Care Labels on Clothing: Do You Need Them If You Sew and Sell?

Yes, if you make or import clothing for sale, the FTC's Care Labeling Rule requires you to attach care instructions to the finished garment before you sell it. The FTC's business guidance says the rule covers "manufacturers and importers of textile wearing apparel," along with anyone who directs or controls that manufacturing or importing. The guide lists exemptions by product type, and none of them is based on the size of the business. The FTC guide is dated May 2014; the eCFR text of 16 CFR Part 423, current as of October 9, 2026, was checked for the symbol rule below, and the rest comes from the guide, so confirm details with the rule before relying on them.

1. What is covered

Covered: textile apparel worn to cover or protect the body, plus piece goods (fabric) sold to consumers for making clothing at home.

Exempt from the care label: shoes, gloves and hats. Excluded entirely: handkerchiefs, belts, suspenders, neckties, and non-woven garments made for one-time use. Piece goods have their own rule: care information goes on the end of each roll or bolt, and trim up to five inches wide is exempt.

2. When and how to attach the label

Per the FTC guide:

• Domestic manufacturers must attach care labels to finished products before selling them.
• Labels must be attached permanently and securely, and be legible for the useful life of the product.
• Consumers must be able to see or find the label easily at the point of sale. If packaging hides it, put the care information on the outside of the package or on a hang-tag.
• A multi-piece garment sold as a unit needs one label if all pieces have the same care; put it on the major piece. If the pieces need different care or are designed to be sold separately, each needs its own label.
• Printing the instructions directly on the product is allowed if it meets the permanence and legibility requirements, and so is putting them on the back of a permanent fiber-content label.

3. What the instructions must say

The label needs either a washing instruction or a drycleaning instruction. If the item can be both washed and drycleaned, one is enough. A washing instruction has five parts:

1. Hand or machine. Say which, and give a water temperature if regular use of hot water would harm the product.
2. Bleaching. If all commercial bleaches are safe, the label can skip it. If chlorine bleach would harm the item but non-chlorine would not, say "Only non-chlorine bleach, when needed." If all bleaches would harm it, say "No bleach" or "Do not bleach."
3. Drying. Say whether to machine dry or use another method.
4. Ironing. Required if the product needs repeated ironing.
5. Warnings. If a customer might reasonably use a procedure that would damage the item, warn against it, for example "Do not iron." If dyes might bleed, say "Wash with like colors" or "Wash separately."

The FTC's shortest acceptable washing instruction is "Machine wash. Tumble dry." That wording tells buyers the item can go in a machine washer and dryer at any temperature, that ironing is not needed, that any bleach works, and that no warnings apply. If your item cannot be safely washed or drycleaned, the label must say "Do not wash. Do not dryclean."

Two examples of wording the FTC rejects: "Do not use chlorine bleach" on its own, and "Wash in warm water. Block to dry. Do not use bleach," because it does not say whether to wash by hand or machine.

Care symbols are optional, but the FTC guide says they must be the ASTM ones, not the ISO symbols used in Europe. The guide notes a September 2012 proposal to allow updated ASTM and ISO symbols. As of the eCFR text current on October 9, 2026, Part 423 still names only ASTM D5489-96c, so the 2012 proposal had not changed the rule text.

4. You need proof

The FTC requires a "reasonable basis" for every instruction and warning. You cannot print "Dryclean Only" unless you have evidence that washing would damage the garment. Experience and industry knowledge can be enough in some cases. The guide says that if you use a dye known to bleed, or beads known to be harmed by drycleaning, you may need test results. For a garment with several components, test results on one component are not adequate if the finished garment fails, for example if one color bleeds onto another in the wash. Linings, trim, buttons and zippers must be considered, and non-removable parts count.

5. Exemptions worth knowing

Temporary labels visible at the point of sale are enough for totally reversible clothing without pockets, and for products that can safely be washed, bleached, dried, ironed and drycleaned by the harshest procedures, if the label says "Wash or dryclean, any normal method." No care instructions are needed for uniforms sold to institutions for employee use, or garments custom-made from fabric the customer provides. Hosiery gets a different exemption: it needs no permanent label, but care instructions must be on a hang-tag, the package, or another conspicuous place.

6. Key takeaways

• Makers and importers of clothing must label before selling; the guide lists no small-business exemption.
• Shoes, gloves, hats, neckties, belts and handkerchiefs are outside the label requirement.
• A label needs washing or drycleaning instructions, plus warnings where harm is likely.
• Every instruction needs reliable evidence, which can mean testing the finished garment.
• Fiber content and origin labeling is a separate FTC requirement.