Tumble dry, normal heat

How to read it

A circle inside a square is the tumble-drying symbol, and the dots in the circle set the heat. Two dots allow the normal setting; one dot limits the dryer to low heat, and a cross through the symbol means no tumble drying.

Differences by country or standard

The dots mean the same order of heat everywhere, but the guides name and limit them differently. GINETEX, the international body behind the symbols, calls two dots the normal process at up to 80°C and one dot a mild process at up to 60°C. The Canadian government's guide calls two dots medium heat, up to 65°C, one dot low heat, up to 55°C, and adds a third dot for high heat, up to 75°C.

The US symbols, from ASTM, go further. When the Federal Trade Commission chose them over the international ISO and GINETEX system in 1997, one reason it gave was that the international system had only normal and low tumble-drying settings, which didn't fit the laundry equipment used in the United States. ASTM adds a circle with no dots for any heat and a blacked-in circle for no heat, air only; a University of Tennessee Extension guide to the US symbols lists the settings as any heat, high, medium, low and no heat.