According to a recent study -and even though the icons used to indicate the proper care of cleaning have been used for 40 years- 9 out of 10 consumers do not know the meaning of the most common symbols. I thought it would be fun to see how you scored. No cheating, here we go:
Please indicate a, b, or c for each of the five pictographs. Let’s hope we can do better than consumers. Good luck!
I have no clue what they mean. I took my best GUESS but not that it matters. The point is we should get KNOW it
1. A
2. B
3. C
4. C
Kathleen, last month I had printed off a list of those symbols. Unless I was a laundress I would never remember them so using my cheat sheet (it is three pages long!) here are my answers: 1) b. Machine wash permanent press; 2) c. Tumble dry, no heat; 3) c. Tumble dry, medium heat; 4) c. Drip dry; 5) b. Bleach when needed. Without the cheat sheet I scored a big fat zero. If you want to hide the fact I used a cheat sheet and hold this comment for a bit, go right ahead.
1. B
2. C
3. C
4. A
5. B
1-B
2-A
3-C
4-A
5-C
1-B
2-B
3-C
4-B
5-C
1. B
2. C
3. C
4. A
5. B [This is the only one I have any confidence in]
I don’t have a clue and I hate when they are used. Give me words any day! In other words, I’d be guessing on every one, so give me 0.
Marguerite
I’m not even going to guess. I’ve never actually seen these defined anywhere, so I never had any way to know what they meant.
1. b
2. c
3. c
4. c
5. b
With all my years in the business, I do not know what any of the symbols mean. If I worked for a company that used symbols I would have to rely on a cheat sheet to be sure I was specifying the correct mark. I much prefer words.
1.b
2.b
3.c
4.c
5.c
Do you think this might be yet another thing that the U.N. has tried to impose on us? Seriously, I always meant to learn them, never could remember the ones I learned, finally gave up and just felt vaguely European when I put my garments in the wash!
1 a
2 c
3 c
4 a
5 c
I want to try this, let’s see:
1.C
2.B
3.C
4.A
5.B
1. B
2. C
3. C
4. A
5. B
I have no clue either! I’ve never seen any of these symbols, or maybe I skipped over them to read words.
1.a
2.b
3.c
4.?
5.c
1.B
2.C
3.C
4.A
5.C
Took my best guess, tried to use logic as I have NO IDEA what these mean.
:(
B
B
C
C
C
Ridiculous! I’d need abbreviations- HW, WW, CW.
1. A
2. C
3. C
4. B
5. C
This consumer’s first, intuitive pass, as though each symbol was the only info provided: 1, B; 2, C; 3, C; 4, A; 5, B.
Gleaning info from the test format: 1 & 3 share the two dots, so the two answers must have a similarity, and I think “permanent press” and “medium heat” are equivalent since “permanent press” is a setting on my iron in the middle of the dial; 2 I have never seen, but it cannot be A since I think the square represents a dryer, and I certainly own tumble-dryer-ready clothing, so “no heat” is likely; 4 I have never seen, B is eliminated still assuming that the square is a dryer, but is “line dry” really a professional term, I am beginning to doubt, change answer to “drip dry”; 5 is familiar yet I don’t own “dry clean only” garments, so the shape probably refers to bleach.
Final answers. 1, B; 2, C; 3, C; 4, C; 5, B.
Each question needs a “D”- Don’t Know category, the answer I would have to choose for every one of those symbols. And to think . . . I am somewhat fluent in a foreign language but got a big fat ‘0’ on this test……
1. B
2. C
3. C
4. C
5. B
1. B
2. C
3. C
4. A
5. C
1. b
2. b
3. c
4. a
5. b
B,C,C,C,B.
I made a point to figure out the symbols many years ago, but really because I’m a puzzle solver. No one ever taught me, or made a point that these were useful. In the space the symbols take you can usually print the words you need – Although they do solve multi-lingual issues.
The only one I had trouble with is the first – I was looking for the word ‘warm’ in the description, and I haven’t seen (or at least I haven’t noted) the bottom line before. But I know it has nothing to do with bleach, so that’s that. I did have to look up ‘line dry’, as I had no idea there was a difference between that and ‘drip dry’. So I still learned something today, which is always good!
Oh I am so glad you are discussing this topic. I have just purchased several items of clothing that only lists symbols for washing. I can find written instructions on dryingthough. I will double check again if there is written information about washing. The symbols are very confusing to me. Here goes with the survey.
1. C 2. C 3. B 4. C 5. C
1-B
2-C
3-C
4-A
5-B
I too have never seen these particular symbols. I looked at all of my clothing and not one of the symbols shown here is on any of them.
1B
2C
3A
4B
5C