They have appeared on clothes labels for four decades, each one chosen by international experts for its simplicity and clarity.

    Yet for most people, washing instructions might as well be written in Martian.

    According to a new poll, nine in 10 people are unable to decipher common symbols used on clothes labels. Even those who have mastered the difference between a wool and a synthetics wash admit being baffled by the bewildering array of boxes, circles and crosses used to give advice about drying and bleaching.

    The findings come from a poll of 2,000 people carried out by YouGov for Morphy Richards. A third of people surveyed said that they recognised none of the six symbols shown, while the only symbol recognised by more than half of people was the iron with a single dot. Around 70 per cent knew it meant "iron on a low heat". Just 10 per cent sign knew the sign for "do not dry clean", while only 12 per cent were familiar with "drip dry only".

    Despite the sexual revolution, women are still more knowledgeable than men. Awareness was highest among 18 to 29-year-old women--for whom taking care of clothes is clearly important.

    Chris Lever, from Morphy Richards, said: "Clothes Care symbols are a unique language, clearly a language that few people in the UK have taken the time to learn. "

    "Learning the basics such as which icon represents tumble dry and which represents normal wash would go a long way to getting the best out of clothes."

    The Home Laundering Consultative Council said it was not surprised to learn that people were unfamiliar with them.

    "It's disappointing that there is a lack of recognition, but it's a story that's repeated time and time again," said a spokesman, Adam Mansell. "We are a small organisation and we don't have a big budget."

    這些標志已經在服裝標簽上出現了40年，每一個標志都因其簡單易懂被國際上的專家們精心挑選出來。

    然而，英國近日的一份調查顯示，大多數人認為，這些衣物洗滌標志就像外星人的語言一樣難懂。

    這項調查顯示，90％的人不明白服裝標簽上這些常見的洗滌標志的含義，即便是那些熟悉羊毛和晴綸制品不同洗滌方式的人也承認搞不清楚用于提示干洗和漂白的這些幾何圖形。

    英國家電制造公司Morphy Richards委托英國調查組織YouGov對2000人進行調查后發現，三分之一的被調查者表示，對于調查中給定的6個洗滌標志，他們一個也看不懂。而唯一能被半數以上的人認識的標志是那個熨斗中帶1個圓點的圖案。70％的被調查者知道它表示“低溫熨燙”。此外，10％的人認出了“不可干洗”的標志，而認得“只可滴干”標志的人只有12％。

    盡管經過了性革命，女性認知衣物洗滌標志的能力依然比男性強，特別是那些年齡在18歲至29歲的女性，原因是該年齡段的女性在日常生活中較注重衣物的保養。

    Morphy Richards公司的克里斯·里弗指出：“衣物洗滌標志是一門獨特的語言。很明顯，幾乎沒有幾個英國人花時間去學習這門語言。”

    他還說：“用心了解一些常見標志的基本含義，如哪個是‘轉籠干燥’，哪個又是‘普通手洗’，這對我們保養衣物大有幫助。 ”

    居家洗熨咨詢協會（HLCC）表示人們不熟悉這些洗滌標志不足為奇。

    該協會的發言人亞當·曼塞爾表示，人們對洗滌標志缺乏認識是令人遺憾的，不過這需要經過一個不斷重復普及的過程。HLCC只是一個小機構，它沒有足夠的預算去做這件事情。