Contact

Care Symbol Guide is an independent reference created and maintained by Derrick Wiest. I built it because a care label should be useful while you are standing beside a washing machine, not something that sends you through several charts before you find an answer. The site turns the standard symbols into short, direct instructions while keeping the US and international systems separate where they differ.

What to write about

Please get in touch if you find a symbol that we have wrong, a symbol that is missing from the chart, or wording that does not agree with ISO 3758 or ASTM D5489. Those standards are the basis for the meanings on this site. A clear correction against either standard is especially helpful.

If you are writing about a label in front of you, tell me which symbol you are looking at and whether the garment was sold for the US market or elsewhere. Describe the marks you can see, such as dots, bars, a cross, a printed temperature, or letters inside a professional-cleaning circle. You can also include the page URL that led you here. Please do not send personal information that is not needed for the correction.

Corrections are welcome

The whole site is meant to work as a reference, so accuracy matters more than defending old copy. Reports are checked against the relevant standard before a page changes. That check can take longer than fixing a typo, but it prevents one uncertain reading from becoming another misleading answer.

Use the form below. It sends your message straight to my inbox through Resend, our email delivery provider. Nothing is stored in a database, and an email address is only needed if you want a reply.

Response time

I usually read messages within one week. A standards-based correction may take longer to answer because I will check it before updating the guide. I cannot identify an unknown textile, assess damage, or promise that a particular cleaning method will be safe for a specific garment.

A guide, not a guarantee. When in doubt, follow the instructions printed on your garment’s own label.