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Quiz Monkey |
General |
Clothing Care |
Washing |
Bleaching |
Drying |
Ironing |
Professional Cleaning |
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In the somewhat male–orientated context of the pub quiz, questions on topics such as this tend to be greeted with cries of "Girls' question!" (or suchlike). It is of course to be hoped that such cries are ironic; but in truth I think most quizzers, of either gender, would agree that if topics like this appeal more to the female of the species then they are only to be encouraged.
The best–established standards in fabric care seem to those of an organisation called Ginetex – "the international association for textile care labelling" – which is based in Switzerland. Although Ginetex appears to have global aspirations, its influence seems to be largely European, with other countries having their own standards. But as this website is unashamedly Europe–based, it's the European ones that I'm concentrating on.
Ginetex lists about 30 symbols on its "Overview" page; Wikipedia has about 40 on its page. Only a few of these are ever likely to get asked in a quiz; this is my selection of the ones that I think are likely to come up and/or are representative of the complete system.
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Bleaching allowed (any agent) |
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Non-chlorine bleach only |
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Do not bleach |
With any of the last three symbols, if the lines are horizontal this means the item must be dried flat. If there's a diagonal line across the top left hand corner, it must be dried in the shade. For example:
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Line drying in the shade |
Wikipedia has two diagonal lines, while Ginetex has only one. I'm guessing that two lines means "dry in deep shade" - or words to that effect!
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The number of dots indicates the recommended
maximum temperature for ironing. One dot, as here, means a cool iron (110 °C); two dots
means medium (150 °C); three dots means hot (200 °C) |
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Do not iron |
© Haydn Thompson 2017