Laundry Literacy

Who am I to complain? I ruined one of my wife's shirts today. Again. I mistakenly thought that a yellow circle on the laundry tag meant that I could dry it safely at the very low temperature I normally use before hanging to finish. Actually, that would be a circle inside a square. The circle means that it is OK to dry-clean. Not put in the dryer. At any temperature. Apparently. Oh, the shirt is fine. perfectly fine. Unfortunately, all the embroidery shrank, causing some rather psychotic puckering across large stretches of the front and bottom.

Like many North Americans who grew up during the second half of the 20th Century, I made it past grade eight. A large part of those first eight years of schooling were invested in learning to read. A core requirement, I have been told, in order for me to be able function in our advanced, technology based, society. Twenty five years later, I am probably in the top 20% or so of the continent literacy wise since I spend a significant amount of my time reading and writing for pleasure. Yet I am (or more often my wife is) occasionally bereft of some item of clothing because I can't figure out the little series of symbols that are used to on laundry tags communicate the appropriate washing instructions.

I can only assume that the relentless drive for cheaper and cheaper clothing means that companies can't afford the extra 1.2 cents per garment that it would cost to put the washing instructions on the clothes in the language or languages appropriate to the region where they will be sold. I suspect I know what the answer would be, if the average householder were asked "Would you be willing pay an extra 5 cents for each article of clothing buy, if it meant ruining one less item per year?" But I believe we'll never be asked that question. If we are asked that question, we might start to think about what exactly we are getting in exchange for everyday low prices.