Do I Legally Need a Care Label? What US Law Requires on Clothing Labels
Short answer: yes. If you sell clothing in the US, the label inside the garment isn't optional. Two sets of FTC rules decide what goes on it, and getting them wrong can hold up a shipment or a retailer approval.
Here's what's required, where it goes, and how to design labels that comply and still look like your brand.
This is a practical guide, not legal advice. For anything unusual, such as wool, fur or children's sleepwear, check the FTC's clothing labeling guide and CPSC guidance, or ask a compliance specialist.
Brand label and tags for 4WBW Intimates, designed as one system.
The four things your label must say
1. Care instructions. The FTC's Care Labeling Rule requires a permanent label, attached so it lasts the life of the garment, that gives at least one safe way to clean it. It must also warn about anything that would damage it, such as "do not tumble dry." You can use the standard care symbols instead of words, or both.
2. Fiber content. Under the Textile Act, list each fiber by its generic name, such as cotton, polyester or spandex, with its percentage by weight, from most to least. Fibers under 5% can be grouped as "other fiber." The exceptions: wool is always named, and a fiber that does a real job, like spandex for stretch, can be named even below 5%.
3. Country of origin. "Made in Vietnam," "Made in USA," or "Made in USA of imported fabric" for a garment sewn here from imported material. On anything with a neck, this goes on the front of a label at the inside center back of the neck.
4. Who made it. Your company name or your RN (Registered Identification Number), a free number the FTC issues to US businesses that make, import or sell textiles. Many brands use the RN so the factory label doesn't have to change when a product moves between suppliers.
Where each piece goes
Neck label (or printed neck): country of origin on the front. Brand name and size usually live here too.
Side seam or back of the label: fiber content, RN or company name, and care. These can share one label with the origin, as long as the origin is on the front.
Hang tag: marketing, style number, barcode and price. A hang tag can mention a fiber ("Made with organic cotton"), but the full required information has to be on the label sewn into the garment.
Do all garments need a care label?
Most do. A few things are exempt, including hats, gloves and footwear, custom-made garments, and some institutional workwear. If a sewn-in label would ruin the look of a product, there are limited exceptions. Check the FTC rule before relying on one.
The mistakes we see most
Origin on the back of the label, or not at the neck. It's an easy fix before production and an expensive one after.
Trade names instead of generic fiber names. Write "spandex," not a brand name on its own.
Percentages that don't add up, or that change when the factory switches fabric, while the old labels keep getting sewn in.
Care instructions copied from another style that don't fit this fabric or trim.
Kids' products need extra attention. Children's sleepwear has federal flammability rules, and many children's products need permanent tracking information. Plan for it in the tech pack.
Design it once, as a system
Required doesn't have to mean ugly. The neck label, care label, hang tag and pocket label can share one type style and color, so the inside of the garment looks as considered as the outside. Specify each one in the tech pack, with exact wording, size, material and placement, and the factory gets it right the first time.
Care and content label checklist
Care instructions, permanent, words or symbols
Fiber content by generic name and % by weight
Country of origin on the front of the neck label
RN or company name
Wool and functional fibers named correctly
Labels specified in the tech pack with exact wording and placement
Kids' products checked for extra federal requirements
Want labels that are compliant and on-brand? Designland designs care labels, neck labels and full trim packages, specified for the factory. See our hang tag & label design service, or book a free 20-minute intro call.
