Fabric care symbols, explained

Every care label uses five symbols: a wash tub (washing), a triangle (bleaching), a square (drying), an iron (ironing) and a circle (professional cleaning). Dots indicate temperature — more dots, more heat — and a hand in the tub means hand-wash only.

The circle is the professional cleaning symbol. A letter inside (P, F or W) tells the cleaner which process is safe; a bar underneath calls for a gentler cycle. A crossed-out circle means the garment must not be dry cleaned — which matters more than any other symbol on the label.

Labels describe the shell fabric, but trims, linings, beading and glued construction can all fail in processes the label technically allows. This is where experience earns its keep — when in doubt, bring the piece in and we'll read the whole garment, not just the label.