Dry flat symbol

A horizontal line inside the drying square, meaning dry lying flat.

Clothing & laundryStandard profile

Meanings

A horizontal line inside the drying square means lay the garment flat to dry, which stops knitwear stretching under its own weight when hung.

Officially standardisedVerified fact
In the ISO 3758 system a horizontal line inside the drying square instructs the garment to be dried lying flat.
Contexts: Laundry
Common modern usageVerified fact
Applied chiefly to knitwear, which stretches out of shape under its own weight when hung wet.
Contexts: Laundry

A square outline containing a single horizontal stroke running from near its left edge to near its right edge.

Commonly confused with: Line dry symbol
A horizontal line means dry flat and a vertical line means hang to dry.
Part of the same system as: Drying symbol
Both are built from squares, and both are used in laundry contexts.

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is defined by a current official standard.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

ISO 3758:2023, Textiles — Care labelling code using symbols
International Organization for Standardization · retrieved 2026-08-01
Paywalled and NOT READ. Registered so the standard can be named as existing and as defining the care-labelling system built on the five base symbols. It supports no individual record's specific meaning; those are carried by reference works that report them. See docs/paywalled-standards.md.
Laundry symbol
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity, origin and current use, not for contested detail or exact dates.

Last reviewed 2026-08-01

Meanings

A horizontal line inside the drying square means lay the garment flat to dry, which stops knitwear stretching under its own weight when hung.

Officially standardisedVerified fact

In the ISO 3758 system a horizontal line inside the drying square instructs the garment to be dried lying flat.

Contexts: Laundry

Common modern usageVerified fact

Applied chiefly to knitwear, which stretches out of shape under its own weight when hung wet.

Contexts: Laundry

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is defined by a current official standard.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is defined by a current official standard.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Sources

ISO 3758:2023, Textiles — Care labelling code using symbols
International Organization for Standardization · retrieved 2026-08-01
Paywalled and NOT READ. Registered so the standard can be named as existing and as defining the care-labelling system built on the five base symbols. It supports no individual record's specific meaning; those are carried by reference works that report them. See docs/paywalled-standards.md.
Laundry symbol
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity, origin and current use, not for contested detail or exact dates.

Last reviewed 2026-08-01