The laundry can have an X over a picture that looks like gold, or a pool of water, or even a triangle – and that’s not all.
The X can appear above the square symbol, above the iron picture, or below the iron and above the circle – so it’s likely that you’ve seen the X emblazoned on a few of your clothes.
One Reddit writer asked the online community for advice: “What does a black triangle with an X on top mean?”
In another Reddit thread, another outraged commenter pleaded: “We need simpler symbols than this.” Another said: “This is confusing.”
Someone else noted, “I think most people don’t follow these because, with the exception of a few, most are not very intuitive.
“I mean, the iron, spin, hang dry, and hand wash symbols, maybe even the cold, warm, cold wash symbols are easy to decipher… but a circle? A triangle? And something like a Japanese flag?
“If anything, these need to be refined because they are too abstract (and sometimes completely unrelated, like bleach [meaning] triangle) makes them really confusing.
“[Like] if one does not know the two bars below, one is going to convey delicate instead of vigorous.”
To help is the laundry detergent brand Ariel, which has revealed what these X symbols mean.
Take, for example, a bucket filled with water. If it has an X, it means that the garment should not be put in the washing machine.
If the cute looking symbol has an X over it, this means “don’t wring” the clothes to dry.
As for the X symbol over the triangle, this means that you should not use bleach on clothing with this image on the label.
When there is an X on top of a square image with a circle inside, you should not tumble dry your clothes.
Also, an X on top of the iron means do not iron, while an X under the iron means steaming is not allowed.
And the X symbol across the circle means do not dry clean – all these symbols on the laundry label help protect the garment.
By following laundry etiquette, you are likely to extend the life of your clothes. Of course, how you choose to wash your clothes is entirely up to you.
