A triangle on a clothing care label indicates whether bleach can be used on the garment. An empty triangle means bleach is safe, while a triangle crossed out by two lines means bleach should not be used at all.
What the symbols on care labels mean
Care labels carry several symbols that guide washing, drying, ironing and dry cleaning. A tub with 40 inside means wash at or below 40 degrees. A crossed-out circle inside a square means do not tumble dry, while a plain square means it is safe to dry on a washing line. An iron with two dots indicates ironing on medium temperature, and an F inside a circle means petroleum solvent only for dry cleaning.
One shopper shared their confusion on social media about the washing guidelines on trousers bought in Japan. The label showed the usual 40-degree wash symbol, a crossed-out tumble dry symbol, an iron symbol, and an F in a circle. The symbol that left most people baffled was a triangle containing two straight lines.
Bleach guidance from Ariel
Ariel's guidance states that "If you see an empty triangle, that means you can safely use bleach on your piece of clothing when necessary. Diagonal lines inside the triangle refer to the use of non-chlorine bleach, however in the case when the triangle is crossed out by two lines, you shouldn't use bleach at all."
A Reddit user also clarified the symbols, saying: "These are clothing care symbols. Forty in a tub of water means wash at or below 40 degrees, the triangle means NO bleach allowed, crossed-out circle in a square means do not tumble dry. The other square means it's safe to dry on a washing line, the iron with two dots means iron on medium temperature, and an F in a circle means petroleum solvent only for dry cleaning."
Reaction from Reddit users
The explanation surprised many Reddit users, prompting shared stories of laundry mishaps. One user remarked: "They should teach you stuff like this in school. I've definitely ruined clothes before." Another commented: "I didn't know about the triangle! I thought it had something to do with the clothes hanger."
