Tumble dry, no heat
An ISO 3758 tumble-dry circle with no dots (often shown as a filled or zero-dot circle), indicating tumble drying with no heat — an air-only cycle.
What it means
A dryer circle calling for no heat means the drum should tumble using room-temperature air alone. The mechanical action fluffs and de-wrinkles the load while avoiding any heat-related shrinkage or melting.
What to do
Run the air-fluff or no-heat dryer cycle. Because there is no warmth to speed evaporation, it dries slowly, so use it for finishing nearly dry items or freshening fabrics rather than drying a soaking load.
How to use this term
Use this drying symbol before choosing tumble heat, line drying, flat drying or shade drying.
- Read tumble dry, no heat 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
The no-dot circle only takes heat off the table, so people assume the item is now fully dryer-safe — but the drum still tumbles. That mechanical action alone, even with no heat, can pill knits, raise fuzz on delicate surfaces, and be rough on friction-prone fibres like wool. Read the symbol as "heat-sensitive," not "damage-proof": if a piece also dislikes tumbling, finish it flat or on a rack instead.
For the broader method, use the Tumble dry settings and heat 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