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How to disinfect your laundry and stop the spread of germs in the wash
Doing the laundry may seem like a boring old chore, but proper laundry hygiene can be an important way to help keep you and your family healthy.
Helping You Understand Those Washing Labels
Ever wonder what those washing icons mean? When it comes to taking care of your clothes, it’s easy to get confused by those complicated clothing care symbols on clothing tags. But all these laundry tag symbols are simply there to provide you with instructions for keeping your clothes looking their best for as long as possible. With this handy laundry symbols guide, Dettol is here to help take the hassle out of laundry day and explain what all of those head-scratching laundry care symbols mean.
Understanding washing instruction symbols
The first step when you’re cleaning your clothes is making sense of the clothes washing symbols – these will tell you how to wash your clothes, including what settings you should use on your washing machine.
When looking at clothing tag symbols, a picture of a washtub is used to indicate whether a piece of clothing should be washed in your washing machine or be washed by hand. Bars underneath the washtub provide instructions on which rinse and spin cycles are recommended. Numbers or dots inside the washtub indicate what the maximum water temperature you should be using.
Washing Symbols Meaning
Water Temperature Symbols
Warning Symbols
Understanding bleaching instructions
Look out for symbols using triangles to figure out when it is safe to use bleach on your clothes. Remember that the Do Not Bleach symbol really does mean that bleach can damage your clothes!
Bleaching Symbols Meaning
Understanding drying instructions
Pay particular attention to the dryer symbol on clothes to help keep your clothes looking and fitting their best – these instructions could mean the difference when it comes to stretching or shrinking your favourite top!
Square symbols are used to tell you the best way to dry your clothes. Firstly, squares with lines inside guide how you should air dry particular items of clothing. Secondly, clothing that can be put in the tumble dryer will have a square with a circle inside. Lines underneath the square tell you which dryer cycle to use and dots inside the circle indicate which temperature setting is appropriate for that item.
Drying Symbols Meaning
Dryer Symbols : Cycle
Dryer Symbols : Heat Setting
Understanding ironing instructions
Quite helpfully, the ironing instructions use an iron symbol, with the dots indicating which temperature setting to use. Different fabrics require different levels of heat.
Ironing Symbols Meaning
Understanding dry cleaning instructions
Some clothing labels indicate that they should be washed and dried professionally at the drycleaners. The symbol for dry cleaning is a circle with a letter inside and may also have a line underneath. These letters and lines provide the drycleaner with specific instructions on what cleaning products and processes should be used.
Dry Cleaning Symbols Meaning
So now that you know all about laundry symbols and how to give your clothes the best of care in the wash, what about protecting you and your family from germs? For optimal decontamination of all your laundry at home, run your washing machine using a water temperature of at least 60°C with a bleach-based detergent. But when you’re looking to avoid a hot wash or bleach, reach for Dettol Anti-Bacterial Laundry Sanitiser to remove 99.9% of germs, leaving your clothes hygienically clean and fresh – even in a cold wash.
RB-M-43512
First published: 14th October 2021
Last updated: 14th October 2024
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