cracking the care label code - united states fashion ... the care label code october 2013. 2 ......

Cracking The Care Label

Code

October 2013

2

Care Labeling – US Regulation Requirements

All wearing apparel sold in the US must contain

a label containing the following:

� Washing method and temperature

� Washing cycle (normal, gentle, etc.)

� Bleach instruction

� Drying method and temperature

� Ironing instruction

� Warnings if necessary

3


Care label must be:

� Permanently attached

� Conspicuous at point of sale

� Legible during useful life of garment

� Written in English or

� Appropriate care symbols

Washing Bleaching Drying Ironing Dry cleaning

4


Exceptions:

� Footwear, Gloves, Hats, Handkerchiefs, Belts, Neckties

� Reversible Garments

• Place in pocket

• Not required if would aesthetically detract from garment

� Charity

� No exemption for promotional clothing

5


Care label must:

� Recommend one safe method

� Warn against any part of the procedure that may harm the

garment

� Warn if the method must be modified

Reasonable Basis

� You must have proof that the method recommended is the

best method for that garment.

� “Dry Clean Only” means washing will damage the garment.

6


Care Label Tests

� Dimensional Stability (Shrinkage) – AATCC Test Method 135

� Durable Press or Wrinkle Free – AATCC Test Method 124

� Appearance after Laundering

� Skewing – AATCC Test Method 179

� Colorfastness to Laundering – AATCC Test Method 61

� Colorfastness to Chlorine & Non- Chlorine Bleach – AATCC

TS 001

7

Home Laundering

Used for Dimensional Stability, Skewing, & Appearance after

Laundering

8

Visual Changes in

� fabric surface – pilling or fuzzing

� bleeding or staining

� seam loss

� seam puckering

Appearance after Laundering / Drycleaning

9

Skewing or Twisting – AATCC TS-004

Degree of skewing is

affected by

�Vertical lines

•Stripes

•Plackets

•Side slits

�Overall appearance

may be more critical

than percentage

10

AATCC 61, Accelerated Laundering

Test No. Care

Instruction

°C °F Steels

balls

Rubber

balls

Time,

minutes

IA Hand Wash

Warm

40 105 10 45

IB Hand Wash

Cold

31 88 10 20

2A Machine

Wash Warm

49 120 50 45

2A

modified

Machine

Wash cold

40 105 50 45

11

Detergent – Optical Brightener vs No optical

Brightener

� AATCC 61

• Standard

Reference

Detergent WOB

� AATCC 150

• Specifies

Standard

Reference

Detergent

•Issue when both tests are conducted in same

report

•Results need to align or we are challenged by

client

•Report detergent used

•Comment on optical brightener may be needed

12

Cross Staining In Laundering

Care Instructions:

Machine wash warm, wash

separately or with like colors.....

Report:

Separate rating for color/cuffs

and underlay.

Care Recommendation –

unable to recommend care due

to self staining

13

Color Rating

Colorfastness ratings are visual assessments of

color change and staining

14

Color Rating

� Rating is done in a light box

which provides standardized,

controlled lighting

� AATCC grey scales are used

to determine grade levels

15

Colorfastness to Static Wetting

� Color transfer may occur in garments made of contrasting colors

when left inside a washing machine overnight after the washing

cycle is finished

This issue is often over-looked by textile manufacturers.

Therefore, Colorfastness to Water should be tested in addition to

Colorfastness to Laundering

Colorfastness to Water

16

Durable Press Appearance – AATCC 143

� Wrinkle Resistance / Stay Smooth

Technology- Ability to resist creasing,

wrinkling, folding deformations in

washing

� Common Terminology

• No Iron

• Easy Care

• Wrinkle Free

• Wrinkle Resistant

� No regulated requirements for

terminology

• Based on client specifications

17

Durable Press Appearance

18

Seam Puckering

Single Needle Seam Double Needle Seam

19

Durable Press Appearance – AATCC 143

� Fabrics or Garments

are visually evaluated

for wrinkling and

seam puckering after

repeated launderings

20

Colorfastness to Bleach

Chlorine vs. Non-Chlorine Bleach

Do Not Bleach Only Non-Chorine Bleach When Needed

21


� Colorfastness to chlorine and non-chlorine bleach

testing is required for all care labels with a washing

instruction. Failure of either of these tests does not fail the

care label. If the test results do not match the submitted

bleaching instruction the lab is to recommend a corrected

bleaching instruction based on those results.

� If both bleaches pass testing there is no need to

mention bleach.

� “Only non-chlorine bleach when needed” - if non-

chlorine bleach passes and chlorine bleach fails.

� “Do not bleach” - if both bleaches fail.

22


Vendor Proposed care

CB/NCB Result

SGS Recommended care Overall Report Rating

Do not bleach NCB passes,

CB Fails

Only NCB when needed Conditional Pass

Do not bleach CB & NCB pass Bleach open (symbol), No mention of bleach (wording)

Conditional Pass

Only NCB when needed

CB & NCB pass Bleach open (symbol), No mention of bleach (wording)

Conditional Pass

Do not bleach CB & NCB fail Bleach w / X (symbol), Do Not Bleach (wording)

Pass

Only NCB when

needed

NCB passes,

CB Fails

Only NCB when needed Pass

23


� Multiple fabrics for the same style perform differently to bleach testing

� Black bulk fabric passes chlorine and non-chlorine bleach

� Red fabric passes non-chlorine bleach test, fails chlorine bleach.

� How are care instructions reported?

24

Ironing

� Check for safe ironing

temperatures based on

• Fiber Content

• Fabric Appearance

• Garment Trim

� AATCC 133 – Safe Ironing

Temperature Guide

25

Ironing

� Ironing must be done as the consumer would

� Slide iron across the fabric and do not allow to remain in one position for 2-3 seconds. Otherwise, iron marks will occur and results will fail

� garment must be pulled over the end of an ironing board, so only one layer is being ironed. Do not lay garment flat so that iron double layer occurs. This will result in press marks from the lower layer seams to the front layer of garment.

26

Dry Clean

� Do not label as “Dry Clean Only” if a wash method is safe

� It is acceptable to state “Dry Clean”

� “Do Not Dry Clean” is necessary only when damage will

occur to the garment.

• Sequins melt

• Color changes

• Finish is removed

27

Dry Clean

� Dry cleaning –

• only one method of safe care is necessary

• if drycleaning or any other method will harm the garment, the

label must contain a warning

28

Dry Cleaning

� Perchloroethylene (chlorinated hydrocarbon) is the most

common solvent

� Hydrocarbon (non-chlorinated hydrocarbon) solvent which

is a modified “white spirit”.

� Green Earth (Siloxane which is a silicon based product

and we don’t have a symbol for that)

� " Petroleum Short Run “solvent used for leather cleaning

29

Professional vs Commercial Dry Cleaning

� Professional – done by an outside trained drycleaner

� Commercial – done in lab

� Procedure - follow the vendors proposed care

instructions. If they say “Professionally DryClean, low

moisture, low heat” send to the outside drycleaner and

ask them to test as per the care label.

� If the garment states “Dry Clean” test in the lab. If there

are failures, we would recommend to client that the vendor

improve the goods or to use “Professionally DryClean”

30

Professional Leather Cleaning

� Subcontracted to professional

� General practice, restoration of color only be applied on

sample which presents uneven color after leather

cleaning.

� For garment which has uniform color change on the whole

sample, color restoration will not applied unless specifically

requested.

31

Sub-contracted Dry Cleaning

� Labs with no dryclean capability must sub-contract to

outside drycleaner

� Dry Cleaner Audit Checklist

32

Three levels of Care Label:

� Care label Verification – SGS verifies that the client’s

proposed care label is correct.

� Care Label Recommendation – SGS test results can not

support the client’s proposed care label and must

recommend a revised method.

� Care Label Development – No care instructions are

proposed and instructions are developed based on fiber

content, fabric/garment construction, client/customer

expectation.

33

Care label Verification

� Care instructions must be based on the most current test results.

� If bulk fabric was tested in July 2012 on 2 colors (carbon and khaki), and only one failed both bleaches. In later colorfastness reports for the same fabric, none of the new colors failed non-chlorine bleach, so the recommended care should be updated. Since fabric quality can change over time, including colorfastness, recommended care should reflect the most current information available, so do not necessarily default to the care recommended in the previous report.

� When garments are submitted for testing, final care instructions are based ultimately on the garment test results, regardless of the original submitted instructions.

34

Failed Results

� Care Label Rule does not give “pass/fail” specifications

� Should we pass or fail?

• Depends on the client’s requirements

• Also depends on what the failure is

– Is it growth or shrinkage?

– Would it change the size of the garment?

» Location of failure– Would the retail customer consider it bad?

– Does the fabric or garment look “out of shape”?

– Is there excessive skewing?

– Unacceptable surface change?

� Comment on report may be required

35

Care Symbols

FTC Care Symbols

Vs

Genitex Symbols

Ginetex organisation controls the copyright of the 5

main ISO symbols used in care labelling

FTC indicates that the

ISO symbols are not

accepted in the USA

36

Care Symbols

� Only FTC approved symbols are acceptable

� ASTM D 5489 1996c – Standard Guide for Care

Symbols for Care Instructions on Textile

Products

� Found on FTC.gov

37

FTC Care Symbols

ASTM D5489 also contains

a table of “Additional

Words to Use with Care

Symbols”

38

Care Symbols

� SGS is a corporate partner of the Ginetex organization

� This means that SGS globally can use the symbols freely

without fear of infringement of copyright

� It also means that SGS around the world has access to

Ginetex and can influence changes and progress in this

area

SGS SafeGuard provides updated information

39

FTC CARE LABELING RULES

Proposed

40

FTC Proposed Changes

� Public Roundtable to be held in Washington, DC, October

1, 2013

� Postponed until funding becomes available

� To analyze proposed changes to its Care Labeling Rule

� Comment period closes October 15th, 2013

� Congress expected to approved 3 – 6 months

41

FTC Proposed Care Labeling Rule

� Permit manufacturers to use the care symbols in the

updated ASTM Standard D5489-07 “Standard Guide for

Care Symbols for Care Instructions on Textile Products”,

� or ISO 3758:2005(E) “Textiles – Care labeling code using

symbols” on labels in lieu of written terms for providing

care instructions. Manufacturers or importers opting to use

ISO symbols for care instructions must disclose that they

are using ISO symbols.

42


� Proposed changes to test method

� Adding a definition of “wetclean” based on the definition of

“professional wet cleaning” set forth in ISO 3758:2005(E)

� Allow manufacturers and importers to include instructions

for wetcleaning on labels if the garment is able to be

professionally wetcleaned (as optional)

43


� Clarify what constitutes a reasonable basis for care

instructions by providing examples of situations where

testing an entire garment may be needed to determine

care instructions, as well as examples where such testing

is not needed.

� Update and expand the definition of “dryclean” to reflect

current practices and include new solvents in the list of

examples and to cover solvents that are not organically-

based.

44

Classic Care Label

45

Classic Care Label

46

Classic Care Label

47

Classic Care Label

48

Care Label

49

Care Label

50

Up and Coming Changes

� AAATCC has published specifications and water

temperatures for front loading washing machines

http://www.aatcc.org/testing/RecommendedWashersDryers.htm

http://www.aatcc.org/testing/docs/207-StdTest-85x11.pdf

Cracking The Care

Label CodeOctober 2013

presented by:

Louann Spirito

Director Technical Support - Softlines

cracking the care label code - united states fashion ... the care label code october 2013. 2 ......

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