US Clothing Label Requirements

What the law requires

Under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and the Wool Products Labeling Act, most textile and wool garments sold in the US must carry a label showing fibre content, country of origin, and the identity of the business responsible for the product. The Care Labeling Rule adds care instructions on top of that.

It is a short list. It is also the kind of thing that stops a shipment, so it belongs in the tech pack rather than in a conversation three weeks before delivery.

1. Fibre content

• Use the FTC’s approved generic fibre names — “cotton”, “polyester”, “elastane”. Trade names alone are not enough.
• List fibres in descending order by weight.
• Name every fibre that makes up more than 5% of the total weight individually.
• Fibres at 5% or less may be grouped as “other fibres”, unless they serve a definite functional purpose that you disclose.
• A small tolerance is allowed for unintended manufacturing variation — but the declaration still has to be made in good faith.

Get the content from the mill in writing before you label anything. The number on a jobber’s roll ticket is not always right, and the brand carries the liability, not the supplier.

2. Country of origin

Where the garment was manufactured. For imported goods this is generally where the garment was assembled; “Made in USA” claims carry their own stricter standard and should not be used loosely on garments made from imported fabric without checking the rules that apply.

3. Manufacturer or responsible party

Either your full registered business name, or an RN number issued by the FTC. An RN is optional — your company name is always a valid alternative — but many brands prefer it because it keeps a legal entity name off a consumer-facing label.

4. Care instructions

Washing, bleaching, drying, ironing, and any warning needed to avoid damage in normal use. Care instructions must be based on reliable evidence, which in practice means asking the mill or testing the fabric rather than copying a label from a similar garment.

Placement and durability

The required information has to be on a label attached securely to the garment and remain attached until the consumer buys it. A hangtag is not a substitute. A sewn-in or securely heat-sealed label at the centre back neck or a side seam is the normal answer.

Where brands get caught out

• Labels specified late, so the factory uses a generic one — and the content is wrong
• Fibre content taken from a swatch card rather than the actual bulk fabric
• Care instructions copied from another garment with a different fabric
• Country of origin assumed rather than confirmed
• Children’s apparel treated like adult apparel — it carries extra requirements
• Only the US considered, when the brand also ships to Canada or the EU, which have their own rules

Put it in the tech pack

Labelling belongs in the BOM and in a labelling section of the tech pack: label type, content wording, size, placement, attachment method. It costs nothing at that stage and is expensive to fix once garments are sewn.

This is a working summary rather than legal advice — confirm the current requirements for every market you sell into before you commit to a label.