Care symbols are the universal language printed on wash care labels. They tell the consumer how to launder a garment without damaging it, and they tell every party in the supply chain how to comply with regional laws. This guide collects all the symbols you will encounter when designing labels for global apparel brands, and explains which standard applies in each market.
Which standard applies in which country?
- ISO 3758 — international, used by most European and many Asian / Latin American markets.
- GB/T 8685 — China; visually identical to ISO 3758 with minor wording rules in Chinese.
- JIS L 0001 — Japan; aligned with ISO 3758 since 2014, replacing the older JIS L 0217 squares.
- US ASTM D5489 (FTC 16 CFR Part 423) — United States; uses the same five-symbol family but enforces specific term placement and English wording.
The five symbol families you must know
Every modern wash care label is built from five symbol families: washing (a tub), bleaching (a triangle), drying (a square or square with a circle), ironing (an iron) and professional care (a circle). Crosses or bars modify each symbol to restrict treatment.
1. Washing — the tub
- A plain tub means machine wash; the number inside is the maximum temperature in °C (30, 40, 60, 95).
- A horizontal bar under the tub means use the gentle cycle; two bars means very gentle.
- A hand inside the tub means hand wash only (≤ 40 °C unless specified).
- A crossed-out tub means do not wash with water — the garment must be dry-cleaned.
2. Bleaching — the triangle
- An empty triangle means any bleach may be used.
- A triangle with two diagonal stripes means only oxygen / non-chlorine bleach.
- A crossed-out triangle means do not bleach.
3. Drying — the square
- A square with a circle inside means tumble dry. Dots indicate temperature: one dot = low, two dots = medium, three dots = high.
- A square with a vertical line means line dry; a square with three vertical lines means drip dry.
- A square with a horizontal line means dry flat.
- A crossed-out tumble-dry symbol means do not tumble dry.
4. Ironing — the iron
- Dots inside the iron indicate maximum plate temperature: one dot ≤ 110 °C, two dots ≤ 150 °C, three dots ≤ 200 °C.
- An iron with steam crossed out means do not use steam.
- A crossed-out iron means do not iron.
5. Professional care — the circle
- A circle with the letter P inside means dry clean using perchloroethylene or hydrocarbon solvents.
- A circle with the letter F inside means dry clean using hydrocarbon solvents only.
- A circle with the letter W inside means professional wet clean.
- A bar under the circle indicates a more gentle process.
Order matters: how to lay out the symbols
ISO 3758, GB/T 8685 and JIS L 0001 all require the same horizontal order: washing → bleaching → drying → ironing → professional care. The US standard is more flexible, but most global brands follow the ISO order to keep one master artwork for every market.
Common compliance mistakes
- Mixing US text-only instructions with ISO symbols on the same label confuses consumers; pick one system per region.
- Printing symbols smaller than 3 mm makes them illegible after a few washes — keep symbol height ≥ 3 mm.
- Forgetting the country-of-origin line. The US, EU and China all require it.
- Using outdated symbols (such as the old JIS L 0217 squares) on garments shipped after 2016.
Designing care labels faster with Mai Studio
Mai Studio ships every symbol in this guide as a vector icon, organized into the five families and tagged with the standard they belong to. Drag a tub, drop in 30 °C, add a bleach triangle, and the editor automatically keeps spacing and order consistent with ISO 3758. Export PNG or print-ready PDF at the exact millimeter size each manufacturer requires.
Get the symbols right once, reuse them across every SKU, every market and every season.