cracking the care label code -...
TRANSCRIPT
Cracking The Care Label
Code
October 2013
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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
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Care Labeling – US Regulation Requirements
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
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Care Labeling – US Regulation Requirements
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
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Care Labeling – US Regulation Requirements
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.
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Care Labeling – US Regulation Requirements
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
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Home Laundering
Used for Dimensional Stability, Skewing, & Appearance after
Laundering
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Visual Changes in
� fabric surface – pilling or fuzzing
� bleeding or staining
� seam loss
� seam puckering
Appearance after Laundering / Drycleaning
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Color Rating
Colorfastness ratings are visual assessments of
color change and staining
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Color Rating
� Rating is done in a light box
which provides standardized,
controlled lighting
� AATCC grey scales are used
to determine grade levels
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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
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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
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Durable Press Appearance
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Seam Puckering
Single Needle Seam Double Needle Seam
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Durable Press Appearance – AATCC 143
� Fabrics or Garments
are visually evaluated
for wrinkling and
seam puckering after
repeated launderings
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Colorfastness to Bleach
Chlorine vs. Non-Chlorine Bleach
Do Not Bleach Only Non-Chorine Bleach When Needed
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Colorfastness to Bleach
� 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.
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Colorfastness to Bleach
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
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Colorfastness to Bleach
� 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?
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Ironing
� Check for safe ironing
temperatures based on
• Fiber Content
• Fabric Appearance
• Garment Trim
� AATCC 133 – Safe Ironing
Temperature Guide
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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”
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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.
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Sub-contracted Dry Cleaning
� Labs with no dryclean capability must sub-contract to
outside drycleaner
� Dry Cleaner Audit Checklist
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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FTC Care Symbols
ASTM D5489 also contains
a table of “Additional
Words to Use with Care
Symbols”
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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
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FTC CARE LABELING RULES
Proposed
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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
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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.
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FTC Proposed Care Labeling Rule
� 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)
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FTC Proposed Care Labeling Rule
� 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.
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Classic Care Label
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Classic Care Label
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Classic Care Label
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Classic Care Label
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Care Label
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Care Label
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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