The exact opposite is true. These symbols require (but do not have) translation on every piece of clothing, because almost no-one understands what they mean, and it's not currently possible to type them in to Google to identify their meaning.
On the other hand, if the text was just in a language that I did not speak, I can either type this into a translation app myself, or use the automatic translation camera on my phone to identify them.
And sure, I can apparently now do that for those washing symbols too, which is nice... but why is that information being conveyed in a "language" that almost no-one speaks? I'd be just as confused if every item of clothing I purchased had washing instructions in Lojban.
I fully understand why an attempt at standardised symbols was made, being able to communicate that information more compactly would be useful, but it very clearly failed. They're not intuitive enough to learn without third-party resources, and a very very tiny fraction of the population is willing to put in the effort to do so. Just use text.
Current state, I would have to figure out what to type into google to see what some symbol like ⧇ or △ means in laundry terms. Either better symbols I don't have to google, or text in a language that I don't speak...but can figure out. The ones with temperatures don't even have a degree mark.
It's strange that on a site like Hacker News people are so averse to learning new things. We seem to have no problem learning other kinds of symbol languages. These are standard symbols - you can search Google for "laundry symbols" to find a key
The audience for the symbols are people who do laundry for a living.
Symbols that you never use aren't very useful when all you really need to know is "do not dry", "do not bleach", "wash with like colors". It's really not that big of a deal to put a tag written in English and Spanish to the US, or in French to France, etc.
My girlfriend works in the fashion industry in Taiwan. Designers in the US make an artistic drawing of a dress. She converts it to a Gerber file using CAD software. The Gerbers get sent to factories in China or Vietnam, who make prototypes and send those to Taiwan for testing. When approved, thousands are ordered and shipped directly from the factories to Macy's or JCPenny in the US.
When artists use English, CAD designers use Traditional Chinese, and factory staff use Simplified Chinese or Vietnamese, and consumers use every language - there's a need for a standard symbol. You have a good point about dry cleaning services too!
The difficult part is that the people through this international supply chain can't type these symbols in emails, or search for them in databases. That's why a Unicode code point should be assigned.
That clothing design and production process sounds fascinating. A search on some of the terms doesn't seem to return anything useful... do you have any good reads or videos for an outsider to understand a typical workflow?
I just learned it from her directly, and was surprised when she mentioned Gerber files. I used those for PCB design, and it's the same file format that they use for clothes!
That general summary was great, and plenty of jumping-off points. And the knowing the terminology helps. Thanks.
I'm with you, it bears uncanny parallels to the PCB design workflow. Not just the Gerbers, but the component/fabric selection, simulation, design drawings, etc.
I would agree. The issue isn't that they are symbols, it is that the symbols are really hard to understand, other than hand wash where a hand is in a bucket of water the rest have little connection with the outside world.
