If you spot a triangle symbol with a cross through it on a clothing label, it means you should avoid using products that contain bleach. This includes chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and many oxygen bleach or bleaching agents, even if they do not say “bleach” on the front.
Why the symbol matters
These products are often found in “whitening” laundry powders and liquids, as well as powder stain removers and pre-wash sprays. Along with checking the clothing label, it is best practice to read the label on laundry products too.
Failing to do so can lead to colour loss, patchy fading, weakened fibres and damage to logos and finishes. While checking may take a couple of minutes longer, it is well worth doing.
Other laundry symbols explained
The consumer experts at Which? recently posted a TikTok video explaining different symbols on clothing labels. These include:
- Tub with an X – do not machine wash, even on a delicate cycle.
- Circle – dry clean only.
- Square with a circle inside, with an X through it – do not tumble dry, air dry instead.
- Twisted symbol with X through it – do not wring out your clothes.
Other useful emblems to look out for are:
- Tub with two lines underneath – delicate or gentle cycle.
- Tub with a hand – hand wash only.
- Square with a circle inside, with dots – one dot means low heat, two dots mean medium heat, three dots mean high heat.
- Square with a curved line at the top – line dry.
- Square with one horizontal line – dry flat, which helps prevent stretching.
- Square with diagonal lines in a corner – dry in the shade.
- Iron with an X – do not iron.
- Iron with steam lines crossed out (on some labels) – do not steam.
