Real Estate

Here's what those mysterious symbols on your laundry tags really mean

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To tumble dry or not to tumble dry: That is the question.

We've all been there, frantically searching our laundry tags to determine if we need to hand our new pants over to the dry cleaner, or if we can toss them in the wash with the rest of our things. And what about the weird dots and squiggles, suggesting some subtle variation in the standard wash instructions? It's a mysterious language of its own.

Not anymore. Now you can use this handy guide to decode those arcane symbols on your laundry tags. No more shrunken cashmere sweaters. No more rumpled khakis. Just clothes washed exactly the way they were intended to be washed, keeping them looking their finest for longer.

Your closet will thank you.

Check out the graphic below to see what those mysterious symbols are trying to tell you:

BI Graphic_Laundry Tag Icons
Dylan Roach/Business Insider

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Dylan is currently a Graphic Designer for Business Insider. He graduated from Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia with a Visual Arts major concentrating in Graphic Design. Dylan's favorite design movements include Swiss International Style, Postmodernism, and Minimalism. He is also a huge supporter for Esports--favorite team being Team Solomid (TSM)--as well as being an Atlanta Braves baseball fan. 
Before joining Business Insider as a lifestyle intern, Raisa worked for two years in social-media strategy and technology marketing. She graduated from Yale University with a degree in anthropology, having pursued journalism as a writer, editor, and designer for the Yale Daily News and The Yale Globalist, and working with the investigative unit at ABC News. Raisa is a Californian, a pop-culture addict, and a Taurus.