicates line drying, three vertical parallel bars
inside the square indicate drip drying, and one horizontal
line inside the square indicates drying flat. An X through
the square indicates that the item not be tumble dried.
The obvious way that a consumer benefits from these
symbols is that he or she can tell once he or she
deciphers the care label on his or her shirt that
washing it in hot water might damage it. These care labels
protect them in another way, though: the garment
manufacturer has to have proof that the care symbols they
put on their clothing represent the harshest
requirements for safe laundering. A manufacturer cannot just
arbitrarily use the very safe Hand Wash, Do Not
Bleach, Dry Flat, Do Not Iron, and Do Not dry clean
designations without testing that the materials and
fabrics used will not suffer damage if laundered with more
rigor. I am suspicious of one of my baby's plastic
bibs that is so labeled. Should I believe that the plastic
bib, which is going to outlast me and my offspring for several generations, would suffer if
placed in the clutches of a merciless washing machine?
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Iron
The symbol for ironing instructions is a graphic of an
iron. One, two, or three dots indicate Low, Medium, or
High Heat, respectively. An X through the representation of
jets of steam emitting from the bottom of the
graphic of the iron indicates that ironing with steam is not
recommended. An X through the entire graphic of the iron
indicates that the item not be ironed.
The FTC's studies have shown that how an article of
clothing should be cared for is one of the major factors
consumers base their decisions on whether to purchase it.
The problem with using symbols to provide this information
is that consumers have to learn what the symbols mean before
they can be helpful. This is why the FTC still permits
the use of text-only descriptions instead of the symbols,
even though the symbols are very specific and can be
understood by people who don't read English. Charts
explaining the symbols are easy to find on the Internet.
Some text is still necessary, though; the current set of
symbols doesn't depict instructions like Wash Before First
Use or Wash with Like Colors -- even though there are
more than 60 combinations and permutations of them!
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Dry clean
The symbol for dry cleaning instructions is a circle.
Occasionally, and only of use to professional dry
cleaners, letters may appear within the circle to assist
dry cleaners in determining which chemical solvents can be
safely used, and bars may appear around the circle to
indicate instructions like Reduce Moisture (bar on top
left), No Steam Finishing (top right), Low Heat
(bottom right), and Short Cycle (bottom left). An X
through the circle indicates that the item not be dry
cleaned.
Several people have pointed out to me that I might not be
shrinking my son's clothes at all. The suggestion is
that he's outgrowing them. Sure, he's getting bigger,
but I don't believe a word of what they say. After all, Machine Wash Warm.
___________________________
"Trade Regulation Rule on Care Labeling of Textile
Wearing Apparel and Certain Piece Goods", United
States Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2000/August/Day-
02/i19491.htm. May 27, 2002.
"Care Labels: A Guide to Using Care Label Symbols",
Paxar.
http://www.paxar.com/carelabel/. May 27, 2002.
Gillian Clayton. Care Labelling, Pressing Instructions
and the Consumer.
http://www.gillianclayton.co.uk/dissertation/. May 27,
2002.