---
title: "Product care symbols explained"
description: "Every product care symbol and what it means — 10 of them, with what each looks like and what happens if you ignore it."
url: https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Product care symbols

10 product care symbols, each with what it looks like and what it actually requires.

| Symbol | Looks like | Means |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Upholstery cleaning code W | A letter W on a fabric tag under a cushion or beneath a sofa frame. | Clean with water-based cleaners only. |
| Upholstery cleaning code S | A letter S on the care tag of a sofa or chair. | Clean with solvent-based cleaners only — no water. |
| Upholstery cleaning code W-S | The letters WS or W/S on the care tag. | Either water-based or solvent-based cleaners may be used. |
| Upholstery cleaning code X | A letter X on the care tag. | Vacuum or brush only — no liquid cleaner of any kind. |
| Period after opening (open jar with 12M) | An open cosmetics jar with the lid lifted off, and a number followed by M inside or beside it — 6M, 12M, 24M. | How many months the product stays good after you first open it. |
| Cosmetics hourglass (minimum durability) | A small hourglass or egg-timer shape, with a date printed beside it. | The best-before date of a cosmetic product — it is best used before the date shown. |
| Footwear: leather | A stretched animal hide seen from above, like a flattened skin with four leg stubs. | That part of the shoe is leather. |
| Footwear: coated leather | The same stretched hide shape with a magnified segment or a diagonal split drawn across one corner. | That part is leather with a surface coating no thicker than a third of the total thickness. |
| Footwear: textile | A cross-hatched weave — two sets of threads interlaced at right angles, like a magnified fabric. | That part of the shoe is a textile, natural or synthetic. |
| Footwear: other materials | A plain diamond or rhombus. | That part is made of something that is neither leather nor textile. |

- [Upholstery cleaning code W](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care-upholstery-w/) — Clean with water-based cleaners only.
- [Upholstery cleaning code S](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care-upholstery-s/) — Clean with solvent-based cleaners only — no water.
- [Upholstery cleaning code W-S](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care-upholstery-ws/) — Either water-based or solvent-based cleaners may be used.
- [Upholstery cleaning code X](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care-upholstery-x/) — Vacuum or brush only — no liquid cleaner of any kind.
- [Period after opening (open jar with 12M)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care-pao/) — How many months the product stays good after you first open it.
- [Cosmetics hourglass (minimum durability)](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care-cosmetic-hourglass/) — The best-before date of a cosmetic product — it is best used before the date shown.
- [Footwear: leather](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care-shoe-leather/) — That part of the shoe is leather.
- [Footwear: coated leather](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care-shoe-coated-leather/) — That part is leather with a surface coating no thicker than a third of the total thickness.
- [Footwear: textile](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care-shoe-textile/) — That part of the shoe is a textile, natural or synthetic.
- [Footwear: other materials](https://atoneplace.net/symbol/care-shoe-other/) — That part is made of something that is neither leather nor textile.