Labelling rules for textiles – a brief introduction

Are you mislabelling your products?

It is legally required for a manufacturer to list the fibre content of all garments. More often than not, this is paired with a care label.

In the EU, there are some rules you must follow in terms of fibre content labelling. We have gathered a selection of the most important below.

Fibre content do's and don'ts:

  • If a product consists of at least 80% textile, the rules of fibre content labelling apply.

  • You NEED to list all the different fibre types with the exact percentage beginning with the largest amount, e.g. (60% viscose). 

  • The labelling must list the fibre content in every language of the countries where your products are sold.

  • When listing a fibre, you can NOT write that the fibre is certified. This information is reserved for the hangtags. 

  • You cannot use terms such as "pure wool", "all cotton", and "100%", etc. if there are any mixed fibres in the garments. These are legally protected terms. 

  • You must use the generic term for a fiber. So no 'Spandex' - that would be elastane. 

If you'd like to know more about the labelling rules, we suggest you give the EU regulation a read.

But a fair warning! It's a bit long and the language is very 'legal'.

Read it here

Our suggestions on care label

A care label has instructions on washing temperature and chemical restrictions, i.e., "do not bleach", etc. 

We suggest that you add more to that list and inform the consumers of how to take care of garments and help ensure a longer lifetime for the garments. 

A few suggestions might be:

  • If a specific fabric is self-cleaning, make note that you can hang the garment outside instead of washing it, unless it has stains or a heavy smell.
    Wash at a maximum of 30 degrees Celsius unless it's activewear, towels or bedding.

  • If you want to know more about the do's and don'ts of CSR, we suggest you join the Sustainawear Community.

It's a subscription-based e-learning platform on all things CSR and sustainability in the fashion and lifestyle industry.

Read more about the e-learning platform

 

Caroline Krogholm Pedersen