How to Wash Clothes with Different Care Labels Together: Choosing the Temperature and Cycle
Washing every garment separately to match its care label isn’t realistic. Still, it’s hard to know whether a 40 °C normal-wash item and a 30 °C one-bar item can go in the same machine, or what temperature and cycle to use. This article covers the basic rule for washing clothes with different care labels together, the order to make decisions in, worked examples with real combinations, and how to think about splitting loads, as in “take out this one item and the rest can go on the normal cycle”.
The basic rule: match the lowest temperature and the gentlest cycle
Current care symbols show the upper limit for each treatment. Washing at a lower temperature or with a gentler cycle than the label is fine, so when you wash several garments at once, choose conditions every item can take, in other words match the strictest item, and you won’t exceed any garment’s label.
| What to decide | How to match |
|---|---|
| Water temperature | Match the lowest number in the washtub symbols |
| Agitation (cycle) | Match the item with the most bars under the tub (or hand wash, if any item says hand wash) |
| Bleach | Match the most restrictive item, in the order plain triangle > two diagonal lines > crossed out |
| Tumble dryer | Take out items with a crossed-out circle in a square, or drip-dry items, before drying |
However, washing everything at the strictest settings means even dirty towels and underwear go on a gentle cycle, and they won’t come out as clean. That’s why it matters to find which item is making the conditions strict and to wash only that item separately.
The order to decide whether items can be washed together
- 1
Remove items that can’t be washed at home
Items with a crossed-out washtub can’t even be hand-washed, so they don’t go in the machine. Check the circle symbol to see whether they can be professionally cleaned.
- 2
Check for a “wash separately” note
Items labelled “wash separately from other items because of colour transfer” are washed alone, whatever the symbols say.
- 3
Decide the temperature and cycle
From the remaining items, set the temperature by the lowest washtub number and the cycle by the most bars (or hand wash, if any).
- 4
Decide on bleach
If you’re using bleach, match the most restrictive triangle among all the items. If even one item has a crossed-out triangle, use neither bleach nor a detergent containing bleach.
- 5
Decide which items go in a laundry net
Put items with one bar, two bars or hand wash, and items noted “use a laundry net”, in a net.
- 6
Decide which items come out before drying
Take out items with a crossed-out circle in a square or drip-dry (two lines in a square) before drying, and dry one-dot items on low heat.
- 7
Check for colour transfer
Make sure you haven’t put dark or new coloured items in the same load as whites and pale colours.
How to read washtub symbols is explained in what the washtub symbol on care labels means, drying symbols in what the drying symbols on care labels mean, and triangle symbols in the triangle on laundry labels and bleach.
Example: washing a T-shirt, a blouse and a towel together
Let’s work through a common combination of three items. Suppose their labels show the following symbols.
| Item | Washtub | Triangle | Tumble dryer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cotton T-shirt (white) | 40, no bar | Plain triangle | 1 dot |
| Polyester blouse | 30, 1 bar | Two diagonal lines | Crossed out |
| Towel | 40, no bar | Two diagonal lines | 2 dots |
- Temperature: the lowest is the blouse’s 30, so up to 30 °C.
- Cycle: the most bars is the blouse’s 1 bar, so a gentle cycle such as delicates.
- Bleach: there are items with two diagonal lines, so oxygen bleach only.
- Laundry net: the one-bar blouse goes in a net.
- Tumble dryer: the blouse is crossed out, so take it out and hang it to dry. The T-shirt has 1 dot, so low heat. The towel can use normal heat.
In this combination, only the blouse is making the temperature and cycle strict. Take the blouse out and the T-shirt and towel are both 40 with no bar, so they can be washed at up to 40 °C on the normal cycle. Washing the blouse in a separate load or by hand gets everything cleaner overall than washing a dirty towel on a gentle cycle.
Combinations worth separating even with the same symbols
Some combinations are better separated for reasons the care symbols can’t tell you. In the following cases, wash them in different loads or protect them with a laundry net, even if the symbols are the same.
- Dark or new denim and T-shirts with white or pale clothes: dye can come out in the wash water and transfer. It’s safest to wash new dark items on their own for at least the first few washes.
- Towels or sweatshirts with dark clothes or knitwear: lint from towels sticks easily.
- Clothes with zips, hooks or hook-and-loop fasteners with knitwear or thin fabrics: they can snag and cause pilling. Close zips and fasten hook-and-loop strips before washing.
- Very dirty workwear or muddy clothes: dirt transfers to other clothes, so pre-wash them or wash them separately.
Work out the wash-together conditions with the tool
In the Laundry Care Symbols Meaning & Washing Guide Checker’s “Decide how to wash from the tag / wash together”, add each garment by choosing its symbols, extra instructions and colour, and it decides in the order above.
- 1
Add garments
Use “+ Add garment” to add the items you want to wash together and choose their washtub, triangle, drying and other symbols.
- 2
Choose extra instructions and colour
Choose extra instructions such as “Use a laundry net” or “Wash separately from other items because of color transfer”, and whether the item is white, pale or dark.
- 3
Look at the wash-together check
It shows the temperature limit, cycle, usable bleach, which items go in a net, which come out before tumble drying, which can’t be washed at home and which to wash separately.
- 4
Check how to split the load
If one item is making the conditions strictest, it also shows what temperature and cycle the rest could use if you took that item out.
You can turn the combination you entered into a shareable URL, so when you ask a family member to do the laundry you can hand over instructions like “this one in a net, this one out before drying” all at once.
FAQ
- Can I wash clothes with different care labels together?
- Yes. Set the temperature to the lowest washtub number and the cycle to the item with the most bars (or hand wash, if any), and you won’t exceed any garment’s label. But don’t include items with a crossed-out washtub or a “wash separately” note.
- What happens if I wash delicates and ordinary clothes together?
- If you use the delicates (gentle) cycle, ordinary clothes won’t be damaged. But with the gentler agitation, dirty items won’t come as clean. If you have a lot of dirty items, separate the delicates and wash the rest on the normal cycle for a better result.
- What temperature should I use for 40 °C and 30 °C items together?
- Up to the lower one, 30 °C. The number on the care label is the maximum water temperature, so washing a 40 °C item at 30 °C or below is fine. If you wash in cold tap water, temperature is hardly a concern.
- What should I do if one item in the load can’t be tumble dried?
- Wash and spin it with the rest, then take it out and hang it to dry before the drying starts. Be careful with a washer-dryer’s “wash to dry” cycle, because it will dry that item too.
Tools in this article
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