Skip to content
Care Symbol Guide

Dry clean

Take this to a dry cleaner. A plain circle means professional dry cleaning.

What to do

Take it to a professional dry cleaner. A plain circle means standard dry cleaning is safe.

What to avoid

The circle only confirms dry cleaning. Check the wash symbols before laundering it at home.

How to spot it on a label

Find the standalone circle at the far right of the care-label row, after the iron symbol. The center of this circle is blank. When a circle contains a letter, that letter is an instruction for the professional cleaner, but this version has no letter.

Easy to confuse with

  • Check the mark

    Check the center of the circle. This symbol is empty; the P symbol has a clearly printed upright and rounded loop inside it.

  • Dry clean
    Do not dry clean

    Check the mark

    Look for two strokes that cross each other over the circle and continue past its outline. This circle has neither; the do-not-dryclean symbol has both.

On a real label

Appears on
US and international labels

Related symbols

Common questions

What does an empty circle mean on a clothing label?

A plain, standalone circle permits professional dry cleaning. It belongs at the end of the care-symbol row.

Does a plain circle specify a dry-cleaning solvent?

No. Unlike a circle marked P or F, the plain circle does not give a letter-specific solvent instruction.

Is a plain circle the same as a tumble-dry symbol?

No. A tumble-dry circle sits inside a square in the drying position. A professional-cleaning circle stands alone at the end of the label.

What does a bar under a dry-cleaning circle mean?

The bar is a separate process mark that tells the cleaner to use a gentler process. Check below the circle for the bar, not inside it where a solvent letter appears.

Browse by care category