New Care Symbols: Wash And Weary?

Good morning. Today we are going to test your laundry performance skills. Inquiring minds want to know if you can sort the laundry NAFTA-style. (If at the moment you saw NAFTA the words "North American Free Trade Agreement" sprang to your lips, go to the head of the class.)

Because of NAFTA, on July 1 clothing manufacturers may begin using certain care symbols in place of written instructions on permanent care labels inside garments. So far, this is a voluntary plan.

The idea is to use symbols so that American clothing labels will be in sync with those already used in Canada and Mexico. That way, American manufacturers won't need a separate inventory of garments for the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and won't need to include care instructions in English, French and Spanish.

For the next 18 months, while we consumers memorize the 20-plus symbols, the Federal Trade Commission also will require manufacturers to include written instructions on hang tags or elsewhere on garments. (Add another nine symbols to memorize if you are in the dry-cleaning industry, or take your clothing to a do-it-yourself dry-cleaning establishment.)

There are five basic care symbols. Fine. Our mental computers can handle that. It's not rocket science.

A tub with waves at the top is the symbol for garments that should be washed. So, you reason, a symbol with a hand in the tub is easy: You hand-wash the garment; you don't toss it into a washer.

A square symbolizes the dryer; a circle means take it to the dry cleaner. An iron? That's obvious. How about a triangle?

Give up? It's bleach. However, be aware that garments made in Japan display a flask on the label to signify bleach.

I assume you're with me so far. You may be thinking it won't be so hard, so why am I whining about this? After all, many of these same symbols have been used in Europe for 40 years, so Americans should be able to learn them, too.

Don't be so hasty.

Pretend it's late at night after a long, hard day at the office followed by a PTA meeting, then an evening of homework with the kids. You still have the laundry to do. The big hand is on 12, the little hand on 11.

Quick, what's one line under a wash tub mean? How about two lines under the tub? Two diagonal lines on the right side of a triangle? Three dots inside a circle inside a square? A black circle inside a square? Two diagonal lines across the upper left corner of a square? An iron that looks as if it's on stilts with criss-cross lines through the stilts?

You get the idea. Test yourself by using the chart of symbols from the American Society for Testing and Materials, which accompanies today's column.

Representatives of the FTC insist these new labels will save you money, because they will save time and money for manufacturers. I'll reserve judgment on that until I see it at the cash register. I do believe it will mean we'll all have to learn 20-plus symbols, and remember to keep a care label chart above the washer and dryer, or on the refrigerator, or tatooed on our forearms.

Connie Vecellio, an attorney for the FTC who is in charge of the care-labeling rule, is more optimistic.

"People learn new icons on computers every day, and it's not cool to be left out," she said.

But is doing the laundry as much fun as playing with computers? Will it become cool?

I agree with one writer who has said the new pictorial care labels, without written instructions, could be as popular in the United States as the metric system.

The feds are counting on educational help from clothing manufacturers, the makers of bleach and detergent, washers and dryers, and the dry-cleaning industry.

The Clorox Co. is preparing an 8 1/2-by-11-inch wall chart with care symbols on one side and a guide to stain removal on the other, said Eric Essma, manager for textile industry affairs. The chart will be in new washers and on Clorox's Web site by June 19. Visit it at http://www.clorox.com

Essma says the U.S. is the last country in the world to adopt the use of such care labels.

The International Fabricare Institute is said to be designing a paper covering for hangers from dry cleaners that will have a care label chart complete with explanations.

The only symbol missing from this scenario is a pair of those ancient devices called clothespins. Remember them?

Cases closed

R.R., Renton: The old abandoned gas station at Southwest 43rd Street and East Valley Road in Kent has been demolished. A Chevron station and convenience store is being constructed in its place.

J.D., North Seattle: You have been contacted by the state Department of Social and Health Services and should be back on the food stamp program soon.

R.Q., Bellevue: Travel Opportunities of Fort Lauderdale has credited your MasterCard account for $468 for the vacation certificate you bought in February 1996. Good thing you charged it to a credit card. Generally we recommend against buying such certificates, because they include many restrictions not always revealed upfront to the consumer.

G.D.B., Magnolia: We've sent you the new address and phone for Farberware's corporate office. Let us know if the defective tea kettle is replaced.

R.E., South Seattle: MBT Nursery Sales of Bohemia, N.Y., says it has sent you a refund check for the "giant" tomato plant that reached about an inch tall by your account. Next time, buy those plants locally!

B.S., Wallingford: National Geographic charged you twice for a subscription, but now has refunded $25.

L.L., Beacon Hill: Robert G. Shaffer Hearing Aids has returned $207 for the device that did not work for you.

D.B., Northeast Seattle: Claris Corp. of Salinas, Calif., has sent a check for $14.07 for the CD-ROM that did not arrive.

Shelby Gilje's Troubleshooter column appears Wednesday and Sunday in the Scene section of The Times. Do you have a consumer problem? Write to Times Troubleshooter, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. Include copies, not originals, of appropriate documents. Phone, 206-464-2262, fax 382-8873, or e-mail address, sgil-new@seatimes.com