The do not wash symbol
A crossed-out tub means water itself is the enemy. This isn’t about cycles or temperature — it’s a garment for the professional.
Do not wash: Don't wash it at home at all — water itself is the problem. This is a garment for the cleaner.
What it means
No washing at home — not by machine, not by hand, not “just a quick rinse.” The X through the tub is the strongest statement the wash family makes, and it never travels alone: look across the same tag for the dry cleaning circle, which is usually the route the maker intends.
Why water is the problem
Structured garments — suit jackets, coats, anything with a shaped chest or collar — are built on interfacings and canvases that water can swell, buckle, or unglue. Wool felts. Some dyes are water-soluble on purpose, set only for solvent cleaning. The failure is structural: a washed blazer doesn’t come out dirty, it comes out a different shape, permanently.
What to do instead
Take it to the cleaner and let the circle on the tag do the talking — it tells them which process is safe. Between cleanings, spot-clean with a barely damp cloth on the outside of the fabric and air the garment on a shaped hanger. That routine handles most of what a wash would.
Related
Reading a whole tag, not one symbol? Tap everything you see into the decoder — it gives the careful combined plan.