Laundry

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Laundry Service, Laundry Facilities, Laundromat, Clothes Care

Category

Commercial Facilities, Concessions, Services, Travel, Tourism

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate the location of a laundry service or laundry machine

	Source	Description
	ISO 7001	Shirt with collar, without sleeves, three quarters of the way down in water shown as wavy line
	CNIS	T-Shirt above tub with water, shown as two wavy lines
	Gregor Cresnar	T-Shirt above water shown as wavy line
	SSRS	T-Shirt in outline with dashes indicating clothespins, drop of water and electric iron below
	Dreyfuss	Horizontal line, piece of cloth in outline, drop of water below
	Sandhi Priyasmoro	T-Shirt in outline below clothesline, dashes indicating clothespins
	Ardiansyah	Side view of laundry basket with nicely folded laundry, two stars and one circle on the side, all in outline
	VINZENCE STUDIO	Side view of laundry basket with folded laundry
	WTO-Portugal	Front view of laundry machine with several details
	Bolivia	Front view of laundry machine
	TAC	Front view of laundry machine
	BTA 1989	Front view of laundry machine
	Adrien Coquet	Polygon indicating tub, water shown as wavy line
	Nova Scotia	Polygon indicating tub

Discussion

The range of pictograms shown in the table above gives a good hint of the diversity of variants and image contents available to indicate the location of a laundry service or laundry machine. While several renderings focus on showing some piece of clothing like a shirt or T-shirt in combination with water, many just display the front view of a laundry machine. Other pictograms present laundry on the line or even the final product. No single visual stereotype can be identified.

We could not find any test data concerning graphic symbols for Laundry in our database, so we cannot present specific information concerning comprehensibility or some other parameters for one or several of the pictograms presented above. There is also no information available, how far a differentiation from symbols for labeling instructions for cleansing and care procedures of textiles is necessary.

Recommendations

Due to the limited data available and insufficient knowledge of relevant factors, we recommend conducting an exact analysis of the communication needs. Then studies comparing several concepts should be conducted. The study design should also include a Comprehension Test to identify possible misinterpretations and to improve designs. Only on such a basis a clear decision concerning a specific recommendation can be reached.

Until then we can recommend using a pictogram like public information symbol PI CF 022: Laundry Service of ISO 7001 shown below to indicate the location of a laundry service or laundry machine.