UK
A recent survey by an online label company has reported that 56% of people do not always understand the symbols on clothing care labels, leading to clothing being damaged and wasted as a result.

Data Label, an online label company, conducted the survey to find out whether people find the instructions given by symbols on clothing tags to be difficult to understand. It has now designed a guide to the most common care symbols. The company surveyed 500 people in the UK, asking them: “Do you find the symbols on clothing care labels to be confusing?”

Of the 500 people asked, 56% said they find them confusing, 24% said that they don’t understand the symbols, and a further 32% confessed that they were sometimes confused by them.

People admitted that they had thrown away or simply never worn an item of clothing because they’d washed that piece incorrectly and damaged it or were afraid of putting it into the wash and rendering it unwearable.

Philip Carlyn at Data Label said: “If only the symbols on clothing were more similar to the instruction they were trying to advise or if it simply stated in words any specific care advice, many items of clothing might be safer!”