Do not tumble dry
An ISO 3758 tumble-dry circle crossed out, indicating the garment must not be dried in a tumble dryer.
What it means
A cross through the dryer circle prohibits machine drying. The heat or mechanical action would shrink, distort or damage the item, so it must be dried by another method shown on the label, such as line or flat drying.
What to do
Keep the item out of the dryer. Follow the natural-drying symbol that accompanies it — line dry, drip dry or dry flat — and reshape knits by hand while damp.
How to use this term
Use this drying symbol before choosing tumble heat, line drying, flat drying or shade drying.
- Read do not tumble dry with the other symbols on the same care label; the strictest symbol wins.
- Match the instruction to the garment's most fragile part, including trims, lining, prints and finishes.
- If the label, fabric behaviour and stain method disagree, test a hidden area or choose the lower-risk route.
Common mistake
Many people read the cross as a heat warning, so they switch to the dryer's no-heat or air-fluff setting and assume that is safe. But the ban is on the tumbling itself, not just the heat. Cool, no-heat tumbling can still abrade fibers and stress seams and elastic, so even the gentlest air cycle is best skipped.
For the broader method, use the What can go in the dryer and then return to this term when the label changes the safe option.
Related terms
Sources
- ISO 3758:2012 Textiles — Care labelling code using symbols — International Organization for Standardization