Experiment name:
Study on the international care labeling code.
Introduction:
Care labels provide information on the temperature settings to be used for ironing. In certain cases, ironing is not recommended at all. Indicates the care instructions of the garments by some internationally recognized signs. It shoes washing, bleaching, drying, laundering, ironing, dry cleaning. The consumer usually does not have the experience or technical knowledge to decide which care treatment is suitable, so it is the responsibility of the apparel manufacturers to provide the necessary care information for the products. Without care information, the consumers will face trouble in deciding on the appropriate conditions for care treatment of the apparel. Care labels should not be considered as a guarantee or a quality mark of the product.
Care labels help to prevent irreversible damage to the textile article during its care processes. The care labels generally contain the following information, although the statutory provisions may vary from country to country:
- Care symbols
- Fiber content (% of each fiber)
- Size
- Country of origin
- Further information, such as eco labels, etc.
Care label code:
Care codes are the internationally recognized symbols which are used for caring of garments in case of cleaning and ironing. These labels on which these codes are drawn or printed are called care labels.
The care instructions are:
- Conditions of laundering.
- Drying instructions.
- Ironing instructions.
International (ISO) Care Labeling Code
The ISO system commonly known as GINETEX for care labelling was established in 1963 in Paris following several international symposiums for Textile Care Labelling at the end of the 1950s. An internationally applicable care labelling system based on symbols for textile materials has been devised by GINETEX. The care labelling system provides the correct information on the care instruction of textile products to consumers, retailers and textile manufacturing companies. The care labels describe various processes the clothing item can tolerate to avoid any irreversible damage to the product.
Symbol of washing:
 | Can be washed up to 950C |
 | Can be washed up to 600C |
 | Hand washing but not in washing machine. |
 | Can not be washed. |
Bleaching condition:
 | Chlorine bleach is allowed. |
 | Chlorine bleach is not allowed. |
Symbol of ironing:
 | Ironing in cold state (1100C) |
 | Ironing in cold state (1500C) |
 | Ironing in cold state (2000C) |
 | Can not be ironed. |
Dry cleaning condition:
 | Dry cleaning is allowed in any types of solvent. |
 | Para-Chloro-Ethylene, white spirit, solvent-113 and solvent-11 can be used. |
 | White spirit of solvent-113 can be used. |
 | Can not be dry cleaned. |
Drying condition:
 | Tumble drying is allowed. |
 | Tumble drying is not allowed. |
 | Drying in hanging state is allowed. |
 | Drying should be done in a state parallel to the ground but can be hanged. |
Care Label Code from the Given Sample:
 | Machine wash cold. |
 | Do not bleach. |
 | Hang to dry |
 | Warm iron |
 | Wash separately |
Conclusion:
Care symbols provide all the necessary information on washing, bleaching, ironing, dry cleaning and tumble drying. In this experiment we have studied the care label code of a shirt and form here we have come to know the various types of care label code and their actual uses. And we also knew that the care label codes become different among various types of fabric. I think this experiment will help us a lot in future.
Founder & Editor of Textile Learner. He is a Textile Consultant, Blogger & Entrepreneur. He is working as a textile consultant in several local and international companies. He is also a contributor of Wikipedia.
