The triangle symbol on clothing care labels is a crucial indicator for bleach safety. If the triangle has a cross through it, you should avoid any product containing bleach.
What the crossed-out triangle means
This symbol warns against using chlorine bleach (sodium hypochlorite) as well as many products with oxygen bleach or bleaching agents, even those that don't advertise "bleach" on the packaging. These are commonly found in whitening laundry powders, liquids, powder stain removers, and pre-wash sprays.
Ignoring this symbol can lead to colour loss, patchy fading, weakened fibres, and damage to logos and finishes. Checking both clothing and product labels can add a few minutes to your routine but is worth the effort.
Other laundry symbols explained
The consumer experts at Which? recently shared a TikTok video explaining various clothing label symbols. These include:
- Tub with an X: do not machine wash, even on a delicate cycle.
- Circle: dry clean only.
- Square with a circle inside and an X through it: do not tumble dry, air dry instead.
- Twisted symbol with an X: do not wring out clothes.
- Tub with two lines underneath: delicate or gentle cycle.
- Tub with a hand: hand wash only.
- Square with a circle inside: dots indicate heat levels (one dot low, two medium, three high).
- Square with a curved line at the top: line dry.
- Square with one horizontal line: dry flat to 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: do not steam.
Understanding these symbols helps protect your clothing from damage like colour bleeding, fabric damage, and loss of shape.
