In short. Care labels are required by Australian law, and the circle on a label is an instruction for a professional cleaner, not for you. “Dry clean only” tells you the method the maker tested and stands behind. It doesn’t mean every other professional method would harm the garment, and it isn’t an invitation to try your washing machine.
The label is a requirement, not a suggestion
Clothing and household textiles sold in Australia must carry care instructions under the Consumer Goods (Care Labelling) Information Standard 2023, a mandatory standard set under Australian Consumer Law. The instructions can be written in English words, shown as the international care symbols, or both. That is why one shirt says “warm hand wash” and the next shows only a row of shapes.
Behind the symbols sit two rule books. The Australian standard lets a supplier follow either AS/NZS 1957:1998 or the international standard ISO 3758:2012. ISO published a newer edition, ISO 3758:2023, in December 2023.
The circle is for professionals
Most of a care label is written for you: the washtub, the triangle for bleaching, the square for drying, the iron. The circle is different. It speaks to a professional cleaner, and the letter inside tells them which process the maker approved:
A bar under the circle asks for a gentler process, and two bars gentler again. Our guide to the W symbol goes through each one.
What “dry clean only” does tell you
“Dry clean only” in words, or a P or F with no washtub beside it, means the maker tested the garment in a solvent process and is prepared to stand behind that result. Follow the label and you are doing what the maker expects. Go against it and the risk is yours.
It is also a hint that something in the garment won’t like an ordinary wash: wool that felts, silk that water-marks, a lining or interfacing that shrinks at a different rate from the outer fabric, or trims that bleed.
What it doesn’t tell you
A label lists what the maker tested, not every process that would work. Australia’s standard itself allows for professional cleaning methods beyond the ones in its symbol table.
Professional wet cleaning is one of those methods. Kreussler, the German company that makes LANADOL, says fabrics labelled W, P or hand wash can be wet cleaned with LANADOL: by a professional, on a programmed machine, with the right finishing.
Two more things are worth knowing. The “do not dry clean” symbol is optional, so a label without it is not a promise that solvent is safe. And a garment that can be neither washed nor dry cleaned must say so in words.
Why professional wet cleaning isn’t washing it at home
Wet cleaning uses water, but that is where the likeness to your laundry ends. A wet cleaning washer runs a program for each kind of garment. The water level, the drum action, the temperature, the time and the dose of detergent are all set, and repeated load after load. The garments then go into a dryer with selectable temperature and time, come out slightly damp, and are finished by hand on pressing equipment.
A home machine’s wool cycle has none of that control. So “dry clean only” is still a good reason to keep a garment out of your own machine, and a good reason to ask your cleaner what they can do.
Questions to ask your cleaner
- Which process will you use for this garment: solvent or wet cleaning?
- Do you offer wet cleaning? Not every cleaner does, because it needs its own chemistry, programs and finishing equipment.
- Is there anything on the garment (trims, beads, leather or a stain) that you would test first?
- Will it be finished by hand?
Want to go further? Read Wet cleaning vs dry cleaning, or the guide to wet cleaning wool, silk and cashmere. Run a cleaning business? See Start wet cleaning.
Questions? Call 1300 70 69 70 or contact us.
Thinking about adding wet cleaning?
We supply the machine and the LANADOL chemistry, and program it for wet cleaning. Installed and serviced by the people who sell it.