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

The INSIDER Summary:

• Clothing symbols are much easier to decipher than you think.
• Here's a handy chart that translates everything for you.
• It'll help you understand which clothes to dry clean and which not to.

Interpreting the laundry symbols on your clothing tags can be like walking into a pyramid and trying to read the hieroglyphics. They're opaque, minimalist, and may have been written by an ancient alien race.

Should you wash your sweater with warm or cold water? Will an ironing or bleaching destroy your khakis? Here, finally, are the answers.

Check out the graphic below to see what those mysterious symbols actually mean.

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