Care labels look like a foreign alphabet until you see the grammar underneath: the same shape family for each action, dots for heat level, bars for gentleness, a cross for "never." Four shapes, five families — and every garment label in the world becomes readable.
The five families
| Shape | Action | Variations |
|---|---|---|
| Tub (washtub) | Washing | dots = temp (1–3), bars = cycle gentleness (1–2), hand = hand-wash |
| Triangle | Bleaching | empty = any bleach, CL=chlorine legacy, two lines = oxygen only, X = never |
| Square | Drying | circle = tumble (dots = heat), lines = natural dry (horizontal = flat, arc = drip, vertical = line) |
| Iron | Ironing | dots = heat (1–3), X = do not iron |
| Circle | Professional care | empty = any solvent, letters = solvent type, X = do not dry clean |
The dots and bars, precisely
- Dots = temperature, everywhere: 1 dot ≈ 30°C/low, 2 dots ≈ 40°C/medium, 3 dots ≈ 50–60°C/hot — in the tub, the dryer circle, and the iron alike.
- Bars = gentleness, in tub and dryer: each bar under the symbol steps the cycle down — permanent press, then delicate.
- The cross = never, and it overrides everything: a crossed dryer circle means air-dry even if you have always tumbled that fabric type.
Reading speed
With the grammar internalized, labels read at a glance: "tub with two dots and one bar" = warm permanent-press wash; "square with circle, two dots" = medium tumble; "iron with X" = steam only. The database's entries walk each family's variations — and the grammar means you will need them once, not every laundry day.