If you’ve ever tried to decipher the laundry symbols on your clothes, you may have felt a little lost. Fortunately, there are only four different types of symbols and they all correspond with specific instructions for how to wash and dry your garment!

Tru Earth is here to help you unravel the mystery of laundry symbols with this quick, effective guide. You'll understand what the different laundry symbols mean. Bookmark it or print it out and stick it in your laundry room. Then share it with your family and friends. Because laundry day should be just a little bit easier.

Here is a quick guide to what each symbol means:

Laundry Symbols Explained

There's a delicate balance between getting the perfect wash and damaging your clothes. With clothes made all over the world, universal washing symbols have been created so that regardless which language you speak, your clothes will survive the cleaning process without taking any damage.

Washing Machine Symbols

Washing Temperature Symbols

Washing Cycle Symbols

How to Read Drying Symbols

The dryer symbols we see in the laundry room may look like a bunch of cryptic hieroglyphics to you, but if you know what’s not good for your clothes and how some people want them washed (like wool sweaters that shrink), it can be quite helpful.

General Drying Symbols

Drying Temperature Symbols

Tumble Dry Cycle Laundry Symbols

How To Read Bleaching Symbols

Bleach is a very powerful chemical that can damage clothes if not used properly. If you want to use bleach, take a look at the fabric care label and notice whether there's either a triangle or more importantly crossed out in circles signifying don't bleach this garment. Recognizing these signs will save your clothing from getting damaged by chlorine bleaching agents.

Bleaching Symbols

Ironing Symbols

Ironing is a difficult process that can potentially damage fabric. Some fabrics look great after ironing but others, like more delicate materials, need special care when being pressed for the first time. Iron symbols are what you'll use to determine if your garment is able to be press or not before going through with it and risking damaging your clothes in the future!

Dry Cleaning Symbols

Does your garment tag have a dry cleaning symbols? If so, you might want to take it to a dry cleaner. A professional dry cleaner will be able to get these delicate fabrics as good as new. Avoid machine washing these clothes, or risk damaging them.

When it comes to laundry, there are plenty of symbols you should know. We’ve listed the most important symbols here for your convenience. These include washing symbols, drying symbols, bleaching symbols and ironing symbols so that you can always be sure how to wash each garment responsibly.

For all your other needs in caring for clothes, and the planet we recommend Tru Earth Laundry Detergent Strips.

So before putting anything else on this list today make sure you have these basic laundry icons memorized; they could save you from wasting money on something unsuitable down the line!