Laundry symbols are very important to keep your clothes beautiful, but what exactly do they mean? We often know the most commonly used symbols but there are a whole bunch that are not so obvious. We have listed them all for you.
In general, to both preserve your clothes and to save the environment, preferably wash at 30oC maximum and hang your clothes to dry rather than tumble dry them.
The first symbol indicates whether and how hot you can wash the garment itself:
In addition, you have a symbol about ironing:
And finally, a symbol about drying:
How to wash as sustainably as possible
Want to make your clothes last longer and wash them in the most sustainable way possible? Here are our tips.
- Don't do laundry too small. A half-full drum costs up to 50% more electricity than with a "full" drum.
- Don't overfill your drum or there may be streaks in your jeans and the soap scum may not rinse away well enough.
- How full exactly? Fill your drum 75 to 80% full. You can check this by leaving a fistful of space in the top of the drum.
- You wash most economically at low temperatures such as 20 or 30 degrees. At 40 to 60 degrees, use the Eco setting. If you wash a lot at low temperatures, it is important to run an occasional hot wash with towels, for example, to keep the washing machine clean.
- Do not use a dryer but hang your laundry.
- Wash your clothes inside out and make sure buttons and zippers are closed. That way your clothes are less likely to be damaged and last longer.
- Don't use too much detergent. This is bad for your machine and not at all necessary.
- Choose a sustainable laundry detergent. You can check to see if your detergent is sustainable by checking the label. Sustainable labels are: European Ecolabel or Nordic Ecolabel.
- Wash in a laundry bag to avoid microplastics.
Much was success!
