What you need to put on a lingerie care label ?
Awhile ago I wrote about what to put on care labels in your lingerie. Having followed a call with a client I’m working with, I went through what exactly needs to go on the label. So I thought I’d run over the points again in more detail.
You are required if you are selling your lingerie to put in a care label into your garment. The usual top four things to put on the label is:
Fiber content
How to wash the garment
Where it was made
Size - although this can go another label, it all depends how you want to label up.
Fibre content
Fibre content must be shown in percentages, ie 95% cotton 5% elastane, if the lingerie is made from two different fabrics then you need to state Body: insert fabric percentage, Lining: insert fabric percentage.
Any decorative item (elastic or bows) that makes up less than 7% of the garment is excluded, but may be worth mentioning ie 95% cotton 5% elastane excl. trims.
It is okay to put the fibre content on the swing ticket or packaging,(UK law) it just makes it easier for recycling afterwards if it is on the label.
Washing Instructions
There are different washing instructions depending what country you live in
These systems are:
The International Care Labelling System
The Japanese Care Labelling System
The Canadian Care Labelling System
The European Care Labelling System
The American Care Labelling System
They will have similar instructions and orders of the information so please check what order you have to put the instructions in - the instructions need to have the following
Washing - hand wash/machine wash & temperature
Bleaching instruction (do not bleach )
Drying method (do not/tumble dry / line dry / flat dry / drip dry)
Ironing (do not iron / cool iron / warm iron / hot iron)
Warnings
Warnings are usually used with nightwear and childrenswear, you need meet flammability regulations on your fabrics and carry a permanent label indicating whether they meet the flammability standard BS-5722 if you are unsure you need to put KEEP AWAY FROM FIRE in red and in an Arial font at least pt.10 in size.
In the UK washing instructions are not mandatory however, I would always advise putting them in to save you from returns from people stating they didn’t know how to wash the garment.
Where garment made
You don’t have to state where the garment is made if you make it in your own country, but Fraudulent origin labelling is illegal, ie you make the lingerie in China but have a British flag on your label. If you make your lingerie outside your country and are importing it You have to state where the garment was made. For example if you get your lingerie made in China but are based in another country, you must state MADE IN CHINA, you can however if you want to appeal to your local market and you were say based in USA; you can put MADE IN CHINA, designed in USA.
Size
In the UK by law you don’t have to add a size label - this is because there is no standardisation in sizing. Which is why you can two sizes that fit you differently. However I would encourage to put a size in your garment, otherwise it’s going to get mega confusing when you have all the stock around you and no idea of sizes.
General information
When exporting lingerie you don’t permanent care label in your lingerie, but you do need it when it goes on to be sold.
The label must be made permanent in the garment - ie is sewn or printed on.
If you are stocking in Europe it may be wise to put a translation in that language on your garment, but since the UK leaving the EU this is not mandatory.
Until the new UK legislation comes into play, even though the UK has left the EU, certain pieces of the EU legislation will still apply until they are replaced by the UK legislation.
For more information about labels - please see How to be a lingerie designer.
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