But it turns out there is a handy hack on iPhones which means you may never be baffled again.
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Instagram account @dreamsjumper demonstrated what you need to do if you are ever confused as to how to wash an item.
They wrote: “Pro tip: use your phone to display the laundry care for each product and never confuse the care instructions labels again.”
All you need to do is take a photo of the laundry care label on your phone.
Then, find the image in your photos and click on the ‘info’ icon at the bottom of your screen.
Your phone should then pop up a tab called “look up laundry care” above the date, time and image details.
With the help of Siri Knowledge, the symbols will be decoded and you’ll find out exactly how to wash and dry the item.
This can include finding out the maximum degrees it can be washed to whether or not you can tumble dry it and information on ironing and bleaching.
The video has clearly impressed some people, as it has racked up nearly 100,000 likes.
One person wrote: “I had no idea!!!!! this is amazing. Thank you for the share.”
Another added: “The best life hack!! When they don’t make any sense!”
However, one person joked: “Meanwhile I just throw everything in the washer and hope for the best.”
The Apple feature was added in 2023 when iOS 17 was launched.
It is part of Visual Look-Up, which is a great new way to use your camera for a number of tasks.
Visual Look-Up allows users to do things like find food recipes and identify items, plants, and animals just from a photo.
Perhaps one of the most impressive parts of Visual Look-Up is its ability to identify laundry symbols.
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What do the laundry symbols mean?
According to HowStuffWorks, the symbols come to your care tags courtesy of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).
That’s why you’ll sometimes see care instructions referred to as ASTM symbols or ASTM labels.
You should also see the symbols appear in the same order on every care tag, regardless of what they say.
A tub shape indicates the washing instructions, followed by a triangle that tells you what to do with bleach.
How to use the handy laundry symbols tool with your iPhone
TO use this feature, follow these steps:
First, take a photo of a laundry tag with symbols.
Then, from the Photos app, swipe up on the photo or tap on the info symbol at the bottom.
You should then see “Look Up Laundry Care” under the caption text field.
Simply click on that, and it will show a list of websites suggested by Siri that explains what each symbol means on the clothing tag.
A square symbol tells you how to dry the item, while an iron designates just that – the ironing instructions.
You may also see the “special care” symbol, a circle, used alone or in conjunction with other shapes.
“Adding lines, dots and other marks modify these base symbols and adds info,” the experts at HowStuffWorks explained.
“For example, a large X through a symbol negates it or offers a warning, whereas an empty symbol often means that any version of what the symbol represents is OK to use.”
Dots inside the washing, drying, and ironing instructions indicate the temperature to use.
When it comes to tumble-drying and ironing, you’ll see one dot to indicate “cold,” two for “medium,” and three for “hot.”
There’s a slightly different scale for washing instructions.
You’ll see one to six dots indicating a range of temperatures, which you will probably need to convert from Celsius – the international standard.
The temperatures for washing range from 65 degrees all the way up to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Laundry tips to save cash
WE spoke to sustainable cleaning expert and smol co-founder, Paula Quazi, on how to save money when it comes to your washing.
Shake it out
According to Paula, it’s important to shake your clothes out and hang them up to air, as this way you will get rid of nasty smells and can get out another wear.
The nose knows
Paula added: “Giving clothes a sniff test is an easy way to see if they need a wash or not.
“For items made of hardier fabrics (e.g. not silks etc) which are starting to pong, add some essential oils to a spray bottle and mist over to refresh.”
Steam dream
If you want to save money on your washing, steam is the way forward.
Whether you’re a fan of ironing or not, using steam is a quick and simple way to give your clothes a re-fresh, without putting them in the washing machine.
Wash without washing
If you spill something down your clothes, your first point of call is probably to throw it straight in the machine machine.
Paula explained: “Spot clean small stains and spillages without adding to the main load.
“Act quickly to remove as much of the stain as possible by scraping off any excess solids with the back of a knife and using cold water over the area to loosen the stain (hot water will set the stain).”
Know your machine
Paula advised: “You want the shortest, coolest, lowest water cycle possible- which isn’t always the one called ‘Eco’, so you might need to do a bit of research to find the most efficient cycle for your machine.
“To ensure savings, it’s also important to not wash half loads.
“A quick tip to check if your machine is full is to use your hand to measure a palm’s width between the top of your laundry and the top inside of the drum (any less and the washing won’t have room to clean).
“If there’s more space than the width of your palm then you know.”
“An empty tumble dry symbol allows any heat, while a filled-in circle means no heat,” the experts added. “Some tags use a tiny hand to mean hand washing — a bit on the nose, but effective.”
Along with the open triangle (“bleach as needed”) and the triangle with an X through it (“do not bleach”), you may also see a third triangle symbol on clothes and textiles.
The triangle with two diagonal lines inside indicates “non-chlorine bleach as needed.”
Pay close attention to the two different X symbol placements on an iron.
An X over the bottom of the iron means “do not iron with steam,” while an X through the whole thing means no ironing.
If you see a circle anywhere on the tag, hand the items over to the professionals.
Those items can be dry-cleaned, and a professional cleaner can interpret any additional symbols the circle may contain.
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