Have you ever wondered why for some people things look like new even after a few years, while for others they are shabby and faded already a month after purchase? Of course, there is always the possibility of simply getting on a poor-quality product, but the most common problem is that the clothing owners do not properly care for it. And it’s not at all that they don’t wash it or somehow store it incorrectly (although this is also very important). Often, they in principle do not comply with the recommendations of manufacturers to care for their wardrobe items.
But how can an ordinary consumer know how to wash and iron trousers, shirts and blouses? Everything is very simple - you need to read the tags inside the products, which are marked with special markings for washing. On clothes, she is always sewn in inconspicuous places, for example near the neck or in the side seams.
What will the tags talk about?
If the buyer looks carefully at any textile or haberdashery product that is in the store, he will be able to see a lot of different labels there. In a prominent place, a tag is usually sewn indicating the size of the product. As a rule, she is not hidden inside the clothes, but is located near the collar. This is done specifically so that buyers have the opportunity to decide how much a thing suits them, even without removing it from the hanger.
It is also indicated on clothes and labeling for washing. There are about five dozen icons displaying this information, but manufacturers indicate no more than five on each product. What do these symbols mean? We will tell in more detail about what labeling is for washing clothes, and now we will find out what other data is hidden on inconspicuous labels.
First of all, having studied the tags, you can find out what material a particular product is sewn from, in which country, as well as which company or brand is engaged in its production. As a rule, branded items contain comprehensive information of this kind and on this basis, you can distinguish high-quality branded clothing from artisanal fakes.
Can labels be cut?
A lot of people, having bought their clothes, immediately remove all labels and tags from it. The main reason for this is the discomfort that they bring to the owner of the thing. Indeed, the tags are sometimes made of prickly material or sewn to clothes not with ordinary threads, but with thin transparent fishing line. It tickles the body, and sometimes rubs the skin, causing irritation, allergies and itching. In the event of such troubles, the markings on the clothes for washing and other information icons may be cut off or fluttered, but it is better to save them and not throw them in the trash in order to later know how to care for this or that thing.
True, it is important not to confuse the tags later. Throughout life, a person buys hundreds of units of clothing, and if he stores each label, then he risks simply drowning in them after a few years. All tags need to be signed, and over time, among them, it is necessary to conduct an audit and throw away those that are cut from already discarded or worn items. You can also store not the tags themselves, which are sewn to the fabric, but cardboard labels.
Their saving will not hurt also because the sewn-in labels from frequent washes become discolored, respectively, over time, their decoding will become impossible. The laundry icons on clothing labels should always match the information on the items themselves. This is best checked before all markers are removed.
Textile Care Information
The greatest value for the owner of things is not what size the clothing is or who sewed it, but what material it is made of. Labeling of fabrics for washing is of fundamental importance, because each of their types requires a special attitude. So, cotton and linen tend to sit down after water gets on them, synthetic fabrics cannot be ironed at high temperatures, it is better to dry knitted fabrics only when unfolded.
All this, as well as many other information can be found on the tag. If the consumer follows the manufacturer's recommendations, he will keep the original appearance of his things for a long time. But it is important to be able to correctly interpret all the icons that relate to the care of things, mainly - their washing. Marking of products in all countries is done according to uniform standards, therefore it is enough to remember once what a particular symbol means, so as not to get confused in them later.
How to wash products by hand?
To begin with, far from all things in principle can be influenced by water. This precaution sometimes applies not only to machine wash, but also to hand. As a rule, we are talking about clothes sewn from delicate fabrics, which moisture will simply ruin. These can be things made of leather, fur, wool, materials embroidered with sequins, beads or decorated with rhinestones. But how to tidy up these types of clothes? Labeling for washing and dry cleaning usually shows what can be done with the product and what is strictly prohibited. The icon that completely prohibits washing looks like a basin of water, crossed out by a diagonal line or a cross. If a hand is attached to the container, this means that the thing can only be washed manually. But an ordinary basin, without additional images, allows washing things both manually and using a washing machine.
Another marking on clothes that is important for washing is symbols that are underlined with one or two lines. These strips mean that the thing needs to be washed carefully and carefully. If a tag with a single strip is drawn on the tag, it is a delicate wash in cool water, without a rough mechanical effect on it. In the same place where two horizontal lines are added to the standard icon, clothes should be washed even more carefully, not soaked and rinsed for a very long time, not wrung out. You also need to pay attention to the icon where the twisted thing is drawn (circled in red in the next picture). Clothes with such markings should also not be wrung out.
Using a washing machine
Marking on things for washing in an automatic machine usually regulates the following subtleties of the process:
- temperature condition;
- spin;
- drying.
A sign prohibiting machine wash, looks like a small square, taken in a circle. But if the crossed circle is squared on the tag, it means that the product can be cleaned in a machine, but it cannot be squeezed out using a centrifuge and dried in a drum.
Temperature information for washing
Icons with different numbers are found on clothes almost always. These symbols tell you at what temperature you can wash this or that thing. Note that the digital designation of this parameter can be replaced by a schematic. Then the temperature is indicated on the tag not in degrees, but in dots. So, one point corresponds to a low water temperature during washing - a maximum of 30-40 degrees.
If the icon shows two dots, it means that the water can be made hotter - within 60 degrees. Some things must be boiled for cleaning. Usually it is bed linen and baby clothes. But you can wash them at such a high temperature mode only if such information is indicated on the tag. There should be drawn an icon with a basin, next to which (or inside of which) the number 95 is added.
How to dry?
Washers with dryers are not so rare. Of course, such a technique is much more expensive than budget models without this function, but it greatly simplifies life. This is especially important for those households in which there is no place for traditional drying of clothes on ropes. However, not all textile products can be subjected to such an impact. If tumble drying is prohibited, a crossed-out square or crossed-out square with a circle inside is drawn on the clothes.
The tag also usually indicates at what temperature moisture can be removed from clothing. Usually this is one, two or three points that correspond to low, medium and high temperature.
There are other badges on clothes that determine how to dry this or that clothing outside of special devices. A square with three stripes means that the thing must be hung vertically and not squeezed. If in the upper left corner of the square two diagonal lines are depicted, then the clothes must be dried in the shade. The icon with an arc on top of it allows you to hang a thing on a rope in the traditional way. When one horizontal line is placed in a square, this means that only horizontal drying of clothes is allowed. Typically, this marking is found on knitwear that stretches when suspended.
How to iron?
For many people, using irons and steamers is a real problem, because every time you just try to smooth your trousers, blouse or shirt, they only spoil the thing by burning holes in it or leaving ugly dark marks on delicate fabric. To avoid such oversights, it is important to choose the right temperature for ironing, taking into account the recommendations of the manufacturers:
- iron - you can iron;
- crossed out iron - it is forbidden to iron;
- iron with one point - iron at a minimum temperature;
- with two dots - iron at medium temperature;
- with three dots - iron at maximum temperature;
- Iron “on stand” - do not steam.
And finally, we will understand the wisdom of using various detergents, cleaning products that are used to remove stains. For their main types, there are special icons, but not everyone knows what their decoding is. The marking on clothes for washing with the use of bleaches and stain removers on our diagram is indicated in the second row.
Stain removal chemicals
Icons are decrypted as follows:
- a circle - only dry cleaning;
- crossed out circle - wash the item without using chemicals;
- triangle - the fabric can be bleached;
- crossed triangle - the use of bleach is prohibited;
- a triangle with two stripes and a crossed triangle with the signature "Cl" - you can use bleaches that do not contain chlorine;
- triangle with the signature "Cl" - the use of chlorine-based bleaches is allowed;
- the letter "A" in the circle - you can use any solvents that are used to remove stains;
- the letter "P" in a circle - cleaning with the help of products based on monoflotrichloromethane, hydrocarbon, ethylene chloride is allowed;
- Latin letter “F” in a circle - gentle dry cleaning is allowed, hydrocarbons, freon or white spirit can be used to remove stains.
Follow our tips - and your things will last you more than one year and will always look like new!