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Care Labelling

June 18, 2025 - June 18, 2025   


What are care labels? Care labels indicate how to clean textile articles in the best possible way. Care symbols provide all the necessary information on washing, bleaching, ironing, dry cleaning and tumble drying.

 Consumers usually don’t have the experience or technical knowledge to decide which care treatment is suitable, and would have great difficulty in deciding on the appropriate care treatment of the textile item because it does not depend solely on the main fabric. Indeed, all the components of the textile need to be taken into account including, other fibres, accessories, dying, finishing treatments and texture.

Using care labels provides the consumer with care information he does not have to decide on. Care labelling is determined under the responsibility of the garment maker in common interest of textile manufacturers, drycleaners and of course consumers.

Thus care symbols are recommendations on how to clean a textile article on which they are affixed, they should not be considered as a use guarantee neither as a quality mark. Symbols refer to maximum permissible treatments that a textile article can bear without irreversible damage.

Responsibility for labelling?

The manufacturer is responsible for proper labelling of textile fibre products when they are ready for sale or delivery to the consumer.


A textile fibre product is considered “ready for sale or delivery” to the consumer when the manufacturing or processing of the product is basically complete. Small details, such as finishing a hem or attaching buttons, do not excuse the product from the labelling requirement.


Wool must be labelled as soon as it is converted into a manufactured form, that is, when the fibre is blended, dyed, combed or twisted in any manner. (Products intended for export to a foreign country are exempted.) The importer is responsible for proper labelling of imported textile products. Custom merchants and tailors are responsible for showing properly labelled bolts, samples and swatches to customers.


There are three different categories of labelling requirements that affect textile products:

(1) Fibre content

(2) Country of origin

(3) Care instruction





Complying with the Rule

The Care Labelling Rule requires manufacturers and importers to attach care instructions to clothing.

Instructions and Warnings you must:

 

Ensure that care labels remain attached and legible throughout the useful life of the product. 

Reasonable Basis

you must have a reasonable basis for all care instructions, including warnings. That means you must have reliable evidence to support the care instructions. For example, you cannot say “Dryclean Only” unless you have proof that washing is harmful to the garment. What constitutes reliable evidence depends on several factors.

 

 

 

Fabric testing and care

Fabric testing is an important part of the fashion industry to ensure your materials and products are safe to use and fit for their purpose. It is important that garments meet product liability, environmental and other legislations.

SATRA provide a physical testing service that includes testing measurements of:

 

·          Strength, Durability, Resistance to tearing,

 

·          Snagging, Colour fastness, Heat, Water and other agents

 

Materials can be tested against all types of standards for consumer products, as well as measuring physical properties in fabrics.

 

 

A chemical and analytical service can be provided to demonstrate that your materials and products are free from restricted substances, and to determine causes of odours and discolouration problems. The service can also provide characterisation of all types of fibres.

 

When to Label Garments

 

 

 

Labelling Clothing

                       

By Martin Huckle

 

 




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