People are just realising what the laundry signs on clothes labels mean – and they will help your clothes last longer

With most of us doing a load of laundry at least once a week, it’s safe to say it’s a big part of our lives.

But do we know how to wash our clothes properly?

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Each garment we wash has its own specific cleaning requirements, indicated by the symbols on the labels.

Fashionista Liv confessed she didn’t know the meaning of the laundry symbols on her clothes tags and has ruined her clothes for years.

She said, “Am I the only one who didn’t know?”

“I really wish I had known that sooner. I’ve been ruining my clothes for years.”

The fashion fan explained the different symbols online in a TikTok video.

First you have the basket icons which indicate how you should wash a garment. If the water basket has an “X” above it, it means you should not wash that garment.

If the water basket icon contains a number that indicates the temperature you should set your washing machine to. If there is a hand in the basket of water symbol, the garment is hand wash only.

Next, let’s move on to the circle symbols.

A clear circle indicates dry cleaning. Likewise, an “X” above a circle means the garment is not dry cleaned. If the circle contains a “P” or an “F”, it must be cleaned by a professional.

The empty triangle is a bleach symbol. If the symbol contains a “CL”, the symbol should be bleached with chlorine.

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A triangle with straight diagonal lines should be bleached with non-chrome bleach. An “X” above the symbol means “Do not bleach”.

Clothing labels also have iron symbols. The dots on these symbols indicate the heat level your iron should be on when ironing the garment.

One dot represents low heat and three dots represents high heat. If there is an “X” on the iron symbol, the garment should never be ironed.

The square icons indicate how you should dry your clothes.

A square with a semicircle means the garment should be line dried. A square with a dash means the item should be dried flat. A circle in the box indicates that the item can be tumble dried.

Again, the dots in these symbols indicate that heat levels one is low and two is high. An “X” above a circle in the box means this item cannot be tumble dried.

Liv’s video has been viewed over 540,000 times, but many viewers said they didn’t feel like learning or reading the symbols.

One user said, “I still won’t because I don’t do much because of a few clothes.”

Another said: “I’ll just throw my clothes in the machine, not decode symbols lol.”