Any bleach
Any bleach can be used on the item when needed, chlorine or non-chlorine.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The empty triangle allows both chlorine bleach and oxygen (non-chlorine) bleach. It is easy to confuse with the triangle with two diagonal lines inside, which allows non-chlorine bleach only.
Where a garment's own label or its manufacturer says otherwise, that takes precedence.
A symbol many people don't know
Bleaching is among the least understood care symbols. In a survey of 6,000 people in six European countries, carried out by IPSOS for GINETEX in December 2016, 39% of people did not know what the bleaching symbol stands for.
Read next
More laundry symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with triangles.
Sources
- Textiles — Care labelling code using symbols, ISO 3758, ISO, Abstract (ISO 3758:2023)
- Standard Guide for Care Symbols for Care Instructions on Textile Products, ASTM D5489, ASTM International, section 4.6 (ASTM D5489-25)
- Textile Care Symbols, GINETEX, the International Association for Textile Care Labelling, p. 6
- Guide to Apparel and Textile Care Symbols, CAN/CGSB-86.1-2003, Office of Consumer Affairs, Government of Canada, p. 3
- A barometer for textile care labelling in Europe, IPSOS study for GINETEX, December 2016, GINETEX, the International Association for Textile Care Labelling
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 24, 2026. How we research
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