Label on clothes, or how to handle things properly

Buying a new thing is always a pleasant experience. Bringing home jeans or a blouse, we hope for a long time with pleasure to wear a thing and flaunt before the friends a new thing. At the same time, not everyone considers it obligatory to look before the first wash or dispatch to the dry cleaning of things on the label, and even fewer people observe the restrictions indicated on it. The result, as a rule, is sad: a spoiled thing, a fallen mood and the need for new monetary costs. But all these troubles can easily be avoided by carefully reading the symbols on the clothing labels.

Why do I need labels on clothes?

Many people immediately after the purchase rush to whip the interfering piece of cloth. Doing this is not necessary in any case, because the label on clothes plays the role of a kind of manual for use. Symbols on it suggest how to properly erase a thing, whether it can be ironed, how to dry it and many other requirements that allow to keep clothes in good shape for many years to come.

Any symbols on the label represent a picture in which any information about the item of clothing you bought is encrypted. In a sense, the badges on the clothing labels are a pictographic letter, and the meaning of many of them is realized on an intuitive level. At the same time, they have their own nuances, and a mistake in their reading can ruin the thing irretrievably.

What do the labels tell?

Legend on clothing labels can be conditionally divided into several groups, depending on what information they contain. These can be warning symbols that restrict people's actions towards things, as well as prohibitory and informational ones. The latter provide the buyer with basic information about clothing, and if you, for example, have an allergy to synthetics, then these icons should determine your choice of this or that wardrobe item.

Any label should contain answers to the following questions:

• What is the thing made of;
• Whether it is possible to wash it, and if so, whether machine washing is allowed;
• How to dry the clothes;
• Is it permissible to use chemical cleaners?
• What is the maximum temperature of ironing things.

Sometimes here, too, the size of the clothing and the manufacturer are indicated.

The shape of the symbols is fixed both by common European and Russian GOSTs, so the label on clothes always has recognizable features, regardless of the country in which the goods were produced.

How do I know the way to wash the label?

To make it easier to navigate through the labels, you need to remember that they are all a schematic representation of a particular process. The simpler the picture, the fewer operating limitations. Each additional requirement adds one more symbol to the icon.

So, the icons related to washing are a stylized image of a trough with water. It can be crossed out with an oblique cross. This means that washing in any form is prohibited.

The maximum permissible water temperature is indicated by the number with the "°" icon drawn in the middle of the picture. Sometimes, however, numbers are replaced by dots - one, two, three or four. They mean, respectively, 30, 45, 60 or 90 degrees. But in case you can erase a thing only by hand, the corresponding symbol will contain a schematic image of the palm.

Pay special attention to information about the use of chemical cleaners. Some things from the use of such tools can fade or shed. Inscribed in the triangle letters Cl allow the use of chlorine bleaching agents, but an empty triangle means that you will have to wash without additional cleaning agents.

Some things require gentle or delicate washing. About this you will be informed by one or two horizontal lines under the "trough". As a rule, on these things you can also see a crossed circle with a square. This means that it is not recommended to press clothes with a washing machine.

How to learn about the ban on chemical cleaning of clothes?

Pay special attention to information on the use of chemical cleaners: some things from the use of such tools can fade or shed. Chemical cleaning is indicated by a circle in which various additional symbols are inscribed.

• "A" is any bleach;
• "P" - only cleaners based on gasoline, hydrocarbon, monofluorotrichloromethane or chlorine ethylene;
• "F" - you can only use hydrocarbon, gasoline and trifluorotrichloromethane.

Do not forget that adding a horizontal bar under any of these letters means delicate washing with a little water and spin control.

How do you know from the label, can I iron clothes?

On any thing should be an iron drawing, executed with a certain degree of certainty. Such symbols on the clothing labels indicate what precautions should be observed when ironing. Of course, any detail of the wardrobe can be crushed. But if some objects can be ironed without fear, then others, especially synthetics, can withstand no more than 110 ° C, that is, the "first" regime. And something, probably, and at all it is necessary perestirat and to put to dry in the spread out condition.

The maximum allowable heating of the iron is shown by the points on the iron pattern: one point is 110 ° C, 2 - 150 ° C, 3 - 200 ° C and higher. On some things, perhaps you will see a familiar iron pattern, supplemented by several vertical stripes under the "bottom". This symbol means "steaming", and as with other processes, it can be either resolved or crossed out.

How is the drying of clothes on the label?

How to dry the thing after washing, too, will tell the label. On clothes that can stretch, if you hang it to dry, there should be an icon "dry in a horizontal position". It looks like a horizontal line crossing a square. Accordingly, several vertical lines or a stylized envelope (more precisely, a fabric "thrown" through a rope) means the ability to dry your blouse on a wire, hanger or any other convenient method for you.

What do the letters on the labels mean?

In addition to information on the rules of operation, any label on clothing should indicate the composition from which the item was manufactured. This function is performed by letters of the Latin alphabet. For example, Co is cotton, Vi is viscose, PL is polyester, PA is acrylic, WS is cashmere, and some other options.

Thus, when buying a new item in your wardrobe, do not rush to tear off the label. This scrap of cloth will always tell you how to properly handle clothes, and help keep your favorite thing for years to come.