Care Labels: Your Guide to Easy Care

Care labels provide helpful information that can save you time and money.
They indicate how to clean textile articles in the best possible way. The care labelling rule requires that manufacturers attach a permanent care label to textile garments to give the consumer and the dry cleaner guidance in proper care for the item. It must permanently attached to the garment and remain legible for the life of the garment. The care label must also be place where the consumer can read it before purchase.

Manufacturers must list at least one method of safe care for the garment. The label must also warn about any part of the recommended care method that would harm the garment of other garments cleaned with it. It must also warn when there is no method for cleaning the garment without damage.

Care instructions on the label must apply to all parts of the garment. If the label says "dry clean" this should mean that all components, including the outer shell, lining, buttons, interfacing, any fusing material, sewing thread must be colour fast, they must not discolour, melt, or be otherwise altered during cleaning by the recommended care method.

When a garment has two or more parts that are sold as a unit, only one label is required. When the parts are designed to be sold separately, or if pieces require different care, each part must have it's own label.

WASHING INSTRUCTIONS
	Machine Wash, COLD	Machine Wash, COLD Permanent Press	Machine Wash, COLD Gentle Cycle
	Machine Wash, WARM	Machine Wash, WARM Permanent Press	Machine Wash, WARM Gentle Cycle
	Machine Wash, HOT	Machine Wash, HOT Permanent Press	Machine Wash, HOT Gentle Cycle
	Hand Wash	Do Not Wash

BLEACHING INSTRUCTIONS
	Bleach as needed Any bleach, may be safely used	Do Not Bleach No bleach product should be used including detergents with bleach - or follow bleach package test procedures to test for bleach safety.
	Non-chlorine Bleach as needed Use only a color-safe bleach.

DRYING INSTRUCTIONS
	Tumble Dry, NO HEAT	Tumble Dry, Permanent Press, NO HEAT	Tumble Dry, Gentle Cycle, NO HEAT
	Tumble Dry, LOW HEAT	Tumble Dry, Permanent Press, LOW HEAT	Tumble Dry, Gentle Cycle, LOW HEAT
	Tumble Dry, MEDIUM	Tumble Dry, Permanent Press, MEDIUM	Tumble Dry, Gentle Cycle, MEDIUM
	Do Not Tumble Dry	Line Dry	Drip Dry
	Tumble Dry, HIGH	Dry Flat

IRONING INSTRUCTIONS
	iron, Steam or Dry, with LOW HEAT	Iron, Steam or Dry, with MEDIUM HEAT	Iron, Steam or Dry, with HIGH HEAT
	Do Not Iron with Steam	Do Not Iron

DRYCLEANING INSTRUCTIONS
	Dryclean May appear with additional letters and/or lines Take this item to a professional drycleaner		Do Not Dryclean

E-Mail: service@urbanlaundry.com.au

Guide to Common Home
Laundering & Drycleaning Symbols

Care Symbol	Written Care Instructions	What Care Symbol and Instructions Mean
Wash		[Top]
	Machine Wash, Normal	Garment may be laundered through the use of hottest available water, detergent or soap, agitation, and a machine designed for this purpose.
	Machine Wash, Cold	Initial water temperature should not exceed 30C or 65 to 85F.
	Machine Wash, Warm	Initial water temperature should not exceed 40C or 105F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 50C or 120F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 60C or 140F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 70C or 160F.
	Machine Wash, Hot	Initial water temperature should not exceed 95C or 200F.
NOTE: SYSTEM OF DOTS INDICATING TEMPERATURE RANGE IS THE SAME FOR ALL WASH PROCEDURES.
	Machine Wash, Permanent Press	Garment may be machine laundered only on the setting designed to preserve Permanent Press with cool down or cold rinse prior to reduced spin.
	Machine Wash, Gentle or Delicate	Garment may be machine laundered only on the setting designed for gentle agitation and/or reduced time for delicate items.
	Hand Wash	Garment may be laundered through the use of water, detergent or soap and gentle hand manipulation.
	Do Not Wash	Garment may not be safely laundered by any process. Normally accompanied by Dry Clean instructions.
Bleach		[Top]
NOTE: All (98+%) washable textiles are safe in some type of bleach. IF BLEACH IS NOT MENTIONED OR REPRESENTED BY A SYMBOL, ANY BLEACH MAY BE USED.
	Bleach When Needed	Any commercially available bleach product may be used in the laundering process.
	Non-Chlorine Bleach When Needed	Only a non-chlorine, color-safe bleach may be used in the laundering process. Chlorine bleach may not be used.
	Do Not Bleach	No bleach product may be used. The garment is not colorfast or structurally able to withstand any bleach.
Dry		[Top]
	Tumble Dry, Normal	A machine dryer may be regularly used at the hottest available temperature setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, Low Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used at a maximum of Low Heat setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, Medium Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used at a maximum of Medium Heat setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, High Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used at a High Heat setting.
	Tumble Dry, Normal, No Heat	A machine dryer may be regularly used only at No Heat or Air Only setting.
NOTE: SYSTEM OF DOTS INDICATING TEMPERATURE RANGE IS THE SAME FOR ALL DRY PROCEDURES.
	Tumble Dry, Permanent Press	A machine dryer may be regularly used only at the Permanent Press setting.
	Tumble Dry, Gentle	A machine dryer may be regularly used only at the Gentle setting.
	Do Not Tumble Dry	A machine dryer may not be used. Usually accompanied by an alternate drying method symbol.
	Do Not Dry	A machine dryer may not be used. Usually accompanied by an alternate drying method symbol.
	Line Dry	Hang damp garment from line or bar, in or out doors.
	Drip Dry	Hang dripping wet garment from line or bar, in or out doors, without hand shaping or smoothing.
	Dry Flat	Lay out horizontally for drying.
	Dry In Shade	Usually added to Line or Drip Dry. Dry away from direct sunlight.
Wring		[Top]
	Do Not Wring	Do Not Wring.
Iron		[Top]
NOTE: IF IRONING IS NOT A NECESSARY, REGULAR CARE PROCEDURE IT NEED NOT BE MENTIONED.
	Iron, Any Temperature, Steam or Dr	Regular ironing may be needed and may be performed at any available temperature with or without steam is acceptable.
	Iron, Low	Regular ironing, steam or dry, may be performed at Low setting (110C, 230F) only.
	Iron, Medium	Regular ironing, steam or dry, may be performed at Medium setting (150C, 300F).
	Iron, High	Regular ironing, steam or dry, may be performed at High setting (200C, 290F).
NOTE: SYSTEM OF DOTS INDICATING TEMPERATURE RANGE IS THE SAME FOR ALL IRONING PROCEDURES.
	Do Not Steam	Steam ironing will harm garment, but regular dry ironing at indicated temperature setting is acceptable.
	Do Not Iron	Item may not be smoothed or finished with an iron.
Dryclean		[Top]
	Dry Clean	Dry Clean, any solvent, any cycle any moisture, any heat.
	Dry Clean, Any Solvent	Dry Clean, any solvent. Usually used with other restrictions on proper dry cleaning procedure.
	Dry Clean, Petroleum Solvent Only	Dry Clean using only petroleum solvent. Usually used with other restrictions.
	Dry Clean, Petroleum Solvent Only. Reduced agitation required.	Any dry cleaning solvent other than trichloroethylene may be safely used
	Dry Clean, Any Solvent Except Trichloroethylene	Any dry cleaning solvent other than trichloroethylene may be safely used.
	Dry Clean, Any Solvent Except Trichloroethylene. Reduced agitation required.	Any dry cleaning solvent other than trichloroethylene may be safely used
	Dry Clean, Short Cycle	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Dry Clean, Reduced Moisture	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Dry Clean, Low Heat	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Dry Clean, No Steam	May be used with A, P, or F solvent restriction.
	Do Not Dry Clean	Garment may not be commercially drycleaned.
Wet Cleaning		[Top]
	Wet Clean	Garment with this care label are suitable for professional wet cleaning.
	Wet Clean. Reduced agitation required.	Garment with this care label are suitable for professional wet cleaning.