Reading the label
What the washtub, triangle, square, iron and circle on the small tag in the seam mean, and why a crossed-out symbol matters more than all the others.
clothes that last: a guide to caring for clothes and shoes
Orln: how to care for clothes and shoes so they last longer
A jumper shrinks after its very first wash, a white T-shirt turns grey, boots crack by midwinter and little moth holes appear in the wardrobe. Usually the clothes themselves are not to blame; small habits are: a care label read too quickly, water that is too hot, storage somewhere damp. In this guide we go step by step through how to treat clothes and shoes gently and without unnecessary fuss.
The greenest and cheapest piece of clothing is the one already hanging in your wardrobe. Every extra season it lasts means money saved and one purchase you did not have to make.
Four areas
Washing and drying
How to sort laundry into piles, choose the temperature and cycle, and then dry each item so it keeps its shape.
Stains without risk
Why a fresh stain comes out more easily, why you should test a product on the inside first, and why combining different cleaning products is dangerous.
Storage
How to put winter things away until autumn, protect wool from moths and damp, and keep the top shelf from becoming a graveyard of forgotten clothes.
Guide sections
- Sections
The guide's four themes: care label symbols, washing and drying, stains, storing clothes and caring for shoes.
- Guides
How to put winter clothes away for the summer: preparation, steps with illustrative examples, mistakes and a checklist. Plus the article catalogue.
- Questions
Short answers about care symbols, wash cycles, stains, household cleaning products, storage and shoes.
- Collections
Reading paths: your first laundry on your own, wool and delicate fabrics, shoes through the seasons.
- Reference
Glossary: care symbols, wash cycle, delicate cycle, spin, sorting, fibres, pilling, moths.
- New
A feed of the guide's pages with dates and topic tags.
- Archive
All pages by date and topic, plus a note about the old address on this domain.
Something new at home: five steps
Read the care label
Find the tag with the care symbols; it is usually sewn into a side seam or near the collar. If the label is scratchy and you plan to cut it off, take a photo of it first: a picture on your phone will save you guesswork six months later.
Wash bright colours separately
Strong colours, especially red, navy and black, can bleed during the first few washes. Wash such an item on its own or with similar colours the first time so it does not stain the rest of your laundry.
Choose the cycle
Check the number in the washtub and the bars beneath it: they tell you the maximum temperature and how gentle the cycle should be. If in doubt, choose cooler water and a gentle spin.
Dry it properly
Look at the square on the label. Knitwear and wool are usually dried flat on a horizontal surface, while shirts are best put on hangers straight after washing so they need less ironing.
Decide where it lives
Jackets and dresses do best on hangers, heavy jumpers folded on a shelf. Give each item its own place in advance and it will not end up crumpled in a corner of the wardrobe.
The essentials in brief
Are you a dry cleaner or a shop?
No. Orln is a reference guide, not a service. We do not take in clothes for cleaning, we sell nothing and we do not advertise products or repair shops. Our job is to explain how to look after clothes yourself and when it is better to leave them to professionals.
What do the dots on the iron mean?
Under ISO 3758 they show the maximum temperature of the iron's soleplate: one dot means up to 110 °C, two dots up to 150 °C, three dots up to 200 °C. A crossed-out iron means the item must not be ironed.
Can I mix bleach with a bathroom cleaner?
No. Mixing different cleaning and bleaching products is dangerous: for example, combining a chlorine-based product with an acidic one releases toxic chlorine gas. Use products one at a time, ventilate the room and rinse one away thoroughly before using another.
What should I do with clothes I no longer wear?
Clothes that are clean and in good condition can be given to friends, taken to charity collection points or swapped at clothing swap events. Worn-out textiles are accepted for recycling in many places: look for textile collection bins and drop-off points near you.
About the project
This domain used to host a news website, and later unrelated spam pages appeared on it. None of that material has survived, and we do not reproduce it. The Orln guide has no connection to those earlier sites and does not publish news; the name simply came to us along with the domain.
We write for anyone who does their own washing, ironing and wardrobe sorting: students living on their own for the first time, parents facing a mountain of children's clothes, people who want to buy less often and wear things longer. There is no advertising, no rankings and no grand promises here, just clear explanations, checked facts about care labelling and habits that genuinely make clothes last longer.
Sources
- ISO 3758 "Textiles. Care labelling code using symbols" (general provisions)
- Guidance on the safe handling of household cleaning products (general provisions)
This advice is general and reflects what we knew when the page was prepared. The best guide for any particular item is its own care label: if the label disagrees with our recommendations, follow the label. For expensive, vintage or complex items, it is wiser to turn to professional cleaning or repair specialists.