How many dots can the tumble-dry symbol have?

In ISO 3758 the tumble-dry symbol has one or two dots: one dot means reduced temperature (about 60 °C) and two dots normal temperature (about 80 °C). Three-dot versions appear only on US labels following the ASTM system, where they mean high heat.

What temperature does a one-dot iron symbol mean?

A low setting of about 110–120 °C depending on the reference: GINETEX's current chart lists 120 °C, while the ISO 3758:2012 figures and US brand charts list 110 °C (230 °F). The dot count, not the exact number, is the operative instruction.

Care symbols

What the dots on the tumble-dry and iron symbols mean

October 29, 2026 · ~6 min read · Last verified: October 2026 · Checked against GINETEX and Maytag

Dots are the heat dial of the care-label system. On the tumble-dry symbol and the iron, each extra dot steps the allowed temperature up one level. The catch — and the reason so many charts contradict each other — is that the exact temperatures behind the dots differ slightly between references, and between the European (ISO) and American (ASTM) systems. Here is what each dot actually permits, with both sets of numbers.

Key takeaways

Tumble dry: 1 dot = low/reduced heat (≈60 °C), 2 dots = normal (≈80 °C). ISO stops at two dots.
Iron: 1 dot = low (≈110–120 °C), 2 dots = medium (≈150–160 °C), 3 dots = high (≈200–210 °C).
References genuinely disagree by ~10 °C on iron temperatures — GINETEX's own chart currently lists 120/160/210 °C while the ISO 3758:2012 figures and US charts give 110/150/200 °C.
On US labels you may also see 3 dots on a dryer symbol (high) and dots inside the wash tub — the ASTM system uses relative levels, not exact numbers.

Dots on the tumble-dry symbol

The tumble-dry symbol is a circle inside a square. In the ISO 3758 system it comes in exactly two heat levels, both documented on GINETEX's own chart:

Symbol	Dots	Meaning	Temperature
	1	Mild / reduced-temperature tumble drying	≈60 °C
	2	Normal-temperature tumble drying	≈80 °C

On your dryer, one dot maps to the low or delicate heat setting and two dots to normal/cotton. If your machine's heat settings don't map cleanly, choose the lower one — overshooting heat shrinks and ages fabric; undershooting only costs time.

US garments labelled under the ASTM system can also show a three-dot tumble symbol (high heat) and a filled-in circle (tumble with no heat / air fluff), neither of which exists in ISO 3758. Maytag's official guide describes the American dot ladder as low / medium / high for exactly this reason.

Dots on the iron symbol

The iron's dots give the maximum sole-plate temperature. This is where the honest footnote belongs: the two most-cited references disagree.

Dots	Setting	ISO 3758:2012 / US charts	GINETEX current chart	Typical fibres
1	Low	110 °C (230 °F)	120 °C	Polyamide (nylon), acetate, acrylic
2	Medium	150 °C (300 °F)	160 °C	Wool, silk, polyester, viscose
3	High	200 °C (390 °F)	210 °C	Cotton, linen

The 10 °C difference is real, not a typo on either side: GINETEX (the body that owns the care-symbol standard) publishes 120/160/210 °C on its current symbol page, while the figures carried in the ISO 3758:2012 text — and on US appliance-maker charts like Maytag's, which convert to 230/300/390 °F — are 110/150/200 °C. The practical instruction is identical either way: dots mean levels, and your iron's dial markers (usually one dot, two dots, three dots) line up with the label. When a garment matters, set by the lower figure and give the iron a minute to settle.

Two more iron facts worth knowing:

The 2023 revision of ISO 3758 added a no-steam version of the one-dot (low) iron symbol — some synthetics and finishes take dry pressing only.
A crossed-out iron means do not iron at all, not "iron carefully". It is usually there to protect a print, laminate or delicate finish.

Why US labels look different

Garments sold in the United States follow the FTC care-labelling rules, which use the ASTM symbol set. The five shapes are the same, but ASTM leans on relative dot levels: Maytag's guide describes one dot as low, two as medium and three as high across dryer and iron symbols, and — unlike ISO — also puts dots inside the wash tub to indicate wash temperature in levels instead of printing the exact °C number. If you learned the symbols from US laundry charts and then meet an ISO label with "40" in the tub, the logic is the same: more dots/heat = higher, and the printed number is a hard maximum.

Putting it into practice

Count the dots before you commit heat — one on each label, one glance at the machine.
Match the dryer setting to the dots; if in doubt between two settings, take the cooler one.
Start ironing at the dot level on the label, on the inside of the garment, and step down immediately if the fabric glides oddly.
Never treat a three-dot US dryer symbol as permission for an ISO-labelled garment — check its own label.

∘∘∘

Iron with a numbered, dot-marked dial

An iron that shows its dot levels and exact °C on the display makes the 110-vs-120 °C question moot — you just match dot to dot.

Compare irons →

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Sources

GINETEX — Care symbols (owner of the ISO 3758 system; tumble-dry 60/80 °C and iron 120/160/210 °C values). Accessed October 2026.
Maytag — What are your laundry symbols telling you? (US/ASTM dot levels; iron 230/300/390 °F). Accessed October 2026.
SGS — ISO 3758:2023 revision note (no-steam iron symbol, 2023 changes). Accessed October 2026.