How do you care for textiles correctly, and what do the care-label symbols tell the consumer?
The care of textiles: the international care-labelling symbols (washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and professional/dry cleaning) and how a fabric's fibre content determines the correct care to avoid damage such as shrinking, stretching, colour loss or scorching.
A focused answer to the SQA National 5 Fashion and Textile Technology content on the care of textiles, covering the international care-labelling symbols for washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and dry cleaning, and how fibre content decides correct care.
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What this dot point is asking
The SQA wants you to read and explain care-label symbols and to know that correct care depends on the fibre. Question-paper items often show the five basic symbols and ask what each means, or ask you to explain why a particular garment needs a particular care routine to avoid damage.
The five basic care symbols
Why correct care depends on the fibre
The right care follows from the fibre content, which is why every garment also carries a fibre-content label.
- Wool shrinks and felts with heat, moisture and agitation, so it needs a cool or hand wash and to be dried flat, not tumble-dried.
- Synthetics (polyester, nylon, acrylic) are thermoplastic, so a hot iron can melt or scorch them; they need a cool iron.
- Silk is delicate and weakens in heat and strong detergent, so it is often hand-washed or dry-cleaned and ironed cool.
- Bright or dark colours can run, so labels advise washing separately or at a lower temperature to avoid colour loss.
Reading a label in practice
Try this
Q1. What does a wash-tub symbol with the number 30 inside tell the consumer? [1 mark]
- Cue. Machine wash at a maximum temperature of 30 degrees Celsius.
Q2. State what a cross through the triangle symbol means. [1 mark]
- Cue. Do not bleach.
Q3. Explain why a wool garment should be dried flat rather than tumble-dried. [2 marks]
- Cue. The heat and tumbling action would make the wool shrink, felt and lose its shape, so drying flat protects it.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA-style Identify4 marksCare labels use five basic symbols. Identify the process shown by each of these symbols: a wash tub, a triangle, a square with a circle inside, an iron and a circle.Show worked answer →
Award 1 mark for each correct identification, up to 4 (five offered). The wash tub symbol shows washing (a number or hand inside gives the temperature or hand-wash) (1). The triangle shows bleaching (a cross through it means do not bleach) (1). The square with a circle inside shows tumble drying (dots give the heat setting) (1). The iron symbol shows ironing (dots give the temperature) (1). The circle shows professional/dry cleaning (a letter inside tells the cleaner which solvent) (1). Markers want the process matched to the correct symbol; a cross through any symbol means do not carry out that process.
SQA-style Explain4 marksExplain why a pure wool jumper carries a care label warning against a hot wash and tumble drying.Show worked answer →
Award up to 2 marks per reason, to a maximum of 4. Wool fibres shrink and felt when exposed to heat, moisture and agitation together, so a hot machine wash would mat the fibres and make the jumper smaller and stiff (2). Tumble drying adds further heat and tumbling action, which would also cause shrinking, felting and loss of shape, so the label advises against it (2). The correct care is a cool or hand wash and drying flat. Markers reward the link between the property of wool and the specific damage that hot washing or tumbling would cause.
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