This toolkit contains labelling advice and guidance for textiles, apparel, footwear and accessories including:
Care Labelling
Fibre Content
Country of Origin
Importer and Brand Details
Labelling and the Environment – Clevercare
Flammability
Labelling Services
Resources
Care Labelling
The inclusion of washing instructions is not mandatory in the UK; however, it is strongly encouraged. In other countries it can be compulsory to include care instructions. Some markets require the use of symbols, others require written instructions. A recent survey revealed that 84% of UK consumers would never or rarely buy clothing that did not contain care information.
Care symbols provide your customer with the succinct information they need to take proper care of their garments, alleviating the need to multi-translate care information for your destination markets. We would always recommend the use of GINETEX symbols – the system used throughout Europe as well in many other countries including Japan, China and India.
Although many countries use the GINETEX system there are some notable exceptions including the USA, South Korea and Australia. UKFT members are eligible to receive market specific advice.
Get UKFT’s Care Labelling License and Support Package
The GINETEX care and Clevercaresymbols are protected by international trademarks registered in over 80 countries including the UK and all major European markets and may not be produced or used without a special licenseagreement available from UKFT as part of your membership package.UKFT is the only provider of the license in the UK.
The license gives you the right to use the symbols on your labels and all printed and digital media and the UKFT team can offer specialist support around labelling and compliance.
Find out more about what’s included and how to join or upgrade your membership to include the Care Labelling License and Support Package.
UK fashion and textile brands and retailers selling their own label can get a licence to use the GINETEX symbols, which ISO 3758:2023 is based on, through UKFT.
ISO 3758:2023 establishes a system of graphic symbols, intended for use in the marking of textile articles, and for providing information on the most severe treatment that does not cause irreversible damage to the article during the textile care process, and specifies the use of these symbols in care labelling.
ISO 3758:2023 is based on the GINETEX care labelling system. ISO 3758 specifically acknowledges GINETEX’s ownership of the trademarks in the Introduction to the standard as well as in Annex B of the Standard. The GINETEX care symbols are registered trademarks in over 80 countries, including the UK and all major European markets. UK fashion and textile brands and retailers selling their own label must have a licence to use the symbols, which is available through UKFT.
The following domestic treatments are covered: washing, bleaching, drying and ironing. Professional textile care treatments in dry and wet cleaning, but excluding industrial laundering, are also covered. However, it is recognised that information imparted by the domestic symbols will also be of assistance to the professional cleaner and launderer.
ISO 3758:2023 applies to all textile articles in the form in which they are supplied to the end user.
Fibre Content
Fibre content labelling in apparel and textiles is mandatory in the UK and across the EU as laid down in the 2012 Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations. The basis of these Regulations is that the label must include information on the main fibre types used and their percentages – for example wool 80%, cotton 20%. The information given must be understandable by a consumer in the market in to which you are selling. It is not sufficient just to use English if you are exporting to the EU. A Guidance Note to these Regulations is available to download.
Separate Regulations exist dealing with footwear. A copy of the Guidance Notes on Footwear Labelling is available to download.
Virtually all key export markets have a legal requirement to include fibre content labelling. However, the law in each country can vary. UKFT can provide members with the latest information on the legal requirements in all markets.
Available Resources
Please get in touch, stating the resource title, to request access to the following:
‘Made In…’ labelling is a legal requirement in the some EU member states, but not in the UK. However, it is necessary to have an origin label if, without such a label, the consumer could be misled as to the true origin of the garment. For instance, if a garment carried the British flag on it but it was made in Hong Kong, then the garment should include a label to that effect.
Fraudulent origin labelling is illegal.
Other markets have different legal requirements when it comes to origin labelling. Incorrect labelling can result in goods being refused entry or even destroyed. UKFT can advise members on the latest requirements.
Available Resources
Please get in touch, stating the resource title, to request access to the following:
UKFT Guide to Garment Labelling in the EU post Brexit (Member only)
A growing number of markets both in the EU and further afield require garments to be labelled with the name and address of the importer or brand. For specific details, members should contact the team at UKFT.
Labelling and the Environment – Clevercare
Brands, retailers and consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of looking after clothing.
81% of EU consumers want to reduce energy and water use
72% know they can make an impact during the cleaning process
87% consumers try to wash in an environmentally friendly way
65% actively choose to wash at a lower temperature
In response to this GINETEX has developed CLEVERCARE the eco-care logo to encourage & educate the consumer to extend the life of garments and to reduce the impact of cleaning on the climate.
The five key messages are:
Don’t wash too often
Lower the temperature
Reduce the amount you tumble dry
Only iron when necessary
Only go to a dry cleaner when necessary
The clevercare symbol is a registered trade mark in the UK and in many other countries. More information on clevercare including collateral for retailers is available at www.clevercare.info
Flammability
Nightwear
Nightwear and garments commonly worn as nightwear are subject to certain labelling requirements concerning their flammability. Children’s nightwear must satisfy the flammability requirements specified in British Standard 5722. Babies’ garments and adults’ nightwear must carry a permanent label showing whether or not they meet the Flammability Standard. Further information on this labelling of nightwear is contained in `A Guide to the Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985′. A copy is available to download.
Following the publication of BS EN 14878 Textiles – Burning behaviour of children’s nightwear – Specification, in November 2008 a new Advisory Note on the Requirement for Safety of Children’s Nightwear was been produced. A copy is available to download.
Netherlands
Clothing sold in the Netherlands must meet minimum burning behaviour requirements. MODINT, the Dutch Clothing Association has entered into an agreement with the government regarding these requirements. A copy of the agreement, which gives details on the minimum burning behaviour of fabrics is available to download.
MODINT have also produced a guide to help companies assess if their fabrics/garments need to be tested. A copy of this guidance available to download.
Available Resources
Please get in touch, stating the resource title, to request access to the following:
A Guide to Nightwear Safety Regulations 1986
New Requirements for Fire Safety of Children’s Nightwear
UKFT has a number of members which can provide labelling services to fashion and textile brands and retailers.
Asquith Group
With over 30 years’ experience, Asquith Group has turned custom fabric label design into an art form. They supply a diverse range of textile branding products including swing tickets, bed and mattress labels, stock seals, woven fabric labels and lanyards, self-adhesive labels, printed garment labels, care and composition labels, haberdashery and trimmings.
Asquith understand the challenges you face when sourcing sustainable labels and swing tags for your eco product line, which is why they have developed a range of eco and natural fibre labelling products that give you greater choice.
Bellwoven Packaging specialises in the design, manufacture and supply of a wide range of garment accessories and has been established for more than 40 years. The company’s product range includes garment labelling, tickets, tissues, ribbons and bespoke packaging, all of which can be produced in a sustainable way. Bellwoven can offer low minimum order quantities and a full branding package, using its in-house designers for full consistency throughout. Read more here.
Byways has been providing solutions to the apparel industry for over 50 years. Labels and packaging are vital to clothing retailers and brands – the entire supply chain is reliant on the label supplier getting it right every time.
Byways has production facilities covering five strategic locations across Europe and Asia, allowing the company to provide first class service to clients, together with their manufacturing network. The firm also offers in-house design services to maintain close contact from brand conception to the finished solution.
The company’s online ordering platform is tailored to clients’ specific requirements allowing real-time traceability of orders.
National Weaving, a family-operated British manufacturer specialising in premium woven and printed labels, boasts over three decades of expertise.
Their company’s ethos revolves around authenticity, sustainability and social responsibility within the industry, with all products meticulously crafted in their Welsh factory since 1987. Setting themselves apart as a bonafide UK manufacturer, they are dedicated to genuine British craftsmanship.
If British quality, local production, and sustainability align with your business values, we are honoured to be your label provider of choice.
Nilorn develops and refine brands, primarily in the fashion industry, with identity and value at the core of what it does. With a strong focus on design and sustainability, Nilorn assist clients around the world in creating unique and attractive brand experiences for their customers – where both tactile expression and visual aesthetic combine to maximise impact.
The company offers products and solutions to both identify and enhance the feel of a brand. Its product range includes trims, packaging and information labels. Nilorn also offers RFID labels in the form of hangtags, adhesive labels and textile labels.
Established in 1979, Pennine Labels Ltd has become a go-to destination for businesses seeking tailored solutions for woven and printed fabric labels and swing tickets in the fashion industry. It also offers branded packaging products, including customised boxes and packing bespoke tissue paper.
The company delivers high quality products and services, ensuring that every customer receives the upmost in professionalism and help.
Its range includes customised labels, decorative branding such as leather, metal badges, silicone badges and personalised packaging. Pennine Labels Ltd also offers a wide array of paper products such as leaflets, booklets, swing tickets, adhesive labels and business cards.
Pennine Labels can work with low MOQs right through to full global production, and provides a variety of sustainable solutions (recycled, FSC, biodegradable and compostable options).
Total Retail Solutions (TRS) Worlwide has provided packaging and trims to the garment industry for over 30 years. The company manufactures and supplies bespoke support materials to a wide range of retail and fashion businesses, including care labels, woven labels, swing tickets, barcodes, RFID solutions and bespoke packaging.
For over 42 years, Weavabel has been providing innovative branding solutions to fashion brands across the globe. With a focus on sustainable clothing accessories and packaging, such as swing tags, woven labels, gift boxes and mailing bags, the company works as your trusted advisor to make your branding more eco-friendly.
Weavabel currently helps over 400 clothing brands to become more sustainable by switching base materials to either a recycled, biodegradable or organic alternative. The company’s accredited supply network offers transparent sourcing and combined with their multiple-location stockholding facilities can help to improve consistency across a brand’s product portfolio.
