If this symbol appears on the label of your favorite clothing, do not wash it yourself.

It was the sales, you fell for this pretty designer dress who had been eyeing you for months. A delicate material, complex embroidery, a pretty pastel color… Except that, all the joy of your purchase, you forgot to take a look at the washing label for this item. In any case, for you, the symbols drawn there are as indecipherable as the hieroglyphs before Champollion managed to crack the Rosetta Stone. Bad news: the one on the second line on the right means that you will be obliged to call on a professional every time you want to clean it. The wrong registration? A basin filled with water, which usually indicates the temperature at which to machine wash your clothes, whether you should wash them by hand or whether spinning is not recommended. In this specific case, it is crossed out with a cross to remove any doubt: you should especially not do not take care of this item of clothing yourself.

When should you take your clothes to the dry cleaner?

If this symbol is present on the washing label of your purchase, you will certainly have to go to the dry cleaner every time you want to clean it. Even more so if a circle with the letter P or F, that indicate the need for dry cleaning, or a circle with the letter W (wet cleaning), are on your clothing. A circle crossed out with a cross specifies that the cleaning professional must use chemical products. It is important to emphasize this: drop off your clothes at the dry cleaners at a financial cost (count 6.50 euros for pants, 7.50 euros for a dress), but also a ecological cost. Most establishments use chemical solvents, which can be hazardous to health and pollute when released into wastewater. It is for this reason that we must prefer, as far as possible, to buy parts which we can take care of yourself at homewith a little water, organic laundry detergent or Marseille soap and that’s it!